ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Sudanese defence minister - The Prosecutor of the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, on Friday sought an arrest warrant against the Sudanese Defence Minister, Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur from August 2003 to March 2004. The ICC has already issued arrest warrants for Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir on charges of orchestrating genocide in Darfur, as well as for a former minister of state for the interior and a militia leader, all of whom remain at large and in the case of Al-Bashir, free to travel widely.

A statement, signed by Florence Olara, the ICC Information Officer, and made available to PANA in New York, stated that, 'the evidence before the court allowed the Office of the Prosecutor to conclude that Hussein is one of those who bore 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'. 

It stated: 'Hussein was then Minister for the Interior for the Government of Sudan and Special Representative of the President in Darfur, with all the powers and responsibilities of the President'.

'Hussein delegated some of his responsibilities to Harun, the Minister of State for the Interior, whom he appointed to head the `Darfur Security Desk' ,' it noted.

The statement also disclosed that the crimes were perpetrated during attacks on the towns and villages of Kodoom, Bindisi, Mukjar and Arawala in the Wadi Salih and Mukjar localities of West Darfur.

'The attacks followed a common pattern:  the Government of Sudan forces surrounded the villages, the Air Force dropped bombs indiscriminately and foot soldiers, including Militia/Janjaweed, killed, raped and looted the entire village, forcing the displacement of four million inhabitants,' it stated.

Pana 03/12/2011