Reacting to reports that the authorities in Sudan are considering handing over former President Omar al-Bashir and other indicted individuals to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to answer charges including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in the Darfur region, Julie Verhaar, Amnesty International’s Acting Secretary General, said:

“Omar al-Bashir is wanted by the ICC over the murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape of hundreds of thousands of people during the conflict in Darfur. A decision to hand him over to the court would be a welcome step towards justice for victims and their families – it is a historic outrage that, despite being under arrest warrants for more than a decade, al-Bashir has evaded justice until now.

“The Sudanese authorities should translate these words into action and immediately transfer al-Bashir and other individuals under ICC arrest warrant to The Hague. They should further show that the era of impunity for al-Bashir’s government is over by bringing to justice all other alleged perpetrators of horrific crimes of the previous regime.”