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Bashir genocide ruling reversed Bashir genocide ruling reversed
(10 minutes later)
International Criminal Court judges have reversed a ruling that there is insufficient proof to charge Sudan's president with genocide in Darfur.International Criminal Court judges have reversed a ruling that there is insufficient proof to charge Sudan's president with genocide in Darfur.
A warrant was issued last year against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on seven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes.A warrant was issued last year against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on seven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The Hague court's pre-trial chamber will now have to rule on whether to add genocide to the charge sheet.The Hague court's pre-trial chamber will now have to rule on whether to add genocide to the charge sheet.
The UN says 300,000 people have died in the Darfur conflict since 2003.The UN says 300,000 people have died in the Darfur conflict since 2003.
The ruling that was reversed on Wednesday had said there was not enough evidence to believe Mr Bashir's government had intended to destroy the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups.
International Criminal Court judges reverse the rulingInternational Criminal Court judges reverse the ruling
The ruling that was reversed on Wednesday had said there was not enough evidence to believe Mr Bashir's government had intended to destroy the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups.
If genocide charges are now brought, they will be the first to be issued by the ICC against a sitting head of state.
African and Arab leaders have rallied around Mr Bashir and several nations have refused to honour the existing warrant.African and Arab leaders have rallied around Mr Bashir and several nations have refused to honour the existing warrant.
The UN says 300,000 people have died in the Darfur conflict since 2003.
In addition, some 2.7 million were forced to flee from their homes, according to aid agencies.
But the BBC's James Copnall, in Khartoum, says Sudanese officials reacted angrily when the ICC issued its initial arrest warrant for Mr Bashir last March.
Thirteen foreign organisations were expelled and fired-up crowds attended rallies to cheer the president.
Our correspondent says Mr Bashir may even have grown in popularity, with many Sudanese seeing the court's decision as an affront to national sovereignty.
'Two-speed' justice'Two-speed' justice
Mr Bashir has avoided arrest thanks to support from other leaders - since the warrant was issued he has visited Qatar, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, among other nations. "The pre-trial chamber is directed to decide anew," presiding judge Erkki Kourula said, upholding the appeal lodged by prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
And the African Union has consistently supported him. ANALYSIS James Copnall, BBC News, Khartoum
The AU's most senior diplomat, Jean Ping, has once again hit out at the ICC in the run-up to its decision, accusing the court of targeting African nations. The ICC's appeal court ruling reopens a painful wound for President Omar Bashir and his supporters. Genocide is a word with the power to infuriate the president and provokes his supporters into tirades whenever US officials pronounce it.
"We are not for a justice with two speeds, a double standard justice - one for the poor, one for the rich; one for big nations and one for small nations," he said. But an ICC charge against President Bashir has the potential to stir up much more than just heated words. When an arrest warrant was issued against him last March, 13 foreign NGOs were kicked out of Darfur.
Khartoum probably cannot afford a further weakening of its relationship with the international community right now and everyone is still waiting to see what the pre-trial chamber will decide but the anger provoked by the renewed possibility of a genocide charge is real, and it is difficult to predict its course.
Judge Kourola said the previous ruling had set the standard of evidence too high.
"The decision by the pre-trial chamber not to issue a warrant in the respect of the charge of genocide was materially affected by an error of law," he said in court.
He stressed that the appeals court was not itself ruling that Mr Bashir was criminally responsible for the crime of genocide.
Mr Bashir has avoided arrest thanks to support from other leaders. Since the warrant was issued he has visited Qatar, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe among other nations, and the African Union has consistently supported him.
The AU's most senior diplomat, Jean Ping, hit out at the ICC in the run-up to its decision, accusing the court of targeting African nations.
"We are not for a justice with two speeds, a double standard justice - one for the poor, one for the rich," he said.
Mr Bashir's government is accused of backing Arab militias who killed thousands of black African Darfuris.Mr Bashir's government is accused of backing Arab militias who killed thousands of black African Darfuris.
Mr Bashir has repeatedly said he had no control over the actions of people on the ground in Darfur at the height of the violence in 2003 and 2004.Mr Bashir has repeatedly said he had no control over the actions of people on the ground in Darfur at the height of the violence in 2003 and 2004.