United Nations News Centre:

Sudan's President Omar Al Bashir continues to commit crimes against humanity and carry out genocide against residents of Darfur in defiance of the United Nations, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the Security Council today.

"President al-Bashir has learned how to continue to commit crimes challenging the authority of the UN Security Council, and ignoring Resolution 1593, as well as other resolutions," Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said as he presented his 13th report to the Council.

Mr. Bashir and his supporters "continue denying the crimes, attributing them to other factors (such as inter-tribal clashes), diverting attention by publicizing ceasefire agreements that are violated as soon as they are announced, and finally proposing the creation of special courts to conduct investigations that will never start," he said.

"The challenge to the Security Council's authority is further evidence that the extermination of the Fur, Massalit and Zaghawa, as well as any tribe deemed disloyal to the regime, is a policy defined by the top leadership of the Government of the Sudan.

"It is calculated to ensure that the armed forces, their associated militia and other security bodies will continue committing new crimes, with the same modus operandi, wherever and whenever they are instructed to do so."

Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said Mr. Bashir had threatened the international community with retaliation and more crimes as a result of his indictment. "This tactic is not new; it is the documented practice of massive criminals - denial, cover-up, and threat of repetition."

He urged the Council to use the information exposed by the ICC to stop the crimes in Darfur, adding that the "prosecution, fulfilling its mandate, is willing to assist."

"Arrest warrants are not going away. Bashir is destined to face justice. The problem is the time [it will take] for the victims," said Mr. Moreno-Ocampo.

He also told that the Council another Sudanese war crimes suspect indicted by the ICC for atrocities in Darfur, Ahmad Harun, has continued his illegal actions with impunity as a senior Government official.

"The record of Ahmad Harun provides a clear demonstration of the risk of impunity and ignoring information about crimes," said Mr. Moreno-Ocampo.

"In my seventh report to this Council...three years ago, I expressed concern about Harun having been dispatched to Abyei to 'address disputes' between the Misseriya and the SPLM/A [Sudan People Liberation Movement/Army]. Following his dispatch, as I reported, Abyei was burned down, with 50,000 civilians displaced.

"In my ninth report, presented on 5 June 2009, two years ago, I expressed concern about Harun's appointment...as Governor of South Kordofan. He is presenting himself as an efficient operator and is dubbed by the some members of the international community as the man to talk to to get things done."