Sudan opens Darfur crimes investigation

Sudan has launched an investigation into alleged crimes committed in Darfur by members of the ousted President Omar al-Bashir regime, the Public Prosecutor said.

"We have begun investigations into the crimes that have been committed in Darfur since 2003 and the accusations directed at commanders of the old regime is punishable with up to the death penalty," Sudan's Public Prosecutor Taj-al-Hibr told the media here on Sunday.

Al-Bashir, ousted in April, is accused by the International Criminal Court of crimes against humanity over the Darfur conflict, which broke out in 2003 and left 300,000 killed and 2.5 million displaced, reports Efe news.

The investigations opened by al-Bashir's regime in 2007 into the crimes allegedly committed in Darfur were closed a year later as they revealed commanders of the security forces had been involved in these crimes, according to al-Hibr.

A decade ago, al-Bashir formed a committee to investigate allegations related to the conflict.

The body presented a report to the then president, but he did nothing to implement its recommendations.

"All representatives of the former regime (of al-Bashir) detained in Kobar prison are charged with crimes and prosecuted in different cases, without the court being able to release them on bail," the source added.

Among the detained is former Interior Minister Ahmed Harun, accused of three crimes, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

Measures are being taken through Interpol to capture former director of National Intelligence and Security Service Salah Abdallah "Gosh", who faces four charges, al-Hibr said.

Gosh resigned and left the country after the overthrow of al-Bashir and his whereabouts is unknown.

The announcement came as the South Sudanese capital Juba hosts peace talks between the Sudanese rebels and the transition government.

The transition government was formed under an agreement between the civil opposition and the military that toppled al-Bashir, who ruled the African country for three decades.

Over the past few weeks, the government approved a law aimed at eradicating the al-Bashir regime and dissolving his party, the National Congress, as well as the institutions and organizations of the regime.

Al-Bashir was sentenced to two years in a rehabilitation centre by a Khartoum court that found him guilty of illicit enrichment and currency trafficking.

Those crimes are usually punished by up to 10 years, but given he is over 70 years old, al-Bashir, 75, will serve just two, the court ruled.

The court also found him guilty of illegal tenancy of foreign currencies as the authorities seized 6.9 million euros, $351,000 and five million Sudanese pounds ($90,000) from his residence, which was searched a few days after his ousting.

The Darfur conflict began when two insurgent groups took up arms in February 2003 against the Khartoum regime to protest the poverty and marginalization suffered by the inhabitants of this region.

( With inputs from IANS )