Sudan Arrests Militia Chief Indicted by ICC

On October 13, 2008, Sudanese officials announced that the Sudanese government has arrested Ali Kushayb, a notorious Janjaweed militia leader charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with conspiracy to commit mass murder in Darfur. Human Rights Watch charged that his arrest was merely a ploy to undermine the ICC investigations. In 2007, the ICC charged Ali Kushayb with crimes against humanity and requested that Sudan surrender him. Sudan refused and denied that he had done anything wrong. However, now Sudan has arrested him. Rabie Atti, a government spokesman, would not disclose where he was being kept or whether the government would surrender him to the ICC. Rabie has said Sudan is investigating Al Kushayb to determine whether he has committed crimes in Darfur or not...[more]