FACT SHEET: ICC Prosecutor Issues Request for Arrest Warrant for
Sudanese Defense Minister Hussein
in
Statements
International Institutions
Justice and Accountability
Enough Team
Dec 2, 2011
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Today, the Office of the Prosecutor, led by Luis-Moreno Ocampo, has
requested the International Criminal Court, or ICC, to issue an arrest
warrant for First Lieutenant-General Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein, a
senior Sudanese military officer who served as Minister of the
Interior from 2003 to 2007 and as Minister of Defense since 2007. The
Prosecutor took this action based on the alleged crimes he committed
in Darfur from August 2003 to March 2004 as a senior security official
for the Sudanese regime. The Enough Project welcomes this important
step to end impunity and bring Hussein to justice for war crimes and
crimes against humanity.
Today’s announcement, however, is not only the first step towards
holding another senior Sudanese official responsible for his crimes in
Darfur, but also stands as a reminder to the international community
of the progress that has yet to be made in bringing Sudanese officials
to justice before the ICC. Indeed, in the press release, Ocampo’s
office stated that the public announcement of the request was to
“encourage further public focus on the Government of Sudan policy and
actions, and promote cooperation in taking action to arrest Mr.
Hussein and the 3 other individuals subject to ICC warrants…”[i]
Hussein continues to hold a place at the center of the Sudanese
security apparatus, and the Enough Project believes that he shares
responsibility for the ongoing crimes committed by the regime in
Abyei, Blue Nile and South Kordofan, all of which are outside the
jurisdiction of the ICC. The inability of the ICC to investigate
crimes committed in the Three Areas effectively allows individuals
such as Hussein, and others, to perpetrate crimes in these areas
without international judicial recourse. The international community
should, therefore, immediately explore steps to expand the ICC’s
jurisdiction to include crimes committed in the Three Areas.
This fact sheet explains who Hussein is and where he stands in the
security apparatus of Sudan, sets out the allegations laid against him
by the ICC and describes the crimes for which the Enough Project
believes he shares responsibility in Abyei, Blue Nile and South
Kordofan.
Who is First Lieutenant-General Adbelrahim Mohamed Hussein?
First Lieutenant-General Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein is a member of
the Khartoum “Inner Circle,” a group that includes three Sudanese
officials against whom the ICC has issued arrest warrants,
particularly President Omar al-Bashir and Ahmed Harun, current
Governor of South Kordofan. Hussein served as the Minister of Interior
between 2003 and 2007, during which his mandate included
responsibility for police, the Popular Defense Forces, or PDF, civil
defense, drug control, and prisons. While Interior Minister, Hussein
also served as Special Representative of the President in Darfur. In
these two roles he was in charge of coordinating the efforts of the
police, armed forces, National Security Service, and the Janjaweed
militias incorporated as reservists in Darfur. He also supervised
Ahmed Harun, who reported to Hussein during the period cited in the
request for an arrest warrant.[ii]
As Defense Minister, Hussein has de jure responsibility for command
and deployment of the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF. He is currently
the second highest-ranking individual in SAF, after Bashir himself,
and is the highest-ranking Sudanese official in charge of military
operations. Importantly, Hussein is the highest-ranking member of the
Air Force, which gives him personal command for the deployment of air
assets, as well as the responsibility for the planning and execution
of air force operations.
>From his position in Khartoum’s inner circle, Hussein is alleged to
have played a pivotal role in implementing the regime’s genocidal
“counter-insurgency” strategy in Darfur. As the Minister of Defense,
Hussein adopted in South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Abyei the strategy
and tactics previously used in Darfur. Hussein currently directs the
indiscriminate aerial bombing of civilians, forced mass displacement,
the use of irregular militias against civilian villages, arbitrary
arrest and detention, and extrajudicial killing, just as he did in
Darfur. Alleged crimes committed outside Darfur are not within the
ICC’s jurisdiction as set out by UN Security Council resolution 1593
(2005).
Crimes in Darfur (As set out by the ICC)
Alongside Ahmed Harun, Hussein was allegedly central to the
commission of mass crimes in Darfur.
His direction was pivotal in the implementation of the
“counter-insurgency” operations in Darfur. The attacks on Darfuri
villages followed a consistent pattern: SAF surrounded communities,
the air force used indiscriminate bombing, which was then followed by
foot soldiers—including regular forces and Janjaweed militias—entering
the village and killing, raping, and looting the civilian
population.[iii]
ICC Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo stated, “The evidence shows
that this was a state policy supervised by Mr. Hussein to ensure the
coordination of attacks against civilians.”[iv]
Hussein recruited, mobilized, funded, armed, trained, incited, and
deployed the Janjaweed militias “with the knowledge that these forces
would commit crimes against humanity and war crimes.”[v]
He directed forces that committed murder, rape, torture, inhumane
acts, pillaging, and the forcible transfer of civilian
populations.[vi]
Under his direction, ground and air forces specifically targeted
civilian populations.
Ongoing Crimes in South Kordofan and Blue Nile (Outside the ICC mandate)
Hussein was Defense Minister and in charge of deployment and
utilization of air assets during the period of aerial attacks on
civilian populations, which was pivotal in the implementation of the
Government of Sudan’s “pacification” of rebellions in the Nuba
Mountains of South Kordofan state and Blue Nile state.[vii]
As in Darfur, Hussein and the Government of Sudan are utilizing
the tactic of arming proxy militias.
Again, Hussein paired up with Ahmed Harun, the current the
Governor of South Kordofan.
In both Blue Nile and South Kordofan SAF and irregular forces have
been implicated in extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, illegal
detentions, attacks on civilians, torture, looting and destruction of
private property, aerial bombardments of civilians, and mass
displacement, under the direction of Hussein.[viii]
In South Kordofan, the ethnic Nuba are targeted specifically,
causing some rights groups to accuse the Government of Sudan of ethnic
cleansing.[ix]
The Sudanese air force, which is led by Hussein, has conducted
indiscriminate bombings of civilian villages in South Kordofan and
Blue Nile. SAF Antonovs under Hussein’s direction have been
devastating to the civilian population.[x]
The Government of Sudan is preventing humanitarian access to the
states, causing forced displacement across the border into South Sudan
and Ethiopia.[xi]
Crimes in Abyei (Outside the ICC mandate)
As Sudanese Defense Minister, Hussein directed the use SAF heavy
artillery bombardment to take control of Abyei town and the
surrounding areas.
The bombardment was followed by armed PDF and Misseriya militia
elements, who entered the town and committed mass atrocities against
civilians in a pattern of attack consistent with SAF and militia
operations in Darfur.
SAF tactics caused thousands of civilians to flee their homes.
[i] ICC Press Release, “ICC Prosecutor Presents New Case in Darfur” 2
December 2011.
[ii] Ibid
[iii] Ibid
[iv] Ibid
[v] Ibid
[vi] Ibid
[vii] Sudan Tribune, “ICC prosecutor requests arrest warrant for
Sudan’s defense minister”
http://www.sudantribune.com/ICC-prosecutor-requests-arrest,40887
[accessed 2 December 2011]; Sudan Tribune, “Aerial bombardment in
Sudan’s Blue Nile State driving refugees into Ethiopia, UN”
http://www.sudantribune.com/Aerial-bombardment-in-Sudan-s-Blue,40568
[accessed 2 December 2011]
[viii] UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,
“Preliminary report on violations of international human rights and
humanitarian law in South Kordofan from 5 to 30 June 2011” August 2011
[accessed 1 December 2011]
[ix] Radio Netherlands Worldwide, “Ethnic cleansing of Nuba people in
Sudan: report”
http://www.rnw.nl/international-justice/article/ethnic-cleansing-nuba-people-sudan-report
[accessed 1 December 2011]; Sudan Tribune, “South Kordofan/Nuba
Mountains: Ethnic cleansing once again”
http://www.sudantribune.com/Ethnic-cleansing-once-again,38972
[accessed 2 December 2011]
[x] Enough Project, “Field Dispatch: Refugees from Blue Nile Recount
Atrocities, Government’s Targeting of Civilians”
http://www.enoughproject.org/files/Overview%20Sherkole_0.pdf [accessed
1 December 2011]
[xi] Sudan Tribune, “Acquiescence before mass human destruction in
Sudan’s border regions”
http://www.sudantribune.com/Acquiescence-before-mass-human,40556
[accessed 1 December 2011]
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