Sudan's military again detains International Criminal Court fugitive Haroun, lawyers say

SHENDI, Sudan — Sudan’s military authorities on Sunday once again detained a former senior Islamist official who is wanted by the International Criminal Court over atrocities related to the Darfur conflict in the early 2000s, two defense lawyers said.

Ahmed Haroun, a senior security official during the rule of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir, and later chairman of the former ruling National Congress Party, was detained in Omdurman, the sister city of the capital, Khartoum, according to two lawyers on his defense team. The lawyers had said earlier he was detained in the eastern province of Kassala.

The lawyers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media, said Haroun’s whereabouts were unknown.

Haroun was detained in April 2019 when a monthslong uprising forced the military ouster of al-Bashir and his government.

He had been detained along with the former president and other senior officials, including those who are wanted by the ICC, in a Khartoum prison. The military declined to hand them over to the international court.

The conflict in Darfur broke out when rebels from the territory’s ethnic central and sub-Saharan African community launched an insurgency in 2003, complaining of oppression by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.

Haroun was accused by the ICC of crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder, rape, persecution, forced transfer of the population and torture in Darfur at least between 2003 and 2004.

Haroun has denied the charges. He walked away from the prison after the facility was attacked in April 2024 during the war between the army and the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The lawyers said no reasons were given for Haroun’s re-detention, but they linked it to his recent comment in a podcast in which he said his party and the military might not be aligned, but are united in the fight against the RSF in the war that broke out in April 2023 in Khartoum and elsewhere across the country.

The National Congress Party called for the immediate release of Haroun, saying in a statement that he was detained merely for expressing his opinion. The party didn’t address that Haroun is wanted by the ICC.

The latest war has also been marked by atrocities such as mass rape and ethnically motivated killings. The United Nations and international rights groups say these acts also amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in Darfur, which has been facing a bitter onslaught by the RSF. The RSF's multiday attack on el-Fasher in Darfur last year bore “hallmarks of genocide,” according to U.N. experts.

In the interview on Sudan Podcast, Haroun addressed a wide range of topics, including the ouster of al-Bashir, ties with the military and RSF leaders, a proposal for the future governance of Sudan, ties with the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates, and the origins of the RSF.

The RSF grew out of the notorious Arab Janjaweed militias, which were mobilized two decades ago by al-Bashir against populations that identify as Central or East African in Darfur.

The interview stirred up outrage among rights and activist groups that were behind the uprising against al-Bashir. The Emergency Lawyers group condemned the interview as a “legal scandal and a direct challenge to international justice.”

The group called for the army to detain Haroun and hand him over to the ICC along with al-Bashir and former Defense Minister Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein.

“Justice for victims of crimes committed in Sudan cannot be held hostage to political or military balances, and ending impunity requires subjecting all accused and wanted persons to judicial accountability, without exception or immunity,” it said.