U.S. and European media

February 12, 2023

Reuters: ICC to indict Sudan's Bashir over Darfur-diplomats. Judges at the International Criminal Court have decided to indict Sudan's president for war crimes in Darfur and issue a warrant for his arrest, U.N. diplomats and officials said on Wednesday. "The ICC decided it wants him arrested," a diplomat at the United Nations told Reuters on condition of anonymity, referring to Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The Save Darfur Coalition of over 180 organizations and activist groups issued a statement saying it was time for the world to shun Bashir. "A regime led by an indicted war criminal cannot possibly be treated as a full member of the community of nations," it said. "The international community must press Sudanese authorities to comply with their obligations to cooperate with the ICC, including executing all outstanding warrants."

Agence France-Presse: ICC approves arrest warrant for Sudan's Beshir: NY Times. International Criminal Court (ICC) judges have decided to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir over alleged genocide in Darfur, The New York Times reported Wednesday. It said precise charges cited by the judges against Beshir had not been disclosed. In Washington, the Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of more than 180 US faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations, said Wednesday that UN member states must not continue "to do business as usual with Beshir once he is an indicted war criminal." "At a minimum, countries should not allow him to travel to their territory and should limit diplomatic interaction with him in Khartoum to efforts to end the crisis in Darfur and bring peace to all of Sudan," it added. And the group said the Sudanese government should be warned that it would be "held responsible for any preemptive or retaliatory action against civilians, humanitarian aid workers, or UN and African Union peacekeeping forces."

Reuters: Darfur rebels say Sudan govt attack hurts talks. Darfur rebels accused Sudanese government forces of attacking their positions on Thursday and undermining peace talks in Qatar. Bishara Suleiman, a spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), one of the main Darfur rebel factions, said the attack east of the Jabel Marra area began while its negotiators met government officials. "When we are talking, they are attacking. This is a very bad signal from the government of Sudan," he told Reuters by telephone from Doha, where peace talks began earlier this week. Other factions have said the talks in Qatar will fail because they are not all included.

The Darfur Daily News is a service of the Save Darfur Coalition. To subscribe to the Daily News, please email [email protected]. For media inquiries, please contact Ashley Roberts at (202) 478-6181, or [email protected].