U.S. State Department adds Sudanese war criminal to War Crimes Rewards Program
Photo: Ahmed Muhammed Harun (AP Photo/Abd Raouf, File)
The U.S. State Department has designated Ahmad Mohammad Harun, an indicted Sudanese war criminal, under the War Crimes Rewards Program. This program offers rewards up to $5 million for information that leads to the arrest or conviction of designated foreign nationals accused of war crimes, genocide, or crimes against humanity.
Harun was part of the senior leadership of the Bashir regime, which fell to a combined pro-democracy movement and military coup in 2019. The International Criminal Court indicted him in April of 2007 for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. In May of 2007, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Harun for crimes committed in Darfur, noting that he was also responsible in the 1990s “for massacres in the Nuba Mountains” that earned him the nickname “The Butcher of Nuba.”
Harun was one of dozens of Sudanese officials arrested in the 2019 pro-democracy protests that toppled former dictator Omar al-Bashir. He was never turned over to the ICC for trial.
Shortly after a resurgent military regime collapsed into civil war in April 2023, Harun was released from prison in Khartoum. He announced that he and several other Bashir-era officials were in a “safe place.” His whereabouts are now unknown.
From the State Department’s announcement:
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“Harun is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Darfur between 2003 and 2004. During this time, Harun stands accused of recruiting, mobilizing, funding, and arming the notorious Janjaweed militia, a precursor to the Rapid Support Forces, and participating in atrocities, including murder, rape, torture, forcible transfer of population, persecution, and other inhumane acts. It is critical that Harun be found and that he appear before the ICC to face the charges against him.
Lasting peace in Sudan requires justice for victims and accountability for those responsible for human rights abuses and violations, both past and present. There is a clear and direct connection between impunity for abuses under the Bashir regime, including those of which Harun is accused, and the violence in Darfur today. Indeed, we are seeing some of the same perpetrators victimizing some of the same communities in ways that are an ominous reminder of the horror unleashed twenty years ago. We welcome the ICC Prosecutor’s announcement that he is investigating the ongoing violence and urge all States to cooperate with the ICC in its Darfur investigation.
Those with information about Harun’s whereabouts should contact the War Crimes Rewards Program here.
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The U.S. State Department is offering rewards of up to $5 million for information that leads to the arrest, transfer, or conviction of Ahmed Harun. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/us-state-department-adds-sudanese-war-criminal-to-war-crimes-rewards-program
Harun is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur between 2003 and 2004. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/us-state-department-adds-sudanese-war-criminal-to-war-crimes-rewards-program
Harun stands accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. In the 1990s, he was also responsible for massacres in the Nuba Mountains that earned him the nickname “The Butcher of Nuba.” https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/us-state-department-adds-sudanese-war-criminal-to-war-crimes-rewards-program
“There is a clear and direct connection between impunity for abuses under the Bashir regime, including those of which Harun is accused, and the violence in Darfur today.” https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/us-state-department-adds-sudanese-war-criminal-to-war-crimes-rewards-program
