Kenya issues warrant for Sudan’s Bashir

A Kenyan judge issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir on Monday for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

The decision comes after the Kenyan government defied the International Criminal Court in August when it failed to arrest Bashir during his visit to Kenya, the BBC reported. He had travelled to Nairobi to mark the adoption of Kenya’s new constitution.

The court’s ruling means the Sudanese president’s arrest should be executed “should he ever set foot in Kenya,” Judge Nicolas Ombija said, according to the Telegraph.

Kenya has signed on to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC in 2002. However, the country, like many other African countries, has refused to enforce the ICC warrant.

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The International Commission of Jurists in Kenya acted on the case after it was brought to the court by a non-governmental organization, according to RTT News. The court’s executive director had been a strong critic of the Kenyan government when it had failed to honor the ICC’s arrest warrant issued in 2009 for Bashir.

Bashir is the only sitting head of state wanted by the ICC for war crimes. He is accused of ordering a brutal campaign of violence in Darfur during the seven-year long conflict in the western region of the country.