| UN Security Council Resolution 1828 | |
|---|---|
| Date | 31 July 2008 |
| Meeting no. | 5,947 |
| Code | S/RES/1828 (Document) |
| Subject | Reports of the Secretary-General on the Sudan |
Voting summary |
|
| Result | Adopted |
| Security Council composition | |
Permanent members | |
Non-permanent members | |
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1828 was adopted on 31 July 2008.
With less than two hours left before the mandate of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) expired, the Security Council extended its mandate for a further 12 months this evening following extended consultations.
The Council adopted resolution 1828 (2008) by 14 votes in favour, with the United States abstaining. While welcoming and expressing strong support for the mandate extension, the representative of the United States said he had abstained because the language of the resolution would send the wrong message to President Omer al-Bashir of Sudan and undermine efforts to bring him and others to justice.
Several other speakers referred to preambular paragraph 9 of the resolution, by which the Council took note of the African Union’s concerns and those of several Council members regarding potential developments following the application by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for an arrest warrant against the Sudanese President on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The representative of the Russian Federation said he had serious concerns about the negative developments that might follow the Prosecutor’s request. The possibility of hard-line rebel groups taking advantage of that situation to step up their campaign against the Government in Darfur could not be ruled out.
Belgium’s representative, however, was among the delegates who would have preferred to see stronger language on fighting impunity, voicing support for the work of the International Criminal Court and its pursuit of international justice. Belgium looked forward to the decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber on the Chief Prosecutor’s indictment request.
The representative of the United Kingdom, the resolution’s sponsor, said the Council had taken no position regarding the question of whether to act on the Prosecutor’s proposal to indict the President of Sudan. It was not right to consider that issue as part of the renewal resolution. In resolution 1593 (2005), the Council had decided that the situation in Darfur warranted an investigation by the International Criminal Court, but that discussion would raise profound questions about the relation between peace and justice. It was not something the Council should rush into. [1]
Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir is a Sudanese politician who served as the seventh President of Sudan from 1989 to 2019, when he was deposed in a coup d'état. He was subsequently incarcerated, tried and convicted on multiple corruption charges. He came to power in 1989 when, as a brigadier general in the Sudanese Army, he led a group of officers in a military coup that ousted the democratically elected government of prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi after it began negotiations with rebels in the south. He was elected three times as President in elections that have been under scrutiny for electoral fraud. In 1992, al-Bashir founded the National Congress Party, which remained the dominant political party in the country until 2019. In March 2009, al-Bashir became the first sitting president to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), for allegedly directing a campaign of mass killing, rape, and pillage against civilians in Darfur.On 11 February 2020, the Sudanese government announced that it had agreed to hand over al-Bashir to the ICC for trial.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1564, adopted on 18 September 2004, after recalling resolutions 1502 (2003), 1547 (2004) and 1556 (2004), the Council threatened the imposition of sanctions against Sudan if it failed to comply with its obligations on Darfur, and an international inquiry was established to investigate violations of human rights in the region.
While there is a consensus in the international community that ethnic groups have been targeted in Darfur and that crimes against humanity have therefore occurred, there has been debate in some quarters about whether genocide has taken place there. In May 2006, the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur organized by United Nations "concluded that the Government of the Sudan has not pursued a policy of genocide ... [though] international offences such as the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed in Darfur may be more serious and heinous than genocide." Eric Reeves, a researcher and frequent commentator on Darfur, has questioned the methodology of the commission's report.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1706, adopted on August 31, 2006, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in Sudan, including resolutions 1556 (2004), 1564 (2005), 1574 (2004), 1590 (2004), 1591 (2005), 1593 (2004), 1663 (2006), 1665 (2006) and 1679 (2006), the Council expanded the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) to include deployments in Darfur to enforce the Darfur Peace Agreement.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1593, adopted on 31 March 2005, after receiving a report by the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, the Council referred the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and required Sudan to co-operate fully. It marked the first time the Council had referred a situation to the Court, and also compelled a country to co-operate with it.
The African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur is a joint African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission formally approved by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1769 on 31 July 2007, to bring stability to the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan while peace talks on a final settlement continue.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1935, adopted unanimously on July 30, 2010, after reaffirming all previous resolutions and statements on the situation in Sudan, the Council extended the mandate of the African Union – United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) for a further 12 months until July 31, 2011 and demanded an end to fighting and attacks on United Nations personnel and civilians.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1945, adopted on October 14, 2010, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in Sudan, the Council extended the mandate of an expert panel monitoring an arms embargo and other sanctions on groups that "impede peace in Sudan" until October 19, 2011.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1556, adopted on 30 July 2004, after recalling resolutions 1502 (2003) and 1547 (2004) on the situation in Sudan, the Council demanded that the Sudanese government disarm the Janjaweed militia and bring to justice those who had committed violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Darfur.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1585, adopted unanimously on 10 March 2005, after recalling resolutions 1547 (2004), 1556 (2004) and 1574 (2004) on the situation in Sudan, the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS) for a period of one week.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1588, adopted unanimously on 17 March 2005, after recalling resolutions 1547 (2004), 1556 (2004), 1574 (2004) and 1585 (2005) on the situation in Sudan, the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS) for a period of one week.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1627, adopted unanimously on 23 September 2005, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in Sudan, particularly Resolution 1590 (2005), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) for six months until 24 March 2006.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1651, adopted unanimously on 21 December 2005, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in Sudan, particularly resolutions 1556 (2004) and 1591 (2005), the Council extended the mandate of an expert panel monitoring sanctions against and violations of human rights in the Darfur region until 29 March 2006. It was the last Security Council resolution adopted in 2005.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1665, adopted unanimously on March 29, 2006, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in Sudan, particularly resolutions 1556 (2004), 1591 (2005) and 1651 (2005), the Council extended the mandate of an expert panel monitoring sanctions against and violations of human rights in the Darfur region until September 29, 2006.
Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain, commonly referred to as Abdallah Banda, was the Commander-in-Chief of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Collective-Leadership, one of the components of the United Resistance Front. As of June 2019, he is wanted for trial before the International Criminal Court for three counts of war crimes allegedly committed during the Haskanita raids against African Union peacekeepers within the context of the Darfur conflict in Sudan.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1709, adopted unanimously on September 22, 2006, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in Sudan, particularly resolutions 1590 (2005), 1627 (2005), 1653 (2006), 1653 (2006), 1663 (2006), 1679 (2006) and 1706 (2006), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) for a period until October 8, 2006.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1713, adopted unanimously on September 29, 2006, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in Sudan, particularly resolutions 1556 (2004), 1591 (2005), 1651 (2005) and 1665 (2006), the Council extended the mandate of an expert panel monitoring sanctions against and violations of human rights in the Darfur region until September 29, 2007 and requested the Secretary-General to add another expert to the team.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1714, adopted unanimously on October 6, 2006, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in Sudan, particularly resolutions 1590 (2005), 1627 (2005), 1653 (2006), 1653 (2006), 1663 (2006), 1679 (2006), 1706 (2006) and 1709 (2006), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) until April 30, 2007.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2003, adopted unanimously on July 29, 2011, after reaffirming all previous resolutions and statements on the situation in Sudan, the Council extended the mandate of the African Union – United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) for a further 12 months until July 31, 2012.
The International Criminal Court investigation in Darfur or the situation in Darfur is an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into criminal acts committed during the War in Darfur. Although Sudan is not a state party to the Rome Statute, the treaty which created the ICC, the situation in Darfur was referred to the ICC's Prosecutor by the United Nations Security Council in 2005. Charges against Bahar Abu Garda were dropped on the basis of insufficient evidence in 2010 and those against Saleh Jerbo were dropped following his death in 2013. In mid-April 2019, Haroun, al-Bashir and Hussein were imprisoned in Sudan as a result of the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état. As of June 2019, five suspects remained under indictment by the court: Ahmed Haroun, Ali Kushayb, Omar al-Bashir, Abdallah Banda and Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein. In early November 2019, the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok stated that al-Bashir would be transferred to the ICC. One of the demands of the displaced people of Darfur visited by Hamdok prior to Hamdok's statement was that "Omar Al Bashir and the other wanted persons" had to be surrendered to the ICC.
