ICC requests arrest warrant for Minister Abdelrahim Hussein

The ICC issued a press statement today stating that ‘The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, requested Pre-Trial Chamber I to issue an arrest warrant against the current Sudanese Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur from August 2003 to March 2004.’  The statement continues with the allegation, ‘The evidence allowed the Office of the Prosecutor to conclude that Mr. Hussein is one of those who bears the greatest criminal responsibility for the same crimes and incidents presented in previous warrants of arrest for Ahmed Harun and Ali Kushayb issued by the Court on 27 April 2007.’  According to the statement the crimes were perpetrated during attacks upon the towns and villages of Kodoom, Bindisi, Mukjar and Arawala in the Wadi Salih and Mukjar Localities of West Darfur. Mr. Hussein is presumed innocent and will be given full rights and the opportunity to defend himself. The ICC has previously issued arrest warrants against Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb and Omar Al-Bashir.The Government of Khartoum called the request for the arrest warrant, an act against the Doha Peace Agreement. Read the statement of the ICC