HRF's Gabor Rona Interviewed on Foreign Exchange

Gabor Rona discusses the implications of the ICC's arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al Bashir on the PBS program Foreign Exchange with Daljit Dhaliwal.

International Community Should Back Charges Against Sudan's President, Cease Arms Sales Immediately

In an important step towards justice and peace in Sudan, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese president General Omar al-Bashir, accusing him of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. The Government of Sudan and the international community must take measures to ensure that General al-Bashir and others wanted by the ICC for crimes committed in Darfur are surrendered to the Court without delay. Members of the international community that continue to arm the Government of Sudan should stop immediately in recognition of the gravity of the ICC's charges.

Press statement 

Why was genocide not included in the ICC’s charges? 

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Human Rights Should be a Priority for the U.S. in Asia

In a letter, Human Rights First calls on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to raise human rights defenders, arms transfers to Sudan, and other important human rights issues in Indonesia and China during her visit to Asia. 

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How to Stop Arms to Sudan

HRF blueprint for the new administration sets out a three-stage strategy to halt the flow of arms fueling the crisis in Darfur.

Read the Press release
Read the Blueprint (PDF)

HRF Briefs the Security Council Sanctions Committee on Darfur Arms Embargo

Read the full written submission

Read the press release.

Urge President Bush to Press Chinese President Hu to Immediately Stop Arms Sales to Sudan

The Campaign to Stop Arms to Sudan

"The quest for peace will always be obstructed when there is an abundance of arms.  More effective efforts must be made to end the arms flow to Darfur, in accordance with the UN embargo."

Jan Eliasson United Nation Secretary General's Special Envoy for Darfur, reporting to the Security Council, June 2008

After 5 years of armed conflict, Darfur is awash with weapons. Today belligerents to the conflict and their support networks continue to transfer weapons into the region freely, despite a United Nations arms embargo that was established in 2004.  Attacks against civilians, humanitarian aid workers, and international peacekeepers are increasing in Darfur, stark proof of the impact of these weapons.  The accessibility of arms and related materiel are also a serious impediment to the peace process as they sustain the ability of belligerents to keep on fighting. 

Human Rights First's "Stop Arms to Sudan" campaign seeks to end the transfer of weapons through unilateral and multilateral action. We are urging the Security Council to enforce the existing Darfur arms embargo and expand it to cover all of Sudan as well as rebel groups operating in Eastern Chad.  We are also pressing all countries to immediately stop selling arms to the Government of Sudan and work to ensure that others do the same.  By stemming the flow of arms to Darfur, the international community will help create the conditions under which peace is possible, while sending a strong message to all parties that further violence against civilians will not be tolerated.

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Countries Shipping Arms to the Government of Sudan May Violate Genocide Convention

The Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo, has charged Sudanese president Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for atrocities committed in Darfur. This is the first time a sitting head-of-state has been charged with genocide. The Prosecutor's Office began investigating the situation in Darfur more than three years ago after the United Nations Security Council referred the situation by way of a legally binding resolution.

The charge of genocide means that counties providing arms to Sudan may be violating the Genocide Convention by failing to take action to prevent it. Last year the International Court of Justice ruled in the case Bosnia v Serbia that if a country learns that there is a serious risk of genocide, and it subsequently "fail[s] to take all measures to prevent genocide which were within its power, and which might have contributed to preventing the genocide," it may be legally liable for this failure under the 1949 Genocide Convention.

China and Russia are the leading countries providing arms to Sudan. Human Rights First issued a report in March detailing China's relationship with the Government of Sudan and its large weapons transfers to Khartoum. These transfers continue between China and Sudan in spite of a legally binding United Nations Security Council arms embargo placed on Darfur. Today, the BBC investigative program Panorama will feature a story about China's arms transfers to Sudan, including evidence of Chinese weapons entering Darfur in violation to the arms embargo.

The ICC Prosecutor's charge of genocide is not an indictment by the Court. The case now rests with the Court's Pre-Trial Chamber, which will assess whether there are reasonable grounds to indict President Bashir with any of the charges brought fouth by the Prosecutor and issue a warrant for his arrest.

Regardless, countries now have knowledge that President Bashir may be committing genocide, so their obligation to prevent gencoide under the Genocide Convention kicks in. Therefore, countries transferring arms to the Government of Sudan, such as China and Russia, should immediately stop as arms are the tools that fuel the ongoing violence in Darfur.