Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) last week reversed a decision that prosecutors had not provided sufficient evidence to charge Sudanese President Omar al Bashir on three counts of genocide.

By Thijs Bouwknegt

“The pre-trial chamber is directed to decide anew,” presiding judge Erkki Kourula said, upholding an appeal by ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo.

The pre-trial chamber will now have to rule on whether to add genocide to Bashir’s charge sheet, which already includes seven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, extermination, torture and rape.

Ocampo says the Sudanese leader is responsible for the deaths of 35,000 people - mostly ethnic Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa. Ocampo accepts that there was no indication of an organised military campaign of annihilation but, when there are camps full of refugees, he argues, there are other ways of committing genocide.

“Three weapons: rape, starvation and fear. These are the most efficient methods these days of committing genocide in plain view of the whole world and under international supervision. Bashir is carrying out this genocide without bullets or machetes.”

Ocampo welcomed the decision and said he would present fresh evidence to the court in a second bid to have Bashir charged with genocide. “Expelling humanitarian assistance is a great element of his genocidal intentions,” he told reporters. His advice to Bashir? “Get a lawyer.”

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