\n Driven from power after months of nationwide protests, Sudan's former strongman Omar al-Bashir has been held in the capital's grim Kober prison on a series of charges filed by prosecutors.\n<\/p>\n
\n Those charges range from corruption to killing protesters, and on June 16 Bashir appeared before a prosecutor.\n<\/p>\n
\n But the most serious indictments facing him have been filed by the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).\n<\/p>\n
\n They include war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide for his alleged role in the war in Darfur.\n<\/p>\n
\n The question remains whether Bashir will ever face the ICC for the crimes allegedly committed during his ironfisted 30 year rule.\n<\/p>\n
\n - What charges does he face? -\n<\/p>\n
\n The army ousted Bashir on April 11 following protests that first erupted in December against a tripling of bread prices.\n<\/p>\n
\n The veteran leader was accused of corruption, illegal possession of foreign currency, acquiring wealth illegally, financing terrorism, and wrongly ordering a state of emergency, according to prosecutors and state media.\n<\/p>\n
\n The ruling generals who seized power after deposing Bashir have said that more than $113 million (99 million euros) worth of cash in three currencies were seized from his residence.\n<\/p>\n
\n If he is tried and found guilty of corruption, Bashir could face a \"sentence of up to 10 years in prison,\" according to leading Sudanese lawyer Nabil Adib.\n<\/p>\n
\n In May, the former president was also accused of \"inciting and participating in the killing of protesters\" during mass demonstrations that led to his fall.\n<\/p>\n
\n Sudan's public prosecutor has also said Bashir had been questioned for money laundering and financing terrorism.\n<\/p>\n
\n None of these charges have come to court yet and there is no official information on the progress of these cases. Bashir's lawyer did not respond when contacted by AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n - What happened in Darfur? -\n<\/p>\n
\n Adib said the charges filed by Sudanese prosecutors pale in comparison to those by the ICC.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Sudanese \"investigation should have been directed first to the most serious crimes,\" he said, referring to the ICC charges.\n<\/p>\n
\n The ICC has issued several warrants for Bashir's arrest.\n<\/p>\n
\n The conflict in Darfur erupted in 2003 when ethnic African rebels took up arms against Bashir's Arab-dominated government, accusing it of marginalising the region economically and politically.\n<\/p>\n
\n The United Nations says the conflict has left more than 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced, with hundreds of thousands still living in miserable and impoverished camps more than a decade and a half later.\n<\/p>\n
\n The ICC contends that Bashir \"played an essential role in coordinating\" the design and implementation of the brutal counter-insurgency campaign in the region.\n<\/p>\n
\n The forces mobilised by Bashir in Darfur are also accused of a wide range of crimes, including raping thousands of women, pillaging towns and villages, and torturing and forcibly transferring people, according to the ICC.\n<\/p>\n
\n The ICC has for years demanded that Bashir stand trial, and has renewed its call since his fall.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Could politics obstruct justice? -\n<\/p>\n
\n Sudan's ruling generals have declined to hand Bashir over to the ICC.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rights groups accuse the deputy chief of the new military council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, of committing atrocities in Darfur.\n<\/p>\n
\n Dagalo heads the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has its origins in the notorious Janjaweed militias mobilised by Khartoum to fight the Darfuri rebels.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Many human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, have documented all these war crimes\" committed by the militiamen since 2003, said Amnesty's Sudan researcher Ahmed Elzobier.\n<\/p>\n
\n For the victims of Darfur, bringing Bashir to trial would be highly symbolic.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"These people have lost their relatives -- their sons and daughters, mothers, and fathers during the war,\" Elzobier said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"They also want to see some justice to be done, then after that Sudan can move to reconciliation.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n One ray of hope for holding Bashir accountable is the possibility of a civilian government coming to power in Sudan, experts say.\n<\/p>\n
\n Authorities would then be able to seek ICC approval to try Bashir in Sudanese courts, according to Adib.\n<\/p>\n
\n Another option could be setting up hybrid tribunals comprised of Sudanese and international judges, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Driven from power after months of nationwide protests, Sudan's former strongman Omar al-Bashir has been held in the capital's grim Kober prison on a series of charges filed by prosecutors. Those charges range from corruption to killing protesters, and on June 16 Bashir appeared before a prosecutor. But the most serious indictments facing him have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-41786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n