Sudan: President Bashir should not be shielded from jusice

Responding to Sudan’s President Omar El Bashir’s recent visit to Egypt, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Irene Khan said:

"Egypt and other members of the League of Arab States should not shield President Bashir from international justice. His presence in Egypt should have been an opportunity to enforce the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.

"By declaring that President Bashir has immunity from the arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the League has undermined international law which provides no such immunity for anyone, even a serving head of state, for such grave crimes."

Since the ICC handed down the arrest warrant on 4 March, President Omar El Bashir has visited Egypt and Eritrea. He is scheduled to travel to Somalia today and to Qatar next week for an Arab summit.

Irene Khan continued:

“The League was right to demand international justice for war crimes and other serious violations of international law committed during the recent conflict in Gaza. They should apply a similar standard to crimes committed in Sudan”.

Amnesty International is calling on all members of the international community to ensure full accountability for crimes under international law committed in Sudan and wherever else they occur.