[JURIST] The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Monday requested assistance [press release] from the UN Security Council (UNSC) [official website] in the forced extradition of Sudan President Omar al-Bashir [NYT backgrounder], who is facing charges of genocide in connection with the Darfur conflict [HRC backgrounder]. In asking the UNSC to take “necessary measures” to force Sudan to comply with the ICC investigation, the court noted that without such assistance, the Council’s decision to request investigation into al-Bashir in 2005 would “never achieve its ultimate goal.”

The ICC has been struggling to investigate the situation in Darfur for years and has made little progress since 2009. In December Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the UNSC that her office was dropping its investigation [JURIST report] into the situation in Darfur. Knowing that the ICC lacks a policing force, Bashir responded that “they wanted us to kneel before the international criminal court but the ICC raised its hands and admitted that it had failed” and further stated that the Sudanese people had defeated the ICC. In June Bensouda urged [JURIST report] the UNSC to take action to end the conflict in the Darfur region. Last March more than 30 human rights and civil society organizations called [JURIST report] for Bashir’s arrest. Last March also marked the fifth anniversary [JURIST report] of Bashir’s indictment by the ICC. In June 2013 Bensouda announced [JURIST report] her disappointment with the lack of support from the UNSC with regard to the situation in Darfur and further described it as going from bad to worse.