Pressure mounts on al-Burhan to hand over Sudanese Islamist leader to ICC
The reappearance of prominent Sudanese Islamist movement figure and dissolved National Congress Party leader Ahmed Haroun has reopened old wounds that have yet to heal, despite more than a quarter of a century having passed since the crimes were committed. Healing those wounds is inextricably linked to delivering justice for the perpetrators of crimes against Darfur’s communities, foremost among them Ahmed Haroun, whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) accuses of committing war crimes and genocide.
In April, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Ahmed Haroun, containing 20 charges of crimes against humanity and 22 charges relating to war crimes.
Haroun was born in 1964 in South Kordofan State and received his primary education in North Kordofan State. During secondary school, he joined the Islamic Movement and continued his political activities while studying at the Faculty of Law at Cairo University. In the early stages of his political career, he became steeped in the practices of violence that he would later perpetrate in the Darfur and Kordofan regions after becoming a government official under the ousted president.
Disregard for the Intelligence of Victims
Following Ahmed Haroun’s latest appearance, pressure has mounted on Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to hand him over to justice, given that he is wanted by the International Criminal Court over events in Darfur during the rule of ousted President Omar al-Bashir.
Suleiman Sandal, Interior Minister in Sudan’s Founding Government, known as “Tasis,” wrote on his Facebook page that criminals and perpetrators of crimes—referring to Ahmed Haroun—when they disappear from the scene of their crimes and return after a period of time wearing a different guise, believe, in the sheer extent of their criminality, that society has forgotten their crimes and the grave corruption they committed.
He stressed that Ahmed Haroun’s appearance, describing him as a “criminal” wanted by the International Criminal Court, demonstrated his contempt for the intelligence of the victims among the Sudanese people, as well as for the global conscience and international criminal justice.
Sandal added: “This time, he has certainly forgotten that the war of the 15th, which they ignited, is not like the war in the south, which he witnessed and in which he played a major role alongside Ibrahim Shams al-Din, nor is it like the Darfur war, during which he served as Minister of State at the Ministry of Interior and was responsible for the Darfur war. He was also the first to welcome the decision by the criminal Omar al-Bashir to use Antonov aircraft to bomb civilians and force them into displacement and exile.”
Priority Must Be Given to Arresting Haroun
The Emergency Lawyers human rights group confirmed that the International Criminal Court continues to consider Ahmed Haroun, Omar al-Bashir and Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein wanted for arrest. It said the ICC Office of the Prosecutor, during its briefing to the UN Security Council on 19 January 2026, renewed its demand for the arrest of those wanted in connection with Darfur cases and their surrender to the Court, while emphasising that priority must be given to the arrest of Ahmed Haroun. This comes amid the continued absence of effective measures to ensure that they are brought to justice.
In a statement, the group pointed out that the continuation of the war does not constitute justification for suspending justice or waiving criminal responsibility. Sudanese authorities are obligated to cooperate with the International Criminal Court in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1593 of 2005, and to take the necessary legal measures to implement the arrest warrants issued against those wanted, without providing any form of protection or facilitation that would prevent them from appearing before the courts.
The Emergency Lawyers group called on the Sudanese authorities and the leadership of the Sudanese Armed Forces to immediately disclose the legal status of Ahmed Haroun, Omar al-Bashir and Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein; clarify the circumstances surrounding their release from detention and their current whereabouts; account for the status of the national criminal complaints and proceedings filed against them; and take the necessary measures to arrest them and surrender them to the International Criminal Court.
The statement also called on the ICC Office of the Prosecutor to follow up on information concerning the movements and public appearances of those wanted, and to investigate any incidents involving the provision of protection or assistance enabling them to evade accountability.
Appearance from the Al Salam Rotana Hotel in Khartoum
The US Department of State had included Ahmed Mohammed Haroun in its War Crimes Rewards Programme in January 2024, which offers rewards of up to $5 million. The department stated that Haroun, who served as a minister during the rule of ousted President Omar al-Bashir, was wanted by the Court.
The Emergency Lawyers group stressed that justice for victims of crimes committed in Sudan cannot be held hostage to political or military calculations. Ending impunity requires that all accused and wanted individuals be subjected to judicial accountability, without exception or immunity, while safeguarding the rights of victims and survivors to truth, justice and reparations.
The war in Darfur, western Sudan, which erupted in 2003, resulted in the deaths of approximately 300,000 people, according to United Nations statistics. However, Sudanese government estimates put the death toll at 10,000, in addition to millions of others displaced internally or forced to seek refuge in neighbouring countries.
Yasser Arman, a leader in the Civil Democratic Alliance of Revolutionary Forces, known as “Sumoud,” said Ahmed Haroun appeared from inside the Al Salam Rotana Hotel in central Khartoum, in dim lighting and with complete composure and brazen confidence, against a backdrop of furnishings, décor and a room that mocked the famine, economic collapse, and water and electricity cuts, in a year of extreme hardship. His appearance was undisturbed by the drones that are depriving people of their right to life in the capital and even in Nyala.
In a post on his Facebook page, Arman pointed out that Ahmed Haroun sat addressing people from the ICC’s balcony, lecturing the hungry, determining Sudan’s future and distributing what he does not own to those who do not deserve it. Meanwhile, images of millions of displaced people and refugees driven from their homes without justification, thousands whose lives had been taken, and those subjected to looting and theft, detention, disappearance and captivity, with no one to mourn them, loomed over the scene from the vantage point of the Al Salam Rotana Hotel. He said they were showing contempt for the people and the deep wounds inflicted by this war.
According to Arman, informed sources say the interview was conducted at the Al Salam Rotana Hotel in Khartoum, which has become a hotel for warlords. “Anyone who does not believe this should go there tomorrow, early in the morning at breakfast time, and see the militia commanders in the hotel lobby and dining hall,” he said.
Arman said he would not comment on an interview that had emerged from the ICC’s balcony, with its subject carrying the burden of his own predicament while daring to determine the future of the people and the army. He described it as an interview whose voice and echo came from a dark past.
He continued: “I would simply like to ask one question: Was the subject of the interview detained at the Al Salam Rotana Hotel or at another hotel?” He added: “I believe it would be appropriate to detain him at the Al Salam Rotana, as the services there, including communications, are better.”
Just hours after the broadcast of the episode in which Haroun confirmed that there was coordination between the National Congress Party and the army during the war that has been raging in the country for three years, local media outlets and international news agencies reported that Sudanese army military intelligence had arrested Ahmed Haroun, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges relating to war crimes and ethnic cleansing in the Darfur region.
The move was reportedly an attempt by al-Burhan to prevent Haroun’s appearance from being exploited to level accusations against the Sudanese army of subordination to, and infiltration by, the Islamic Movement.