12th Anniversary of Bashir’s Indictment

Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG) would like to take the time to mark the 12th anniversary of former President Omar Hassan Ahmad Bashir’s indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC). His monumental indictment was the first time a sitting president was wanted by the ICC and was the first person to be charged with the crime of genocide. 

Omar al-Bashir, the former leader of Sudan, has been wanted by the ICC in The Hague for over 12 years on over 5 counts of crimes against humanity: murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, and rape; 2 counts of war crimes: intentionally directing attacks towards civilians and pillaging; 3 counts of genocide: by killing, by causing serious bodily harm, and deliberately targeting to bring upon the group’s physical destruction during 2003-2008 in Darfur. Despite him being charged over 12 years ago, his trial still remains at the pre-trial stage due to him still being at-large. 

After Bashir was thrown out of power in 2019, he was convicted of corruption and was sentenced to serve in prison for two years in Sudan. Bashir has been on trial since July 2020 regarding the coup that got him into power over 30 years ago. In February 2020, Sudanese authorities agreed that they would hand over Bashir to the Hague-based ICC to face his trial but did not give a proper time frame to when that would happen. 

In the meantime, we ask the public to stand in solidarity with Darfur and to urge the international community to put more pressure on Sudan to release custody of Omar al-Bashir and the others who are currently being charged by the ICC for their perpetration of the heinous crimes in Darfur. We also urge the ICC to investigate the crimes that took place past 2003-2008 and also investigate the violence that is still going on in Darfur. DWAG urges you to sign our petition that demands accountability for all the perpetrators of the genocide in Darfur and share it with 10-15 people you know. 

We urge the United States to support accountability for crimes in Sudan because there will not be peace, security, or stability in Sudan unless there is accountability. We urge you all to stand with us collectively to empower the victims and the affected communities to seek justice and restore their livelihood.