U.S. and European media

March 4, 2023

Washington Post: International Court Issues Warrant for Sudanese President. The International Criminal Court's pretrial judges issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Wednesday, charging that he directed the mass murder of tens of thousands of Sudanese civilians in Darfur. It is the first time the Hague-based court has accused a sitting head of state of war crimes. This "is a game-changing moment," said Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition, arguing the court's action could improve the prospects for peace in Darfur. "The international community must capitalize on the pressure this decision has brought to bear on Bashir and his regime -- and must ensure Khartoum can no longer continue with business as usual. At a minimum, countries should not allow Bashir 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."

CNN: Sudan soldier: 'They told me to kill, to rape children'. I wanted to believe the man in front of me wasn't a rapist. I knew he was a former Sudanese soldier, I knew he wanted to talk about rape in Darfur. A humanitarian group working on Darfur issues had introduced him to us. They told us his testimony was important to hear. Last year in Darfur aid workers told me children as young as five were being raped in the huge displacement camps that are home to several million Darfuris. In some camps, they told me, rape had become so common that as many as 20 babies a month born from rape were being abandoned. As I sat inches from Adam --not his real name -- I feared the revulsion I knew I would feel at my own questions as I asked about rape and his involvement. I have interviewed rape survivors in Darfur. I have two daughters. I am a human being with a conscience. It would be hard to listen to his replies. He told me he was conscripted by force in to the Sudanese army in the summer of 2002. He thought he was being taken for six months' national service and then would be released.

Reuters: Sudan's Bashir to attend Arab summit despite warrant. Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir plans to attend an Arab summit set for this month in Qatar despite an arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the foreign ministry said on Wednesday. "We have received the invitation and accepted it," Mutrif Siddiq, under-secretary of foreign affairs, told Reuters. "He (Bashir) will attend all Arab summits and all African summits," he said.


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].