Ahmed Haroun
Encyclopedia
Ahmed Mohammed Haroun is one of three Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

ese men wanted by the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...

 (ICC) for war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...

s and crimes against humanity
Crime against humanity
Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings...

 in Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...

. Despite international pressure on the government of Sudan to surrender him to the ICC, Haroun served as Sudan's Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs until May 2009 when he was appointed to the governorship of South Kordofan. In September 2007, he was appointed to lead an investigation into human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 violations in Darfur.

Background

Born in 1964, Haroun is from the state of North Kordofan. He comes from the Bargo tribe in western Sudan. He trained as a lawyer and at one time he was Sudan's youngest minister of state.
He also accused in participating in mobilizing and training of tribal fighters to attack civilians during the counterinsurgency in South Sudan. He also participated in the mobilization of the Murahileen militia and the conduct of military operations in Kordofan during the 1990s.

During the time Haroun served as the Minister of State for the Interior, from April 2003 to September 2005, he also managed the Darfur Security Desk, which coordinated different government bodies involved in the counterinsurgency campaign in Darfur, such as the police, the Janjaweed
Janjaweed
The Janjaweed is a blanket term used to describe mostly gunmen in Darfur, western Sudan, and now eastern Chad...

, the Armed Forces
Military of Sudan
The Sudanese Armed Forces numbers, according to 2007 IISS estimates, 104,800 members supported by 17,500 paramilitary personnel.It comprises Land Forces, a Navy, an Air Force, and the Popular Defence Force. It has also formed Joint Integrated Units with its rebel enemies the Sudan People's...

, and the Intelligence Service
Intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defence. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...

. This department also managed access of NGOs and the media to Darfur. From 2006 until 2009, he was the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs.

Alleged criminal activity in Darfur

Haroun allegedly recruited, funded and armed the Janjaweed militia, and incited attacks against civilian populations.

Forces under his command have been accused on targeting the towns of Kodoom, Bindisi, Mukjar, Arawala and surrounding areas during 2003 and 2004, even though these towns were apparently devoid of rebel presence and the civilian population was not taking part in hostilities. According to BBC News, Haroun ordered
Command responsibility
Command responsibility, sometimes referred to as the Yamashita standard or the Medina standard, and also known as superior responsibility, is the doctrine of hierarchical accountability in cases of war crimes....

 the militia to kill, rape, and torture civilians. Haroun has denied the accusations, and was quoted as saying the violence "never happened in the first place."
Haroun was reported as having said that since the "children of the Fur had become rebels, 'all the Fur' had become 'booty' for the Janjaweed." After his speech, the Janjaweed militia, under the command of Ali Kushayb
Ali Kushayb
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, commonly known as Ali Kushayb, is a former senior Janjaweed commander supporting the Sudanese government against Darfur rebel groups, and currently is sought under an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. He was known as aqid al oqada ...

, looted the towns between Bindisi and Mukjar, and terrorized civilians.

Haroun supposedly declared in one of his meetings that as the head of security he had the authority to eliminate or pardon anyone in order to maintain peace and safety.
In August 2003, Haroun was further accused of the forcible transfer of about 20,000 civilians, primarily Fur people
Fur people
The Fur are an ethnic group from western Sudan, principally inhabiting the region of Darfur where they are the largest tribe....

, from the Kodoom villages and surrounding areas. News reports also allege that Haroun and fellow Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kushayb
Ali Kushayb
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, commonly known as Ali Kushayb, is a former senior Janjaweed commander supporting the Sudanese government against Darfur rebel groups, and currently is sought under an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. He was known as aqid al oqada ...

 forced the displacement of 34,000 civilians in March 2008 from their homes. Haroun was also accused of pressuring displaced persons to leave displacement camps, and in doing so placed women and children at risk of attacks and malnutrition.

The ICC warrants and their aftermath

On 27 April 2007, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Haroun and Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kushayb
Ali Kushayb
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, commonly known as Ali Kushayb, is a former senior Janjaweed commander supporting the Sudanese government against Darfur rebel groups, and currently is sought under an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. He was known as aqid al oqada ...

. The court accused Haroun of 20 counts of crimes against humanity
Crime against humanity
Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings...

 and 22 counts of war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...

s, including murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

, persecution, forcible transfer of population, rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

, inhumane acts, imprisonment or severe deprivation of liberty, torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

, attacks against the civilian population, destruction of property, pillaging, and outrage upon personal dignity.

The Sudanese government has refused to surrender Haroun to the ICC, saying he had no links to the Janjaweed. Sudan, which is not a party to the ICC, has argued that the court has no jurisdiction over the case and that the possible crimes were a matter for the Sudanese judicial system.

Despite international calls for his arrest, Haroun continued to serve as Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs (which is a post below the full ministerial
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....

 level). In this role, Haroun oversaw Darfur's two million internally displaced person
Internally displaced person
An internally displaced person is someone who is forced to flee his or her home but who remains within his or her country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the current legal definition of a refugee. At the end of 2006 it was estimated there were...

s. Aid agencies have accused him of hindering their efforts to bring relief to the displaced.
In September 2007, the Sudanese government announced that Haroun would lead an investigation into human rights abuses in Darfur. The Sudanese government has also appointed Haroun to be a member of its committee overseeing the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur
United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur
The African Union – United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur is a joint African Union and United Nations peacekeeping mission formally approved by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1769 on July 31, 2007, to bring stability to the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan while peace talks on a...

 (UNAMID), thus influencing the deployment of peacekeepers in Darfur.

As a result of the escalating crisis in the state of Abyei
Abyei
The Abyei Area is an area of in Sudan accorded "special administrative status" by the 2004 Protocol on the resolution of the Abyei conflict in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War. The capital of Abyei Area is Abyei Town...

 in the first week of 2011, the UN decided to fly Ahmad Haroun to the province. He was seen as the only suitable mediator at the time. The International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...

 is not a part of the UN, but the UN have promised to cooperate with the ICC, and the action made by the UN - although pragmatic - has proved controversial.

Governor of South Kordofan

Haroun defeated Abdelaziz al-Hilu
Abdelaziz al-Hilu
Abdelaziz Adam al-Hilu is a Sudan People's Liberation Army commander in the state of South Kordofan. He lost the election for governor of South Kordofan to Ahmed Haroun in a poll rejected by the SPLA as rigged. He is fighting the Sudan People's Armed Forces in the South Kordofan conflict....

 of the SPLA to become the governor of South Kordofan in an election rejected by the SPLA as rigged.

See also

  • Darfur conflict
    Darfur conflict
    The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...

  • International criminal law
    International criminal law
    International criminal law is a body of international law designed to prohibit certain categories of conduct commonly viewed as serious atrocities and to make perpetrators of such conduct criminally accountable for their perpetration. Principally, it deals with genocide, war crimes, crimes against...

  • Cases before the International Criminal Court#Darfur, Sudan
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