Friday, March 02, 2012

ICC Issues Arrest Warrant for Sudanese Defense Minister

ICC issues arrest warrant for Sudan’s Minister

Darfur—The International Criminal Court (ICC) said it has issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s defence minister for crimes against the civilian population in Darfur.

“The ICC issues a warrant of arrest for the Sudanese Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein,” The Hague-based court said in a statement.

Hussein, 60, is the sixth person sought by the ICC or before the court for crimes committed in the war-torn African region. These include Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

The court’s chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said when he asked in December for the warrant that it would cover crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur from August 2003 to March 2004.

Hussein, who was interior minister from 2001 to 2005 and also al-Bashir’s special representative for Darfur from 2003 to 2004, is wanted for allegedly coordinating attacks against civilians in villages in west Darfur.

“The evidence allowed the office of the prosecutor to conclude that Mr Hussein is one of those who bears the greatest criminal responsibility,” Moreno-Ocampo’s office said in December.

The minister, accused of being “an indirect co-perpetrator”, faces 41 counts of 13 different types of crimes, including murder, rape, pillaging, forcible transfer and persecution.

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