Khartoum -

The request of the Public Prosecutor of the Criminal Court, Karim Khan, from the Sudanese authorities, to connect him with the suspects who are being pursued with arrest warrants, sparked a controversy that was not without surprise about its reasons and goals, especially since the wanted persons are being held for litigation pending local reports.

The International Criminal Court is demanding the extradition of the ousted President Omar al-Bashir and two of his aides: Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein and Ahmed Haroun, along with Abdullah Banda, one of the leaders of armed groups in Darfur, under arrest warrants issued against them since 2009, on charges of involvement in war crimes in the Darfur region. west of the country.

For the first time since referring the Darfur file to the Criminal Court, its prosecutor is addressing the Security Council from Khartoum, presenting his report on his activities during the period between last January and early August.

The report complained of the Sudanese government's lack of cooperation with the court in recent months, indicating that the military regime reneged on the commitments made by the government of the resigned Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok, who had promised to hand over the wanted persons and work seriously with the Criminal Court to achieve justice.

The ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir during one of his trial sessions (Anadolu Agency)

Additional Challenges

The prosecutor of the court stated - in a report submitted to the Security Council last January - that "the events that occurred in Sudan last October, and the consequent lack of security and stability, constitute a setback that poses additional challenges to the work of the Court in Sudan."

Karim Khan added that his office had to suspend the deployment of his team in Sudan and immediately stop all investigation activities, noting also that "several of the office's main interlocutors and coordinators no longer hold their positions in the Government of Sudan."

Prosecutor Khan stressed - during a press conference yesterday evening, Wednesday - repeatedly that the authorities did not cooperate with his office, in addition to not allowing him to meet the wanted persons.

A member of the defense team for the former president, Al-Nazer lawyer Sheikh Al-Tayeb, considered the prosecutor's request a strange matter, wondering what he wanted from the defendants after he issued arrest warrants against them, which was preceded by accusations related to war crimes.

Al-Tayeb told Al-Jazeera Net, "Apart from the government's position, it does not have what it provides to the court. As for the prosecutor's request to meet the defendants, it is nothing but a political consumption equivalent to the arrest warrants, which were basically a clutch of a well-known agenda," as he put it.

Lawyer Al-Natheer points out that the government signed - earlier - a cooperation agreement with the Criminal Court, but the prosecutor, as he says, "is trying to exploit Al-Bashir's issue to send messages to the victims of the war in Darfur, in order to serve the court's agenda."

Analysts believe that the ruling authorities in Sudan are now evading the previous pledges of Hamdok's government to cooperate with the Criminal Court (Anatolia)

An unjustified meeting

In the circles of the Darfur Bar Association, the prosecutor’s talk about his request to communicate with the accused also raises wide questions, and the vice-chairman of the board of directors, Al-Sadiq Ali Hassan, is surprised by Karim Khan’s talk, asking: “Why does he want to meet Al-Bashir and the wanted persons?”

He told Al Jazeera Net, "As long as there is an arrest warrant against them, and it represents the accusation, he had to adhere to the implementation of the arrest decision, and to ask the officials to hand them over and not meet them, but to ask to meet them is unjustified and is not based on a sound legal reference."

Although the Ministry of Justice issued a statement - yesterday evening, Wednesday - denying that it had received a request from the criminal prosecutor to interview the wanted persons, the prosecutor, Karim Khan, said - in his press conference - that "one of our requests for cooperation is to access the three wanted persons detained in Sudan, and we mentioned in the report that we did not receive a response." on this request.

"The Minister of Justice (Maulana Muhammad Saeed Al-Hilu) told me that Al-Bashir's lawyers refused to meet with us, but we are waiting for confirmation to respond to an official request for assistance regarding the situation of Sudan," Khan added.

He said, "There are 4 arrest warrants that are still in force, and 3 of the wanted persons are being held in Sudan. My responsibility is to obtain cooperation with the government of Sudan, and to open the files to the prosecutor for review. We want to partner with Sudanese investigators and ensure that our case is strong, so I asked to meet al-Bashir."

The statements of the prosecutor - the government's lack of cooperation with him - contradict the statements of the leaders of the armed movements, whom he met this week in Khartoum, about their willingness to extradite the wanted persons and push the prosecutor's tasks forward to achieve justice.

This is what Al-Sadiq Ali Hassan explains that the leaders of the movements do not have any authority, and that the talk about cooperation with the court regarding extradition does not go beyond media statements, adding that "they do not have any decision."

Karim Khan's complaint came despite the assertion by Mina Arko Minawi, governor of the Darfur region, of his commitment to cooperate with the court and extradite the wanted persons (Al-Jazeera)

Disagreements about delivery

On the other hand, journalist and political analyst Ali Al-Dali is convinced that there are differences within the authority regarding the extradition of the wanted persons, caused by the reversal of the commitments made by the civilian government - led by Abdullah Hamdok - and the change in the positions of the military leaders after the "October 25 coup".

Al-Dali notes that the criminal prosecutor's briefing to the Security Council coincided with the statements of Minni Arko Minawi, governor of the Darfur region, regarding his commitment to cooperate with the court and hand over the wanted persons.

However, the prosecutor's subsequent speech to all these assurances, according to Al-Dali, reveals the court's dissatisfaction with the level of the ruling authority's handling of the file.

Al-Dali explains - in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net - the authorities' retraction of those pledges to the development produced by the appearance of one of the most prominent militia leaders in Darfur, Ali Kushayb, before the court after he voluntarily surrendered about two years ago;

Which could make him "a king's witness" to the violations that took place in the region in western Sudan during the previous periods.

He added, "The investigations may reveal the results of the involvement of some of the current authorities in the genocide files, especially since some of them were field leaders during the conflict in Darfur."

The analyst says that Karim Khan chose the path of negotiation with the authority despite the obstacles he constantly talks about.

When asked about the steps that the court could take in the event that Khartoum's reluctance continues, he said that they are determined to extend the ropes of patience and that officials may later be convinced to hand over the wanted persons.

Rather, the prosecutor went even further, according to Al-Dali, when he sent messages of reassurance to the military in Sudan that he is now dealing only with the four arrest warrants and does not want to open new files.


claim disorder

From the point of view of the official in the Darfur Bar Association, Al-Sadiq Hassan, the actions of the prosecutor indicate the confusion and incoherence of the indictment case, to the extent that he has not been able to present it to the court so far.

His request to interview the wanted persons reveals his inability to present the case better “as someone who is looking for evidence after these long years, and he had to inform the Security Council of Khartoum’s refusal to extradite the wanted persons to take appropriate measures against a member state that fails to fulfill the obligations it has undertaken, under its membership.” in the United Nations".

The lawyer blames the delegation of the Criminal Court - who met him in the Darfur Bar Association two days ago - and they were traveling in cars belonging to the presidential palace, surrounded by all manifestations of authority.

He said that "it is not right for the prosecutors, especially that the party that supplies them with these cars is the one who is holding the wanted persons," adding that "all of this increases our concern about the possibility of extraditing the wanted persons."

According to the lawyer, the court delegation did not answer the questions raised by the Darfur Bar Association and their partners about Al-Burhan's position on extradition, and whether they asked him to do so or not. He added, "It does not seem that the prosecutor has a vision or vision to move seriously in this direction."