Omar al-Bashir

Omar al-Bashir is the former president of Sudan, who ruled from 1989 until his ouster in 2019 following widespread protests. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity related to the conflict in Darfur, which began in 2003. While not directly mentioned in current events, the ongoing conflict in Sudan, particularly in Darfur, casts a long shadow of his legacy. Recent news focuses on atrocities in El-Fasher, Darfur, with a UN fact-finding mission determining evidence of genocide. The current civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), fueled by readily available drones and potentially exacerbated by European migration policies and arms flows, highlights the instability and violence that continue to plague Sudan, stemming in part from the conflicts during al-Bashir's rule. The ongoing violence underscores the need for accountability for past crimes and a resolution to the current crisis.