Ahmed Haroun faces 42 counts of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, but Sudan has not announced his transfer to The Hague

Thunder Bay – International News Service — Sudanese military authorities detained former government official Ahmed Haroun on Sunday, reviving demands that he be transferred to the International Criminal Court to face charges connected to atrocities in Darfur.

Two officials from Haroun’s National Congress Party confirmed the detention to Reuters. Defence lawyers also confirmed it to The Associated Press but said his whereabouts were unknown. Initial accounts differed over where he was taken, and the Sudanese military had not issued a detailed public statement.

Haroun served as a senior security official under former president Omar al-Bashir and later became chairman of the National Congress Party. The ICC issued a warrant for his arrest in 2007.

He faces 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 22 counts of war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur in 2003 and 2004. The accusations include murder, persecution, forced displacement, rape, torture, attacks on civilians and pillaging. The charges remain allegations and have not been tested at trial.

Haroun was detained after Bashir’s government was overthrown in 2019. Sudan’s military authorities did not surrender him or other ICC suspects to The Hague. Haroun left Khartoum’s Kober prison amid the fighting that erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023.

His recent public reappearance prompted anger among Sudanese lawyers and pro-democracy activists. The Emergency Lawyers group demanded his detention and transfer, arguing that accountability for crimes in Sudan should not depend on political or military alliances.

Sunday’s arrest does not itself place Haroun in ICC custody. The court says his case will remain at the pretrial stage until he is transferred to The Hague. No handover agreement or timetable has been announced.

The detention nevertheless presents Sudan’s military leadership with a significant test: whether Haroun will face international justice, domestic proceedings or another period of detention without trial.