ICC Note: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir carries a warrant for his arrest from the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity, but that hasn’t stopped him from freely traveling around Africa. He attended the inauguration of Ugandan head-of-state Yoweri Museveni who has maintained power for more than 30 years, at Uganda’s request. Museveni openly mocked the Court, prompting Western diplomats to walk out. Bashir stands charged with crimes associated with the Darfur genocide. His administration has also become notorious for locking up Christian pastors arbitrarily and holding them incommunicado for long periods of time. Sudanese Pastor Hassan Abduraheem Taour remains imprisoned in Khartoum after hard line Islamist intelligence officials arrested him in December. Taour still waits to face charges and Sudan affords him paltry contact with the outside world.
By Carol Morello
5/17/16 Kampala, Uganda (Washington Post) – For a man with an international arrest warrant hanging over his head on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir gets around.
In March, he flew to Indonesia to attend a summit of Muslim countries and to Egypt for an investment forum. He visited Ethiopia in January and plans another trip there this weekend.
But his Thursday stop in Uganda prompted a minor diplomatic flap when he attended the inauguration of President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power for 30 years. Museveni introduced Bashir onstage, giving a backhand to the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president in 2009 for alleged war crimes in Darfur.
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