Sudanese diaspora in Europe hand memo to ICC prosecutor

Members of the Sudanese diaspora in Europe staged a demonstration in The Hague in the Netherlands on Friday, demanding action against crimes and human rights violations in Sudan, and the prosecution of President Omar Al Bashir.

The demonstration by Sudanese living in the Netherlands, with the participation of other Sudanese communities in Europe, including France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Poland, handed over a memorandum to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Demands

Fathi Ibrahim, one of the organisers of the demonstration, said that the demonstration moved to the offices of the ICC in The Hague. The memorandum demands, that the Sudanese Prosecutor General's Office must activate the arrest warrants issued by the ICC against Al Bashir for crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

It also demands that the prosecutor should investigate all the crimes committed by the Khartoum regime against the Sudanese people since beginning of the current popular uprising on December 19 2018, the torture and killing of demonstrators, and harassment of women.

Sudan uprising

On 19 December 2018, rising bread and fuel prices sparked protests in Atbara in North-Eastern Sudan. In less than a weeks time, the anti-government protests spread across the entire country and were answered with brutal violence by the Sudanese security forces. Multiple sources have confirmed that tear gas and live ammunition is being used against demonstrators. Human Rights Watch reported that Sudanese activists estimate atleast 50 people have been killed since the start of the protests.

ICC indictment

Al Bashir has been indicted by the ICC for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, and two separate international warrants for his arrest were issued in 2009 and 2010. In ger latest report to the UN Security Council (UNSC) in December 2018, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda called out countries for failure to arrest and surrender President Al Bashir to the court.

She said that more than 13 years after the UNSC referred the Darfur issue to the Tribunal, efforts to bring justice to victims continue to be constrained by the lack of cooperation of states, including the parties to the court, state members of the Council, and the Republic of Sudan.

“If the Council and the States Parties do not take concrete action to assist its Office in its investigations and in the arrest of suspects in Darfur, justice for the victims will not be achieved” in the region, Bensa warned the UBSC.