Khartoum, Sudan
The International Criminal Court this week issued its first indictments for war crimes in Darfur, where at least 200,000 people have been killed in a campaign the U.S. calls genocide. The court indicted former Interior Minister Ahmed Muhammad Harun and Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kushayb of crimes including mass murder, summary executions, and mass rape. The Sudanese government sneered at the charges. “All the evidence the prosecutor referred to is lies given to him by people who bear arms against the state,” said Justice Minister Mohamed Ali al-Mardi. Leaders among Darfur’s estimated 2 million displaced people praised the indictments but said that Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir should also be named. The U.N. has accused the Sudanese government of arming the Arab militias that have been conducting mass rapes and killings in Darfur for four years.
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