ICC indictment of Sudanese leader

Excerpts from the arrest warrant on two counts of war crimes and five of crimes against humanity for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, issued by the International Criminal Court at The Hague on 4 March 2009:

Pre-trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court... held that it was satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Omar al-Bashir is criminally responsible as an indirect perpetrator, or as an indirect co-perpetrator, for war crimes and crimes against humanity;

i. intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities as a war crime;

CHARGE SHEET IN FULL International Criminal Court warrant for the arrest of Omar al-Bashir (358Kb) Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you might need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Download the reader here

ii. pillage as a war crime;

iii. murder as a crime against humanity;

iv. extermination as a crime against humanity;

v. forcible transfer as a crime against humanity;

vi. torture as a crime against humanity; and

vii. rape as a crime against humanity;

Considering that the arrest of Omar al-Bashir appears necessary at this stage to ensure (i) that he will appear before the Court; (ii) that he will not obstruct or endanger the ongoing investigation into the crimes for which he is allegedly responsible; and (iii) that he will not continue with the commission of the above-mentioned crimes;

For these reasons,

Hereby issues:

A warrant for arrest for Omar al-Bashir, a male, who is a national of the State of Sudan, born on 1 January 1944 in Hoshe Bannaga, Shendi Governorate, in the Sudan, member of the Jaali tribe of Northern Sudan, President of the Republic of the Sudan.