Sudan appoints new Darfur prosecutor
* Article
* Comments (0)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
*
*
*
*
August 16, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Ministry of Justice has
tipped its undersecretary to replace the special prosecutor for Darfur
Abdel-Dayem Zumrawi who tendered his resignation four months ago.
JPEG - 17 kb
War in Sudan’s western region of Darfur claimed the lives of 300,000
people and displaced 2.7 million, according to UN agencies (An aerial
view of a village being burned in Darfur)
Sudan created the position of a special prosecutor for Darfur in 2003
in order to prove its seriousness in going after the perpetrators of
crimes allegedly committed in the course of the Sudanese government’s
war against armed rebels in the western region of Darfur.
But the two prosecutors who occupied the position before have failed
to try or bring charges against any individual despite credible
reports of atrocities committed during the zenith of the conflict in
2003 and 2004.
On Tuesday, the ministry of justice announced that its undersecretary,
Councilor Issam Abdul Gadir Al-Zain, will proceed to the position of a
special prosecutor for Darfur, which has been vacant since the former
prosecutor Zumrawi officially resigned in mid-April.
Zumrawi was appointed last October to replace his predecessor Nimr
Ibrahim Mohamed who occupied this position since it was created. The
former prosecutor admitted in December last year that efforts to serve
justice in Darfur had been undermined by political interferences.
The ministry’s resolution has charged the new prosecutor and his aides
with investigating war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in
the region as well as crimes contained in the Sudanese Anti-Terrorism
Law of 2001.
Failure by the Sudanese judiciary to act on Darfur has led the United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) in March 2005 to refer the situation
in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC) after a UN
international commission of inquiry concluded that the Sudanese
judiciary was unwilling or unable to carry out credible prosecutions
in the war ravaged region.
Consequently, the ICC has charged three individuals from the
government, including president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir, South Kordofan
governor Ahmed Haroun and militia leader Ali Kushayb. All three face
charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity but Bashir is also
wanted for genocide in connection with claims that he orchestrated a
campaign to wipe out the African tribes of Fur, Zaghawa and Masaalit
in Darfur.
The Sudanese leader denies any wrongdoing and vehemently criticizes
the Hague-based court as a tool of a Western conspiracy to dismantle
his regime.
Darfur’s war broke out in February 2003 after rebel groups took up
arms against the government, accusing it of marginalising the region
in terms of development, wealth and power sharing.
In response, the government mobilised its forces and waged a brutal
counterinsurgency campaign, leading to the death of 300,000 people and
displacement of 2.7 million, according to UN figures.
(ST)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD
info" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
