The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Monday filed genocide charges against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The charges include masterminding attempts to wipe out African tribes in Darfur with a campaign of murder, rape and deportation.
According to the AP, Luis Moreno-Ocampo is asking a three-judge panel to issue an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir. Moreno-Ocampo conveyed he is undeterred by concern that his indictment might make conditions worse for the refugees and close Sudan's doors to relief agencies and peacekeeping troops.
He said Monday that the genocide is continuing and must be stopped.
The prosecutor said "forces and agents" under the control of Bashir had killed at least 35,000 civilians outright, and caused the "slow death" of 80,000 to 265,000 people, who were displaced from their homes by fighting. "Bashir committed, through other persons, genocide against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups in Darfur, the Sudan, by using the state apparatus, the armed forces and militia/Janjaweed," the document said, according to Reuters.
