Agencies
Darfur24 Jan29
The US State Department included the former Sudanese Minister of State for the Interior, Ahmed Mohamed Haroun, in the war crimes rewards program and allocated five million dollars to anyone who provides information about his whereabouts.
Through the program, the Ministry offers rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest, transfer, or conviction of those wanted for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.
Ahmed Haroun is one of those wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur during the period 2003-2004. He is also considered the second Sudanese figure to be included by Washington in the reward programs after announcing a few days ago that the same reward would be allocated to anyone who provides information about the Sudanese Islamic leader. Abdel Basset Hamza, accused of financing activities of the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas”.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement on Monday that Haroun is accused of recruiting, mobilizing, financing, and arming the notorious Janjaweed militia, a former militia of the Rapid Support Forces, and participating in atrocities, including murder, rape, torture, forced population transfer, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
He added, “It is of the utmost importance that Haroun is found and that he appears before the International Criminal Court to face the charges against him.”
The American statements coincided with a report submitted by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, in which he called on the Security Council to activate Resolution 1593 issued in 2005, with the Sudanese government cooperating with the court and handing over the wanted persons.
Haroun appeared months ago in cities in eastern Sudan, where he is accused of mobilizing a large number of supporters of the former regime to fight alongside the army that is waging a war against the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum and a number of Darfur and Kordofan states.
The US State Department spokesman stressed that lasting peace in Sudan requires achieving justice for the victims and holding those responsible for human rights violations, past and present, accountable.
He added, “There is a clear and direct relationship between impunity for the violations committed under the Bashir regime, including those that Haroun was accused of committing, and the violence in Darfur today.”
He added, “In fact, we are witnessing some of the same perpetrators victimizing some of the same communities in ways that constitute an ominous reminder of the horror that was unleashed twenty years ago.”