Memo To: United Nations Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres
Urgent Action: Call for an International Independent Investigation on the killing of peaceful protesters in Sudan, January 21, 2019 – PDF
Memo To: United Nations Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in its Resolution 1593 of 31 March 2005 referred the situation in Sudan, to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC). On 4 March 2009 and 12 July 2010, respectively, the ICC issued two arrest warrants against Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir. The arrest warrants are for five counts of crimes against humanity: murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape; two counts of war crimes: intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking part in hostilities, and pillaging. In addition, the arrest warrant cites three counts of genocide allegedly committed against some ethnic groups in Darfur, Sudan, from 2003 to 2008.
As a result of failures to arrest and surrender Al-Bashir to the ICC, for the last forty days, Al-Bashir and his regime have committed serious crimes under the Rome Statute against the people of Sudan, including murder and torture. Forty-six peaceful protesters were shot dead in many Sudanese cities, two young men have been tortured to death in Kalakla quarter in south Khartoum, and in Gadrif city 255 miles south east of Khartoum. Over 500 hundred political detainees remained behind bars in inhumane conditions.
Yesterday, Sunday 21 January 2019, Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir blamed infiltrators for the recent deaths of anti-government protesters in Sudan. Earlier, a police spokesperson denied the use of live ammunition by his forces, and the head of Security and Intelligence Services (NISS) said the same.
This is a matter of grave concern, and this latest development emphasizes the importance ensuring accountability and bringing to justice the perpetrators of crimes allegedly committed by Sudan’s security forces.
Sudan Human Rights Network (SHRN) calls on the international community to take action to end the widespread human rights abuses being perpetrated in Sudan, and to call for an International Independent Investigation on the killing of peaceful protesters in Sudan.
For more information, please contact: info@sudanhumanrights.org