President Bashir is sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. As a Party to the Statute of the International Criminal Court, Kenya has therefore an unconditional obligation to arrest and transfer him to the Court without delay.
"Omar El Bashir is under two ICC arrest warrants. Kenya, which ratified the Statute of the ICC and has publicly pledged to cooperate with the Court, is obliged to arrest and transfer him to The Hague. This arrest would also be a strong signal from the Kenyan authorities of their commitment to deliver justice to victims of the most serious crimes, as the ICC is also conducting an investigation into crimes committed in Kenya" said Souhayr Belhassen, President of FIDH.
The ICC issued 2 arrest warrants against President Bashir : the first in March 2009 for crimes against humanity and war crimes, the second in July 2010 for the crime of genocide. He is accused of the murders of thousands of people, acts of rape and torture and forced displacement of the population of Darfur.
The NGOs insist on the obligation of States parties to the Statute of the ICC, like Kenya, to cooperate with it, and then execute the arrest warrants issued by the Court.
This is the second time that President El Bashir goes to the territory of a State party to the Court since the issuance of arrest warrants. After Chad, last July, Kenya, by not carrying arrest warrants would be an accomplice of the Sudanese regime and the atrocities attributed to him.