Sudan : ICC Chief Prosecutor In Khartoum

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan has arrived Khartoum (Sudan), a year after he visited the country for talks on outstanding arrest warrants over crimes committed during the 2003 Darfur war under ousted president Omar Al Bashir. During his stay in the country, the ICC boss is expected to hold talks with the country’s senior officials. Sudanese news agency SUNA has reported that Mr Khan who is leading a court delegation, will also visit the Darfur region in the days ahead and stay in the country until August 25, 2022.
His visit this year is the third by an ICC prosecutor to Sudan since Bashir’s ouster in April 2019. In May 2021, Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, held talks in Sudan, bringing the strife-hit country’s former leaders one step closer to being tried at The Hague for war crimes. Sudan has been reeling from deepening unrest, spiralling economic crisis, and a spike in ethnic clashes, including in Darfur, since a military coup last year led by army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan. The October military coup upended a fragile transition put in place following the overthrow of Bashir after months of protests.
Bashir remains wanted by the ICC over his role in the 2003 Darfur conflict, which pitted ethnic African minority rebels complaining of discrimination against his Arab-dominated government. Human rights groups have long accused Bashir and his former aides of using a scorched earth policy, raping, killing, looting and burning villa...