The International Criminal Court (ICC) charges against Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, have shaped Sudanese domestic politics and the country’s external relations for more than half a decade — sometimes in unexpected ways. On March 4, 2009, Mr Bashir became the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC. He was charged with five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes allegedly committed in the civil war in Darfur, in western Sudan. The following year, the ICC issued another indictment, this time three counts of genocide committed against the Zaghawa, Fur and Masalit ethnic…
James Copnall
South Sudan’s petrodollars Entitlement, fledgling institutions and a lack of accountability have yielded rampant corruption in the world’s youngest country The box was half the height of the minister’s desk. At the start of the day it was full to the brim with South Sudanese banknotes. The national-level official would see 50 people every day, or until the money ran out, according to someone who worked with him and asked to remain anonymous. “He would pick a different community or area every day, and give them money. That’s what he saw as his job,” his former colleague says. Many other…
Sudan’s divided rebels, youth and opposition parties A split opposition offers citizens little hope for change in this turbulent country In June 2012 and September 2013, young Sudanese took to the streets in in several cities, including Khartoum, the capital, and Omdurman, the nation’s commercial hub.. They threw rocks at police and set up makeshift barriers in back alleys. Burning tyres sent columns of smoke twisting into the sky. The partial and then full removal of fuel subsidies, which sent prices soaring, fuelled these riots. In many, demonstrators called for the removal of President Omar al-Bashir and his regime, which…
Sudan’s middle class feels the post-secession pinch Since South Sudan’s breakaway, Sudan’s oil revenues have fizzled and the middle class is disappearing The Sudanese capital Khartoum has a reputation as something of a backwater. Here the White Nile and the Blue Nile meet to form the Nile proper, and flow northwards to Egypt. But the rivers, though impressive in their breadth, proceed in a sluggish swirl, and are closer to brown than the bright colours suggested by their names. The town centre still bears fascinating architectural traces of the country’s history as a misguided Anglo-Egyptian colonial experiment. But those old…
