Omar Hassan al-Bashir

In October 2004, al-Bashir's government negotiated an end to the Second Sudanese Civil War, one of the longest-running and deadliest wars of the 20th century, by granting limited autonomy to Southern Sudan. Since then, however, his government has been widely criticised for its role in the Darfur conflict. In July 2008, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court accused al-Bashir of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur, and requested that the court issue a warrant for his arrest.^[2]

Background

Al-Bashir was born on January 1, 1944 in the village of Hoshe Bannaga, Sudan, then part of the Kingdom of Egypt and Sudan. He received his primary education there, and his family later moved to Khartoum, where he completed his secondary education. Al-Bashir joined the Sudanese Army at a young age and studied at the Egyptian Military Academy in Cairo. He quickly rose through the ranks and became a paratrooper. Later, al-Bashir served with the Egyptian Army during the October War of 1973.^[3] He is a native speaker of the Arabic language

Al-Bashir is married to his cousin Fatma Khaldid. He also has a second wife named Widad, who had a number of children with her first husband who died in a helicopter crash. Al-Bashir does not have any children of his own.^[4]

Military career

When he returned to the Sudan, Al-Bashir was put in charge of military operations against the Sudan People's Liberation Army in the southern half of the country.^{citation needed} Then a colonel, in 1989 Al-Bashir led a group of army officers in ousting the unstable coalition government of Prime Minister Sadeq al-Mahdi.^[1] Under Al-Bashir's leadership, the new military government suspended political parties and introduced an Islamic legal code on the national level.^[5] He then became Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation (a newly established body with legislative and executive powers for what was described as a transitional period), and assumed the posts of chief of state, prime minister, chief of the armed forces, and minister of defense.^[6]

Governance

On October 16, 1993, Al-Bashir's powers increased when he was appointed president of the country, after which time the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation was dissolved.^{citation needed} The executive and legislative powers of the council were later given to Al-Bashir.^{citation needed} He was later elected president (with a five year term) in the 1996 national election. In 1998, Al-Bashir and the Presidential Committee put into effect a new constitution. In 1999, Al-Bashir and the Parliament made a law which allowed limited political associations in opposition to Al-Bashir and his supporters to be formed, although these groups failed to gain any significant access to governmental power.^{citation needed} On December 12, 1999, Al-Bashir sent troops and tanks against parliament and ousted Hassan al-Turabi, the speaker of parliament, in a palace coup.^[7]

Civil war

Sudan has experienced a civil war that raged between the northern and southern halves of the country for over 19 years. The war resulted in millions of southerners being displaced, starved, and deprived of education and health care.^{citation needed} Because of these actions, various international sanctions were placed on Sudan. International pressure intensified in 2001, however, and leaders from the United Nations called for Al-Bashir to make efforts to end the conflict and allow humanitarian and international workers to deliver relief to the southern regions of Sudan.^{citation needed} Much progress was made throughout 2003, and in early 2004 Al-Bashir agreed to grant autonomy to the south for six years, split the country’s oil revenues with the southern provinces,^[8] and allow the southerners to vote in a referendum of independence at the end of the six year period.^[9]

Darfur conflict

As the conflict in the south of Sudan began to subside, a new conflict started in the western province of Darfur in early 2003. About 300,000 people have died and 5 million people have been forced from their homes, and are still under attack from government-backed Janjaweed militia.^[10]

The United States Government claimed in September 2004 "that genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed bear responsibility and that genocide may still be occurring."^[11] Al-Bashir declared that the government had quashed the rebellion in February 2004, but rebels still operate within the region and the death toll continues to rise.^{citation needed} On June 29, 2004, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Al-Bashir in Sudan and urged him to make peace with the rebels, end the crisis, and lift restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Darfur.^[12] Kofi Annan met with Al-Bashir three days later and demanded that he disarm the Janjaweed.^[13]

A high-level technical consultation was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 11-12 June 2007, pursuant to the 4 June 2007 letters of the Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, which were addressed to President Omar Al-Bashir.^[14] The technical consultations were attended by delegations from the Government of Sudan, the African Union and the United Nations.^[15]

International Criminal Court action

Contents

Background

Military career

Governance

Civil war

Darfur conflict

International Criminal Court action

See also

References

External links