Sudan’s president could face charges of genocide at the International Criminal Court, if an appeal by prosecutors is successful. Sudan President Omar al-Bashir was the subject last year of an ICC warrant for war crimes in Darfur.
However prosecutors are seeking to add to his list of charges three counts of genocide for what they say was an attempt to wipe out three ethnic groups last year. If the genocide charges go through, they will be the first ever against a serving member of state. Al-Bashir has denied wrongdoing and claims the charges are politically motivated.
The Hague’s pretrial chamber will rule on whether to adopt the charges. The U.N. says 300,000 people have died in the Darfur conflict since 2003.