What charges are being leveled against Omar al-Bashir?
The Prosecutor of the ICC, in his application for an arrest warrant, accused Omar al-Bashir of mobilizing the whole state apparatus, including the army and the Janjaweed militia, to methodically commit genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur since 2002. Al-Bashir allegedly ordered attacks on villages and camps, targeting groups on account of their ethnicity, while using rape, hunger and fear to create conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction. He allegedly concealed the crimes committed in Darfur under the guise of lawless actions committed by autonomous militias, and provided impunity to his subordinates in order to secure their willingness to commit genocide. The Prosecutor?s allegations are based on evidence collected from witnesses and victims from 17 countries, from government and non-governmental agencies and from recent UN missions to Darfur. This case marks the first ever move against a sitting head of state by the ICC.
