On May 2, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued two arrest warrants for Sudanese leaders accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. Previously, on February 27, the ICC Prosecutor asked a pre-trial chamber to summon appearances from Ahmad Muhammad Harun, former interior minister in charge of Darfur and current minister of humanitarian affairs, and Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al Rahman (alias Ali Kushyab), former janjaweed militia leader. At the time, Professor Antonio Cassese told IJT [IJT-63] that the Prosecutor's request for subpoenas "doesn't make sense" and predicted the pre-trial chamber would issue arrest warrants instead. The chamber did just that, noting "there is reasonable cause to believe that these people will not present themselves voluntarily before the Court." If, as is likely, Khartoum fails to arrest these two suspects, the Prosecutor will have the option of referring Sudan to the UN Security Council. These new arrest warrants come on top of five outstanding warrants for the leadership of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda. So far, ICC warrants have led to only one arrest: former Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, whose trial is supposed to start this year in The Hague.















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