June 15, 2015

Will South Africa keep Sudan's president Al-Bashir in the country?

located:	South Africa, Sudan
editor:	Murat Suner

Sudan's leader Omar al-Bashir, is currently the only head of government who faces war crimes charges, which were issued in 2009 by the the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

According to the Pretoria High Court, President Bashir, in Johannesburg for an African Union (AU) summit, must stay until it rules on Monday on whether he should be handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Al-Bashir is accused of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide during the Darfur conflict. About 400,000 people have died and more than two million have fled their homes since rebels took up arms in 2003, the UN says.

According to the BBC, there are tensions between the ICC and the AU, with some on the continent accusing the court of unfairly targeting Africans. The warrants against Mr Bashir, who denies the allegations, have restricted his overseas travel. He has, however, visited friendly states in Africa and the Middle East.

Nevertheless, South Africa has twice before threatened to arrest al-Bashir reports CNN: in 2009 ahead of President Jacob Zuma's inauguration and in 2010 before the World Cup, according to the Southern Africa Litigation Centre. He attended neither event, according to news reports.

Avaaz has set up a petition, which we are referring to in our today's petition post.

Image: QZ/REUTERS/Stringer