Omar al-Bashir
President of Sudan (1993–2019), de facto head of the country since 1989
What is accused of: Omar al-Bashir was the first sitting head of state to have an arrest warrant issued by the ICC in 2009. Al-Bashir was charged with crimes against humanity (individual and mass killings, torture, deportation, rape), as well as war crimes (attacking civilians). These accusations are related to the conflict that began in 2003 in Darfur, a region in western Sudan. According to prosecutors, al-Bashir deliberately sought to destroy the non-Arab tribes living there (while he was not charged with genocide).
How the pursuit is organized: Sudan (like Russia, as well as many other countries, including the US and China) did not sign the Rome Statute, on the basis of which the ICC operates, and immediately refused to consider the extradition of the country’s president to the court. The position of the Sudanese authorities was supported by international organizations, which include the country – the League of Arab States and the African Union. The ICC, in particular, was accused of “double standards” and “racism”. Since the issuance of the warrant, al-Bashir has traveled abroad numerous times, including China and Russia, where met with Vladimir Putin. Moreover, the President of Sudan made visits to those countries that, unlike China and the Russian Federation, ratified the Rome Statute – but he was not arrested there either.
In 2019, al-Bashir was overthrown in a military coup, and two years later, the country’s new authorities promised transfer him and other war crimes suspects to the hands of the ICC. For now, however, al-Bashir remains under arrest in Sudan.
