ICC Requests Warrant For Sudan Defence Minister

ICC Requests Warrant For Sudan Defense Minister

By SONJA DECHIAN | Published: DECEMBER 5, 2011

The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor has requested  a warrant for Sudan’s defense minister in relation to crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.

Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein is accused of coordinating attacks on villages in western Darfur from August 2003 to March 2004. ‘The evidence shows that this was a state policy supervised by Mr. Hussein to ensure the coordination of attacks against civilians’ said ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo.

A panel of judges will now review the evidence and decide whether to issue a warrant for Hussein’s arrest. Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is also wanted on three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes. Warrants for his arrest were issued in 2009 and 2010.

The ICC is also investigating evidence of more recent war crimes in southern Sudan under the direction of Hussein. Central to this evidence are satellite images showing the movement of people, troops and artillery taken by the network of privately owned spy satellites known as Satellite Sentinel Project – made famous by the involvement of actor George Clooney.