Popular Congress Party: Sudan must ratify Rome Statute, hand Al Bashir to ICC

The head of the Popular Congress Party (PCP) has urged Sudan’s transitional government to ratify the Rome Statute and extradite former President Omar Al Bashir to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which has indicted him on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

The Secretary General of the PCP, Ali El Haj, made these demands at a press conference in Khartoum on Monday. “We acknowledge and accept the transitional government and urge all parties to join the peace process for the sake of Sudan”, he said.

The PCP was part of the National Islamic Front, architect of the 1989 coup, which then split in 1999 into the Popular Congress Party led by Hasan El Turabi, and the National Congress Party led by ousted President Al Bashir.

El Haj: “The transitional government must learn from the mistakes and experiences during the former regime and work hard to achieve a comprehensive peace.”

He demanded the withdrawal of Sudanese forces that are involved in the war in Yemen. “The PCP has a clear position about all wars in the region. We also condemn the involvement of Sudanese forces in Libya’s conflict”, referring to the role of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries who are supporting the forces of Gen Khalifa Haftar in Libya.

Violating arms embargo

The United Nations Panel of Experts of the International Sanctions Committee on Libya has accused UN member states, including Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan of violating the arms embargo imposed on the country.

Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that it obtained a UN draft report saying that the UN member states violated sanctions on Libya by giving weapons to the warring parties in the country.

As for Sudan, the report of the Panel of Experts on Libya said that Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’, Deputy Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and Commander-in-Chief of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, did not abide by the UN sanctions to ban military support to the parties involved in the Libyan conflict.

In July, Sudan sent 1,000 RSF militiamen to eastern Libya to protect Benghazi and enable the forces of Gen Khalifa Haftar to attack Tripoli.

Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) Spokesman Amer El Hasan denied the accusations in the UN draft report to the Sudanese Tayba satellite channel on Saturday. “These claims are part of systematic vilification of national institutions,” he commented.

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