"Abdalla Hamdok" by Ola A .Alsheikh is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 
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PGA welcomes the landmark decision taken unanimously by Sudan’s Cabinet to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), of which Sudan has been a signatory since 2000. As a next step, the decision must be approved by the ruling Sovereign Council, a joint military-civilian body that is the country’s highest transitional authority. Such approval would pave the way for Sudan to become the 124th State Party to the Rome Statute.
The announcement, which represents a significant step in the road towards achieving peace and stability in the new Sudan, including the Darfur region, follows a unanimous decision taken by the Cabinet in June 2020, to hand former officials indicted for crimes against humanity, genocide or war crimes committed in Darfur to the ICC. As affirmed by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, “[j]ustice and accountability are a solid foundation of the new, rule of law-based Sudan” that the transitional Government is “striving to build”.
This important historic decision sends a strong signal that the Sudan's transitional institutions have begun building solid foundations for democracy and the rule of law through the affirmation of the imperative of "never again". I applaud the demonstration of this powerful commitment of the new, democratic Sudan, aimed at empowering all victims of atrocity-crimes committed in the context of repressions and conflicts caused by the previous dictatorial regime. PGA strongly supports the universality of the Rome Statute in order to fulfill the inalienable right of victims to justice, truth and reparations. Ms. Margareta Cederfelt, MP (Sweden), PGA President
PGA has worked since 2008 with Sudanese lawmakers and human rights activists, including representatives of Darfuri refugees and diaspora, to counter the anti-ICC propaganda of the regime of former President of Sudan Mr. Omar al-Bashir, who has been subject to two arrest warrants issued by the ICC in 2009 and 2010 for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The former regime campaign against international justice spurred ramifications at the African Union (AU) level and resulted in the decision of the AU not to cooperate with the ICC with respect to the case against al-Bashir. The decision was taken in violation of UNSC Res. 1593 (2005) which not only granted the ICC the jurisdiction over the situation - despite Sudan not being a State Party to the Rome Statute - but also imposed an obligation on the State of Sudan and all other parties to the conflict in Darfur to fully cooperate with the ICC. Furthermore, through the decision, the AU attempted to bring about a retrogressive development of the international legal framework to disregard the principle of the irrelevance of official capacity (“no-immunities principle”) for the persons at the top of the chain of command who bear the greatest responsibility for international crimes.
Following the arrest of Mr. al-Bashir on 11 April 2019, Sudanese authorities agreed in February 2020 to transfer Mr. al-Bashir and other persons indicted for international crimes by the ICC to The Hague to face justice. At the domestic level, Mr. al-Bashir was convicted in December 2019 for corruption and has been on trial since July 2020 for the 1989 coup d’Etat that brought him to power.
In the lead-up to the arrest, PGA conducted advocacy with colleagues from victims’ rights organizations, including from several African NGOs, and urgently called for the immediate surrender of Mr. al-Bashir and all other Sudanese individuals charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and/or war crimes in Darfur to the ICC so that victims of atrocities can begin the process of achieving justice. PGA will continue working with Sudanese civil society and with the transitional institutions, including the Transitional Legislative Council - currently in the forming process- on the full domestic implementation of the Rome Statute.
Background of the situation
The situation in Darfur (Sudan) was referred to the ICC on 31 March 2005 by the UN Security Council through its Resolution 1593, which called for all UN member states to fully cooperate with the ICC. Thereafter, the ICC issued two arrest warrants against the then President of Sudan, Mr. al-Bashir on 4 March 2009 and 12 July 2010. Mr. al-Bashir was charged with five counts of crimes against humanity, two counts of war crimes, and three counts of genocide. The charges include the crimes of murder, extermination, forcible transfer of population, torture, rape, attacks against civilians and pillaging.
These charges stem from the conflict in Darfur, in western Sudan, which flared in 2003 when rebel groups in Darfur took up arms against the government, resulting in a counter-insurgency by government forces and pro-government militia, controlled by the central Government. The United Nations estimates that the conflict in Darfur has resulted in the deaths of approximately 300,000 people and forced over 2.7 million people to flee their homes.
After several months of sustained street protests, Mr. al-Bashir was peacefully overthrown in April 2019 and replaced by the Transitional Military Council (TMC). Following further protests and the 3 June 2019 Khartoum massacre, the TMC and the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) alliance agreed on 5 July 2019 to a 39-month transition process to return to democracy, including the creation of executive, legislative and judicial institutions and procedures. The period is scheduled to end in November 2022.
In October 2020, Sudan’s transitional government signed a peace agreement with several armed groups. On 8 February 2021, a new Cabinet in Khartoum has been formed, marking an opportunity for political reform in the country and creating political consensus-building and equitable decision-making in Sudan.
PGA included the situation in Sudan in the agenda of its November 2020 session of the Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians on the ICC and the Rule of Law (CAP ICC), through which the global PGA network expressed strong support for a transition to democracy in Sudan based on truth-finding and accountability, including full cooperation with the ICC.