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Dictator Omar al-Bashir during his time in power
Photo: ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP
The fall of the Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir was two years ago. Now the government in Sudan will extradite him and other suspects to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The ICC accuses al-Bashir of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur conflict. The Sudanese cabinet has decided to extradite the suspects wanted by The Hague, said Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi, according to the state news agency Suna.
After three decades in power, the authoritarian head of state al-Bashir was overthrown in April 2019 after months of protests.
In August of the same year, a transitional government took over government in Khartoum.
Al-Bashir was convicted of corruption in December 2019 and was on trial in Khartoum from July 2020 for the 1989 coup that brought him to power.
The arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court is mainly based on crimes that have been committed in the Darfur conflict, which has been going on since 2003.
At that time, various ethnic groups had revolted against al-Bashir's rule.
According to the UN, 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million people displaced.
Al-Bashir primarily took action against the insurgents by sending the notorious Janjawid militias.
Under orders from Khartoum, the Arab equestrian militias are said to have committed systematic human rights crimes, including rape, indiscriminate killings, looting and arson.
The ICC had long sought the Sudanese government to extradite the former president and his colleagues in order to bring them to justice.
Foreign Minister al-Mahdi announced the renditions to The Hague during a meeting with the new attorney general of the court, Karim Khan, during his visit to Khartoum.
muk / AFP