The Sudanese government and rebel groups in Darfur agreed on Tuesday that all those wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) should appear before the tribunal. In June 2019, the ICC retained the five suspects Ahmed Haroun, Ali Kushayb, Omar al-Bashir, Abdallah Banda and Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein on their list for crimes against humanity.

Although Faisal Saleh, the countrys Information Minister who announced the decision, did not explicitly name al-Bashir, he stated that the decision applied to all five Sudanese suspects wanted by the ICC over Darfur war crimes.

Also commenting on the decision was the chief negotiator of the Darfur people in Juba, Nimri Mohamed Abd, who said that Darfur groups and Sudans government had agreed to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court, and that the timing of the handover would be decided in final negotiations.

A statement by one of the members of Sudans sovereign council, Mohamed al-Hassan al-Taishi, states that the government and the rebel groups reached an agreement during a meeting in South Sudans capital Juba that included the appearance of those who face arrest warrants before the International Criminal Court. He added that two sides agreed to create a Darfur special court to investigate and hear cases including those investigated by the ICC.

The alliance between the transitional government and the rebel groups indicates their interest in Sudans common good. This move could also signal warnings to other African leaders that no crime against humanity would be overlooked by international communities.

The Darfur conflict was a guerrilla war that took place in the Darfur region of Sudan from 2003 to 2010 to challenge the governments racism against black Sudanese. During the conflict government forces and a militia group known as the Janjaweed militia attacked black Sudanese in the region. This made the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement carry an attack on the Sudanese government in response to the perceived oppression of black Sudanese by the majority Arab government. These actions have been described as genocide by a number of governments and human rights groups. However, Omar al-Bashir, Sudans president at the time, denied that his government had links to Janjaweed.

Last year, Sudans transitional government and a rebel group signed a preliminary peace deal, paving the way for eventual reconciliation. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy chief of Sudans Sovereign Council and Malik Agar, head of one of the two factions of Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) signed the truce. SPLM-N has been fighting the government in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions.

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Sudan's government, rebel groups agree for al-Bashir to appear before the ICC - Ventures Africa