JURIST - Paper Chase: Sudan man charged with aiding ICC war crimes investigation

[JURIST] A Sudanese man charged with aiding an International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] investigation of a Darfur [JURIST news archive] war crimes suspect appeared in court Monday. Mohamed Alsary Ibrahim is charged [Reuters report] with working to overthrow the constitutional government, waging war against the state, dealing with an enemy country, spying, and passing on confidential military documents in connection with the ICC's investigation of Sudan's state minister for humanitarian affairs Ahmed Haroun [JURIST report]. Ibrahim is the first person to be charged in Sudan for assisting an ICC investigation and could face a death sentence if convicted.

In August, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official website] said Sudan is merely going through the motions with its planned probe [JURIST reports] into Darfur human rights violations. He said that Sudan does not have the political will to bring human rights offenders to justice, noting that an earlier Sudanese investigation into genocide claims was led by Haroun, who is wanted by the ICC. The ICC issued a warrant for Haroun's arrest last year, but Sudan has refused to turn him over. In July, Moreno-Ocampo applied [JURIST report] for an arrest warrant [application, PDF; ICC press release] for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir [BBC profile, JURIST news archive] on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for atrocities committed in the country's Darfur region. No warrant has been issued, but earlier this month, Moreno-Ocampo urged states to prepare [JURIST report] for the ICC's imminent ruling.

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