Omar al-Bashir

"al-Bashir" redirects here. For other people with the name, see Bashir.

His Excellency
Field Marshal
Omar al-Bashir
عمر البشير
Al-Bashir in 2009
4th President of Sudan
In office
16 October 1993 – 11 April 2019
Prime Minister
See list
Vice President
See list
Preceded byHimself as Chairman of the RCC
Succeeded byAhmed Awad Ibn Auf
(as Chairman of the Transitional Military Council)
Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation
In office
30 June 1989 – 16 October 1993
DeputyZubair Mohamed Salih
Preceded byAhmed al-Mirghani (as President)
Succeeded byHimself as President
Personal details
Born
Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir

(1944-01-01) 1 January 1944 (age 80)
Hosh Bannaga, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Political partyNational Congress Party (1992–2019)
Spouse(s)Fatima Khalid
Widad Babiker Omer
Alma materEgyptian Military Academy
Military service
Allegiance Sudan
Branch/service Sudanese Army
Years of service1960–2019
Rank Field Marshal
Battles/wars
Criminal details
Criminal statusClaimed by ICC
Conviction(s)Money laundering
Corruption
Criminal penaltyTwo years in prison
Date apprehended
17 April 2019
Imprisoned atIncarcerated at the Kobar Prison, Khartoum, Sudan
This article is part of a series about
Omar al-Bashir

President of Sudan

1989-2019

Government

Wars

Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir[a] (born 1 January 1944) is a Sudanese former military officer and politician who served as Sudan's head of state under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in a coup d'état.[2] He was subsequently incarcerated, tried and convicted on multiple corruption charges.[3][4] He came to power in 1989 when, as a brigadier general in the Sudanese Army, he led a group of officers in a military coup that ousted the democratically elected government of prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi after it began negotiations with rebels in the south; he subsequently replaced President Ahmed al-Mirghani as head of state.[5] He was elected three times as president in elections that have been under scrutiny for electoral fraud.[6] In 1992, al-Bashir founded the National Congress Party, which remained the dominant political party in the country until 2019.[7] In March 2009, al-Bashir became the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), for allegedly directing a campaign of mass killing, rape, and pillage against civilians in Darfur.[8] On 11 February 2020, the Government of Sudan announced that it had agreed to hand over al-Bashir to the ICC for trial.[9]

In October 2005, al-Bashir's government negotiated an end to the Second Sudanese Civil War,[10] leading to a referendum in the south, resulting in the separation of the south as the country of South Sudan. In the Darfur region, he oversaw the War in Darfur that resulted in death tolls of around 10,000 according to the Sudanese Government,[11] but most sources suggest between 200,000[12] and 400,000.[13][14][15] During his presidency, there were several violent struggles between the Janjaweed militia and rebel groups such as the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in the form of guerrilla warfare in the Darfur region. The civil war displaced[16] over 2.5 million people out of a total population of 6.2 million in Darfur[17] and created a crisis in the diplomatic relations between Sudan and Chad.[18] The rebels in Darfur lost the support from Libya after the death of Muammar Gaddafi and the collapse of his regime in 2011.[19][20][21]

In July 2008, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo, accused al-Bashir of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur.[22] The court issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on 4 March 2009 on counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him for genocide.[23][24] However, on 12 July 2010, the court issued a second warrant containing three separate counts of genocide. The new warrant, like the first, was delivered to the Sudanese government, which did not recognize either the warrant or the ICC.[24] The indictments do not allege that Bashir personally took part in such activities; instead, they say that he is "suspected of being criminally responsible, as an indirect co-perpetrator".[25] The court's decision was opposed by the African Union, Arab League and Non-Aligned Movement as well as the governments of Libya, Somalia, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, South Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Pakistan, Algeria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.[26][27]

From December 2018 onwards, al-Bashir faced large-scale protests which demanded his removal from power. On 11 April 2019, Bashir was ousted in a military coup d'état.[28][29] In September 2019, Bashir was replaced by the Transitionary Military Council which transferred executive power to a mixed civilian–military Sovereignty Council and a civilian prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok. Two months later, the Forces of Freedom and Change alliance (which holds indirect political power during the 39-month Sudanese transition to democracy), Hamdok, and Sovereignty Council member Siddiq Tawer stated that Bashir would be eventually transferred to the ICC. He was convicted of corruption in December of that year and sentenced to two years in prison.[30][31][32] His trial regarding his role in the coup that brought him into power started on 21 July 2020.[33]

  1. ^ "Sudan's Omar Al-Bashir attends Mid-East's Largest Arms Fair". BBC News. 1 March 2015. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ "Sudan coup: Why Omar al-Bashir was overthrown". BBC News. 15 April 2019. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  3. ^ Alsaafin, Linah (24 August 2019). "Omar al-Bashir on trial: Will justice be delivered?". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Omar al-Bashir: Sudan ex-leader sentenced for corruption". BBC News. 14 December 2019. Archived from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  5. ^ "FACTBOX – Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir". Reuters. 14 July 2008. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  6. ^ "Dream election result for Sudan's President Bashir". BBC News. 27 April 2010. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  7. ^ Eliza Mackintosh; James Griffiths (11 April 2019). "Sudan's government has been dissolved". CNN. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Genocide in Darfur". United Human Rights Council. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  9. ^ Magdy, Samy (11 February 2020). "Official: Sudan to hand over al-Bashir for genocide trial". AP News. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  10. ^ "South Sudan profile". BBC News. 5 July 2011. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  11. ^ "Death toll disputed in Darfur". NBC News. 28 March 2008. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  12. ^ "Q&A: Sudan's Darfur conflict". BBC News. 23 February 2010. Archived from the original on 14 April 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  13. ^ "Africa :: Sudan — The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. 2 November 2021. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  14. ^ "Darfur peace talks to resume in Abuja on Tuesday: AU". People's Daily Online. Archived from the original on 30 November 2005. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  15. ^ "Hundreds Killed in Attacks in Eastern Chad". The Washington Post. 11 April 2007. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  16. ^ Alfred de Montesquiou (16 October 2006). "AUF Ineffective, Complain Refugees in Darfur". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  17. ^ Darfur – overview Archived 11 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine, unicef.org.
  18. ^ "Sudan cuts Chad ties over attack". BBC News. 11 May 2008. Archived from the original on 30 September 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  19. ^ Copnall, James (26 November 2011). "Sudan armed Libyan rebels, says President Bashir". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  20. ^ "Libya leader thanks Sudan for weapons that helped former rebels oust Gadhafi". Haaretz. Reuters. 26 November 2011. Archived from the original on 20 November 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  21. ^ "Sudan: Country Studies". Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. 22 March 2011. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  22. ^ International Criminal Court (14 July 2008). "ICC Prosecutor presents case against Sudanese President, Hassan Ahmad AL BASHIR, for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur". Archived from the original on 25 August 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference ICC-warrant was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ a b "Warrant issued for Sudan's Bashir". BBC News. 4 March 2009. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  25. ^ Simon Tisdall (20 April 2011). "Omar al-Bashir: genocidal mastermind or bringer of peace?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  26. ^ HENRY OWUOR in Khartoum (5 March 2009). "After Bashir warrant, Sudan united in protest". Archived from the original on 13 March 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  27. ^ "International Criminal Court Cases in Africa: Status and Policy Issues" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  28. ^ Abdelaziz, Khalid; Abdelaty, Ali; El Sherif, Mohamed; Saba, Yousef; Nichols, Michelle; Aboudi, Sami; Lewis, Aidan (11 April 2019). "Sudan's Bashir Forced to Step Down". Reuters. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  29. ^ Hassan, Mai; Kodouda, Ahmed (11 October 2019). "Sudan's Uprising: The Fall of a Dictator". Journal of Democracy. 30 (4): 89–103. doi:10.1353/jod.2019.0071. ISSN 1086-3214.
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dabanga_FCC_Bashir2ICC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference SudTrib_Hamdok_Bashir2ICC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference SudTrib_Tawer_Bashir_handover was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ "Sudan's ex-President Bashir on trial for 1989 coup". BBC News. 21 July 2020. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2020.


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