On Sept. 20, Amnesty International (AI) called upon members of the UN to demand Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir turn himself in to the International Criminal Court (ICC), where he faces charges for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide allegedly committed during the Darfur conflict. Al-Bashir has continually ignored the charges against him and is still being protected by the Sudanese government. AI is calling for the international community to come together in cooperation with the ICC in order to bring al-Bashir to justice. Despite the warrants for his arrest, al-Bashir has reportedly applied for a US visa in order to attend the 68th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

This is the latest development in the on-going attempt to arrest al-Bashir. The ICC has faced difficulties in enforcing its arrest warrant against al-Bashir, in part because of the lack of support by neighbor states. In July, the ICC urged Nigeria to arrest al-Bashir while he was in their jurisdiction. In June 2012 former ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said that economic of other aid should be refused to those countries that assist al-Bashir in evading the arrest warrant that was issued against him in 2010. The ICC reported Kenya and Chad in August 2010 for failing to arrest al-Bashir when he visited those country. In July 2010 the ICC charged al-Bashir with three counts of genocide.

From Jurist, Sept. 21. Used with permission.