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South African Judge Orders Sudan President Omar Al-Bashir Detainment Over ICC Arrest Warrant
South African Judge Orders Sudan President Omar Al-Bashir Detainment Over ICC Arrest Warrant
International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has said South Africa is under a legal
obligation to arrest al-Bashir and surrender him to the court. Her office has been in touch with
South African authorities on the Sudanese president's reported visit.
If al-Bashir is not arrested, the matter will be reported to the court's assembly of states and the
United Nations Security Council, which first referred the case of Sudan's Darfur region to the
International Criminal Court in 2005, she said.
The charges against al-Bashir, who took power in a 1989 coup and was reelected earlier this year,
stem from reported atrocities in the conflict in Darfur, in which 300,000 people were killed and 2
million displaced in the government's campaign, according to United Nations figures.
He has visited Malawi, Kenya, Chad and Congo in the last few years, all of which are ICC member
states. The ICC doesn't have any powers to compel countries to arrest him and can only tell them