Proving the Intent to Commit Genocide in the Case of Omar Al Bashir

Abstract

On 12 July 2010 the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court issued a second warrant of arrest against the Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir. The warrant of arrest contains, among other crimes, three counts of genocide. This paper ponders whether President Al Bashir and the Government of Sudan acted with intent to commit genocide. The first section of this paper analyses whether there are protected groups targeted by the government in Darfur. The author proposes the use of a subjective criteria to determine whether the groups could be considered as ethnic groups. The second section of this paper concentrates on the definition of the intent to commit the crime of genocide, addressing the difficulties of proof the Prosecutor will encounter in such a trial against Al Bashir. The author concluded that, according to the information available to date, there is no evidence that the Sudanese government acted with genocidal intent in Darfur. Nevertheless, that should not stop the international community from taking action against the atrocities committed in Darfur.