06 Nov 2021; MEMO: Dismissed Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam Al-Mahdi called on Friday to refer the "crime" of the military coup carried out by army chief Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In her written speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which is holding a special session on Sudan, Al-Mahdi stated: "Considering the military coup among the crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court… is a matter that needs to be activated in a practical way."
Although the session held in Geneva did not broadcast the minister's speech, it was published on the Sudanese Ministry of Culture and Information's Facebook page.
Al-Mahdi was one of the Sudanese officials in the file of handing over ousted President Omar Al-Bashir to the ICC.
UNHRC will hold its session after Al-Burhan declared on 25 October the state of emergency in the country and the dissolution of the Sovereignty Council, which he headed.
Since his announcement of these decisions, the country has witnessed a wave of protests, with demonstrators closing the streets and declaring civil disobedience. The security forces confronted the protesters several times with violent repression, which resulted in the killing of 13 demonstrators and the wounding of about three hundred, according to the UN.
Friday's session in Geneva discussed a draft resolution submitted by the UK, Germany, Norway and the US on the "immediate restoration" of the civilian government in Sudan. During the session, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet described what happened in Sudan as "extremely worrying".
"All those arbitrarily detained must be released in order to establish a dialogue and return to civilian rule," she added.
On Thursday, Al-Burhan issued a decision to release four ministers detained following the military coup last month. This followed mounting international pressure on the military who carried out the coup and excluded civilians from power to resume the democratic transition.
Al-Burhan's decision came shortly after the army announced that "the formation of the government is imminent," and after a telephone call between Al-Burhan and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who called for restoring power to civilians.
