New prosecutor for Darfur appointed by ‘main suspect’

The Sudanese Ministry of Justice announced the name of a new prosecutor for war crimes committed in Darfur since the civil war started in 2003. The new prosecutor, Yassir Ahmed Mohamed, was appointed by the government of president Omar al Bashir after his three predecessors resigned in a period of less than two years.

The Sudanese Ministry of Justice announced the name of a new prosecutor for war crimes committed in Darfur since the civil war started in 2003. The new prosecutor, Yassir Ahmed Mohamed, was appointed by the government of president Omar al Bashir after his three predecessors resigned in a period of less than two years. The new prosecutor is in charge of investigating war crimes, crimes against humanity in the region as well as crimes contained in the Sudanese Anti-Terrorism Law of 2001. The war crimes are also prosecuted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague that has indicted president Omar al Bashir as one of the main suspects. Next week the new prosecutor will be traveling to Al Fasher to start the investigation. He says he will open five new offices from where the investigations will commence. Previously he was employed as a prosecutor for crimes committed against the state and often prosecuted human rights activists and journalists.

Ahmed Al Atim, coordinator of the IDP camps in North Darfur told Radio Dabanga that Yassin Ahmed Mohamed lacks the ability to bring about justice. “As a former prosecutor of crimes against the state appointed by Bashir, he has no credibility whatsoever. He will merely act a puppet of the regime, a propaganda tool to cover up their crimes. How can the government appoint a prosecutor while all suspects have been indicted by the ICC, we ask the international community not to stop their prosecution. We are the victims, not them”.

Sudan created the position of a special prosecutor for Darfur in 2003 in order to prove its seriousness in going after the perpetrators of crimes allegedly committed in the course of the Sudanese government’s war against armed rebels in the western region of Darfur.