DEFENDANT

The defendant Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir sits at the apex of this repressive military dictatorship. al-Bashir exercises effective authority, command, and control over all armed and police forces within the Government of Sudan. In addition, al-Bashir’s government has deployed and supported a number of militia and paramilitary groups, including the so-called janjaweed and murahileen in Darfur and elsewhere as agents of the Government of Sudan to advance the Government’s repressive and genocidal aims while at the same time enabling deniability on the part of the Government.

The indictment contains a brief biography of President al-Bashir, including his rise to power through a military coup in 1989 and his subsequent violent rule. He (along with a number of co-conspirators) is charged with CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, GENOCIDE, and VIOLATIONS OF THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF WAR. These abuses, which are currently the subject of an investigation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), are in contravention of the Statute of this Tribunal, customary international criminal law; and international treaties to which Sudan is a State Party or is bound by customary international law.

The indictment highlights the concept of JOINT CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE. The Prosecutor does not allege that al-Bashir physically or personally committed all the crimes charged. “Committing” in this Indictment instead refers to intentional or knowing participation as co-perpetrator, either as an accomplice, as a member of a joint criminal enterprise, as a member of a group sharing a common criminal purpose, or as a superior exercising effective authority, command, and control over subordinates. In contributing to the commission of the crimes charged, the accused intended to further the criminal activity or common purpose of the group or individuals directly responsible for committing the crimes within the jurisdiction of this Tribunal. In the alternative, the accused knew of the criminal intent of the group or individuals actually responsible for these acts and purposefully contributed to the criminal purpose.

The indictment also highlights the concept of COMMAND AND CONTROL. In his capacity as chief of the ruling Revolutionary Council and then as President, al-Bashir exercised effective command and control over all members of the armed forces of the Government of Sudan and all agencies of the state, including the regular army and air force units, Popular Defense Forces, and State Security Forces, which are variously designated as Military Intelligence, Constructive Security, and Intelligence and Security Forces. In addition, the accused exercised effective command or control over armed militia, such as the janjaweed who, working in coordination with Sudanese armed forces, are responsible for massacre, rape, and forced displacement in Darfur and elsewhere.

[NOTE: A number of other individuals in the Government of Sudan listed in the indictment participated in this joint criminal enterprise during the entire duration of its existence, or, alternatively, at different times during the duration of its existence.]

SPECIFIC CRIMES

CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF DARFUR Fur, Massaleit, Zaghawa, and Dajo people of Darfur; the peoples of the Nuba Mountains; the Dinka and Nuer peoples; the people of the Shilluk Kingdom; and the Beja people of East Sudan.

Specific crimes undertaken in execution of this criminal enterprise were:

• The targeting of certain minority tribal and civilian groups for repression, attack, and destruction;
• The forcible removal of these groups from various territories;
• The reduction of the active and reproducing populations of these groups;
• The destruction of undefended towns and visited inhabited by these groups;
• The destruction of the personal property and accumulated wealth of these groups;
• The physical elimination of these groups within Sudan.

CHARGES

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY include extermination, murder, persecution, deportation, rape and sexual violence. President al-Bashir, acting individually or in concert with other participants in the joint criminal enterprise, planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted the planning, preparation or execution of the extermination, murder, persecution, deportation, rape, and abuse of members of minority racial, religious, ethnic, and political groups.

ENSLAVEMENT and GENOCIDE with respect to the Dinka, Shilluk, and Nuer peoples of southern Sudan, the Nuba, and African ethnic groups in Darfur, including the Fur, Massaleit, Zaghawa, and Dajo. This campaign of persecutions included or escalated to include conduct committed with the intent to destroy in part national, ethnical, religious and/or racial groups in Darfur associated with the rebel forces there. Government forces under the command and control of al-Bashir targeted a significant part of these tribal groups for intended destruction.

WAR CRIMES include murder and violence to life and person, committing outrages upon human dignity, intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population, intentionally directing attacks agaisnt civilian objects, pillage, rape and sexual violence, and ordering the displacement of civilians.

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