ICC chief prosecutor urges Security Council to push for arrest of Sudan suspects News
ICC chief prosecutor urges Security Council to push for arrest of Sudan suspects

[JURIST] International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] Wednesday asked the UN Security Council [ICC press release] to press Sudan to execute outstanding arrest warrants against two Sudanese men accused of crimes against humanity in Darfur [JURIST news archive]. Moreno-Campo said that the government of Sudan has not cooperated with efforts to arrest former Sudanese Minister of the Interior Ahmed Muhammad Harun [Trial Watch profile; JURIST report] and former militia leader Ali Kushayb [Trial Watch profile], in violation of UNSC Resolution 1593 [text]. Reiterating that the Government of Sudan has a legal duty to arrest and surrender the suspects, Moreno-Ocampo said that Harun is the chief coordinator of the second phase of a criminal plan to target civilians in camps believed to be rebel supporters, and that while he remains free "there will be no comprehensive solution in Darfur." Moreno-Ocampo also announced two new investigations: identification of Harun's principal allies and supporters involved in his criminal activities, and an inquiry into attacks against UN and African Union peacekeepers. Sudan's UN Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem called Moreno-Ocampo's investigations "politicized" and said that the Sudanese judiciary could handle accusations against its citizens internally.

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon encouraged all nations [JURIST report] involved in the ICC to assist with the arrests. Moreno-Ocampo has previously called on Sudan itself to arrest Sudanese war crimes suspects, but Sudan has responded by saying the ICC does not have jurisdiction to prosecute Sudanese war crimes suspects. Reuters has more.

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