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Sudan rebel leader appears before ICC

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Sudanese rebel leader Bahr Idriss Abu Garda appeared before the International Criminal Court on Monday to deny his responsibility for war crimes committed in Darfur. Abu Garda is accused of orchestrating a September 2007 attack on peacekeepers from the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) at Haskanita. The ICC alleges that the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), under Abu Garda's command, killed 12 and wounded eight AMIS soldiers. Abu Garda, the first suspect to appear before the ICC in regards to the Darfur investigation, voluntarily surrendered to the court on Sunday, and called on Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to do the same. In March, the ICC issued at an arrest warrant for al-Bashir, which he derided as a Western attempt to re-establish colonial power in the country. The controversial arrest warrant had been sought by ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who in July filed preliminary charges against Bashir alleging genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed in the Darfur region in violation of Articles 6, 7, and 8 of the Rome Statute. In May 2007, the ICC issued arrest warrants for former Sudanese Minister of the Interior Ahmed Muhammad Harun and former militia leader Ali Kushayb.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on May 19, 2009 (boomark / email).