Press Releases

Friday, July 11, 2008

Leading Darfur Expert Available for Stories on Imminent ICC Indictment of Sudanese President Bashir

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, is expected to present evidence against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. This could lead to an arrest warrant being issued, which would make history as the first time the court has indicted a sitting head of state and the first time it has charged an Arab leader—just as the ICC celebrates the 10th anniversary of its founding charter.

Alex de Waal, program director at the Social Science Research Council and a leading Darfur expert, is available immediately for commentary on this issue. In particular, he is prepared to address:

  • Are the charges justified?
  • Who will really pay the price—President Bashir or the people of Sudan?
  • What is the African reaction likely to be?
  • How will the UN Security Council respond?

For more information on de Waal's views, see the guide to the controversy he posted just now on his blog, Making Sense of Darfur. Also see his recent op-ed, with Julie Flint, for the Washington Post.

About Alex de Waal

Alex de Waal is a program director of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), a fellow of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and a director of Justice Africa in London. He started his research career on the Horn of Africa in 1984 with a study of the famine in Darfur and subsequently studied the social, political and health dimensions of famine, war, genocide and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 2006 Alex served as advisor to the African Union mediation team for the Darfur conflict.

De Waal received his Ph.D. from Oxford University in 1988 and has written or edited 13 books, most recently AIDS and Power: Why There is No Political Crisis—Yet (Zed, 2006) and War in Darfur and the Search for Peace (Harvard University Press 2007). A completely revised and updated version of his book, co-authored with Julie Flint, Darfur: A New History of a Long War was published by Zed Books in April 2008.

De Waal frequently appears on major broadcast and print media and has his own blog, Making Sense of Darfur, which is currently hosting a major debate among scholars and experts on the Ocampo vs Bashir controversy. A digest of the debate can be found here.