Amnesty urges Sudan’s military to extradite ousted al-Bashir

CAIRO – Amnesty International is urging Sudan’s military rulers to hand over longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court to stand trial for war crimes and genocide linked to the Darfur conflict.

Amnesty’s statement on Friday — just two days before al-Bashir is to go on trial on corruption charges before a Khartoum court — says the former president “has evaded justice for far too long.”

The ICC first issued an arrest warrant for him a decade ago.

The statement quotes Amnesty’s Joan Nyanyuki as saying that while al-Bashir’s trial in Khartoum “is a positive step … he remains wanted for heinous crimes committed against the Sudanese people.”

Al-Bashir was overthrown in April but Sudan’s military rulers have said he would not be extradited to the ICC in The Hague.