This morning, the International Criminal Court issued the first summons for suspected perpetrators of war crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked pre-trial judges to issue summonses for Ahmed Haroun, state interior minister during the height of the Darfur conflict, and militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb.
Haroun is currently Sudan’s state humanitarian affairs minister, a post below the full ministerial level. Ali Kushayb was a commander of the Janjaweed militia, who prosecutors said led attacks on towns and villages, where dozens were killed.
Sudan has yet to comment on the finding. Naturally, as with other cases, the responsibility to arrest or deliver the summons will lie with the government of Sudan.