For the first time since the crisis in Darfur erupted in 2003, the finger of blame for the atrocities committed there has been pointed straight at the heart of the Sudanese government. By naming Ahmed Haroun — a former state minister of interior — as one of two people suspected of committing war crimes in Darfur, prosecutors for the International Criminal Court (ICC) have put Khartoum on trial.
Throughout the past four years of conflict, the Sudanese authorities have consistently distanced themselves from Darfur’s atrocities. As violence swept western Sudan, ministers said the clashes were tribal and that they had no control over or link to those responsible. The Janjaweed militia, the so-called ”devils on horseback”, were outlaws and bandits, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir said, as hundreds of villages burned, hundreds of thousands of people died and millions were displaced.
As state minister for the interior, Haroun had responsibility for the Darfur region. According to Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Haroun was also responsible for the recruitment, funding and arming of Janjaweed militia. Ocampo says he has evidence that money and weapons were distributed on Haroun’s many visits to Darfur.
”They targeted civilians based on the rationale that they were supporters of the rebel forces,” Ocampo said. ”The evidence shows that on several occasions Ahmed Haroun incited the militia to carry out such attacks.”
During 2003 and 2004, while Haroun was in office, it is estimated that more than a 100 000 people were killed and a million people were driven from their homes. Mass rape became a common tool of war as the militia cleared large parts of Darfur’s vast arid landscape.
Fifty-one charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes are being brought against Haroun and his fellow suspect, a militia leader called Ali Kushayb.
At the peak of his powers Ali Kushayb was one of Darfur’s most powerful commanders. A so-called ”colonel of colonels”, Kushayb commanded thousands of men by mid-2003. According to the ICC, Kushayb ordered his men to commit mass rape, kill and torture the local population.
Under its terms of reference, the ICC can only step in when a country’s judiciary has proven unwilling or incapable of putting people on trial.
Sudan says its system is more than capable, but it was condemned by the United Nations’s commission of inquiry as lacking ”authority, credibility and the willingness to effectively punish and prosecute the perpetrators of the alleged crimes that continue to exist in Darfur”.
Sudan has since given only very limited cooperation to the ICC’s investigation. After suspects were announced this week, Sudan’s justice minister made it clear that there was no question of handing over the men.
”The International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction for the trial of any Sudanese national,” Ali al-Mardi said. ”We would never accept that any Sudanese national stand trial outside the national legal framework, even if he was among those who took up arms and fought against the government.”
Haroun is now minister of state for humanitarian affairs. Speaking in Khartoum to a local newspaper, he said the evidence against him was very weak, but that if he did ever go to trial that he would conduct himself with dignity.
”I think I have a case that I am capable of defending despite my mistrust of the international justice system.” Haroun said, ”However, the example set by Saddam Hussein is one that any person would wish to emulate if they have an ounce of pride.”
For aid workers in Sudan the allegations against Haroun have thrown up an ethical dilemma. Agencies have to work closely with the humanitarian affairs ministry to get visas and permits to work in Darfur. Should they now sit down and discuss how best to help Darfur’s victims with the man the ICC thinks is a key orchestrator of the violence?
At a press conference in Khartoum, Taye Zerihoun, the acting head of the UNs system in Sudan, said internal discussions within the UN were taking place and legal advice may be sought.
For the humanitarian operation — the world’s largest — the fear is that this latest confrontation between Sudan and the international community will translate into heightened tensions on the ground. Access to Darfur’s two million displaced people is already heavily restricted by fighting and relations between local authorities and aid workers are often strained.