The comments from Abdullah Hamdok are the first time the prime minister has confirmed the government sought to allow suspects to face trials, including ousted president Omar Al Bashir
Date: Monday, 24 August 2020
The comments from Abdullah Hamdok are the first time the prime minister has confirmed the government sought to allow suspects to face trials, including ousted president Omar Al Bashir
Sudan's former president Omar Al Bashir faces indictment by the ICC but the central question is whether he will be handed over to the tribunal. REUTERS
August 23, 2020
Sudan is ready to co-operate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) so those accused of war crimes – including former president Omar Al Bashir – appear at the tribunal, Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok said.
Mr Al Bashir, who has been in jail in Khartoum since he was removed amid mass protests last year, is wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur in a conflict that killed an estimated 300,000 people.
The government reached a deal with rebel groups in February that all five Sudanese ICC suspects should appear before the court, but Mr Hamdok had not publicly affirmed Sudan's position.
"I reiterate that the government is fully prepared to co-operate with the ICC to facilitate access to those accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity," Mr Hamdok said in a televised address on the anniversary of his appointment.
Sudan's transitional government, a three-year joint civilian-military arrangement led by Mr Hamdok, said it was close to a peace deal with some rebel groups active in Darfur, a region roughly the size of France.
Mr Hamdok also said during his TV address that Sudan had come a long way towards being removed from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The issue of war crimes trials has been central to Khartoum's efforts to sign peace deals to end the Darfour and other insurgencies and free resources from defence to pay for reforms.
Last week, Khartoum signed a provisional agreement with one wing of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) to end their involvement and integrate fighters into the military.
The SPLM-N is based in South Kordofan's Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile State.
Monday's provisional peace deal set out security arrangements between Khartoum and the SPLM-N, including a ban on the recruitment of child soldiers and disarmament of fighters.
Tutkew Gatluak, the talks' chief mediator and an adviser to South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, said last week a comprehensive agreement between the Khartoum government and four rebel groups would be signed on August 28.
But a rival faction led by Abdelaziz Al Hilu withdrew from the talks accusing the government’s head of the country’s sovereign council Gen Hamdan Dagalo of crimes against the people of Sudan. Gen Dagalo is head of the Rapid Support Force, a powerful government paramilitary group that grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias that fought in Darfur.
There were intense communications with the American administration about removing Sudan from the list, and significant progress was expected in the coming weeks, a senior government source told Reuters on Sunday.
Washington added Sudan to the list in 1993 over allegations that Mr Al Bashir's government was supporting terrorist groups at the time.
The designation makes Sudan technically ineligible for debt relief and financing from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The US Congress would need to approve Sudan's removal from the list.
