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Prosecutor Confirms Accusation Against Sudan Leader
By MARLISE SIMONS
Published: January 1, 2011.
PARIS The International Criminal Courts chief prosecutor has confirmed reports that he told diplomats that his office had found evidence that President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan had a huge personal fortune skimmed from his countrys oil income and kept in foreign accounts.
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Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters
President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan in Khartoum on Friday. He is accused of skimming a fortune from his country's oil income.
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The assertion was made known in a leaked diplomatic cable, first published in the British newspaper The Guardian in December, from the cache obtained by WikiLeaksUnited Nations wrote that the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, had estimated that Mr. Bashir had a secret stash worth possibly $9 billion. Sudanese officials have dismissed the report. and made available to some news organizations. In the cable, which included other discussion of Sudan, an American diplomat at the
In an interview since then, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo elaborated on the cables reference to the money. He said investigators in his office who specialize in tracking the financing of violence had been looking into Mr. Bashirs finances for several years as part of the war-crimes case against him. He said they had found evidence that the president had a large private fortune in secret accounts outside Sudan and was using intermediaries to conduct business deals.
The money comes from oil, he said, and he is doing business through third parties. The prosecutor added that he had received estimates that Mr. Bashir had accrued from hundreds of millions of dollars to several billion, up to $9 billion.
Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said it was too early to discuss specifics, including where the secret accounts or the investments were held, other than to rule out any banks in Britain. He said they were in several places, outside Sudan.
We shall clarify this later, he said. We are not ready to make requests to freeze the money.
Absconding with Sudanese oil money it accounts for more than 90 percent of the countrys foreign currency revenues is not part of the charges the court can bring against Sudans president. He faces two international arrest warrants, one on charges of war crimes in Sudans province of Darfur, and a second one on charges of genocide against several Darfuri tribes.
But money-tracking frequently comes into war-crimes investigations, and Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said in the interview that it was part of his mandate to request the freezing of hidden money or property and later claim it for reparations to victims.
A lawyer close to the work of the financial investigators said that the money trail was a crucial part of the prosecutions case. We know that money is siphoned off and kept off the books, said the lawyer, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity. Al-Bashir is using the funds to control political groups, to pay the militias and also to enrich his family.
Identifying the movements of assets can be crucial to demonstrate who the other players are and how violence is financed, the lawyer said.
Still, the leaked diplomatic cable pointed to other motivations for investigating Mr. Bashirs money as well. Written in March 2009, soon after I.C.C. judges issued their first arrest warrant for the president, the cable says: Ocampo suggested if Bashirs stash of money were disclosed (he put the figure at possibly $9 billion) it would change Sudanese public opinion from him being a crusader to that of a thief. It continues, Ocampo suggested simply exposing that Bashir had illegal accounts would be enough to turn the Sudanese against him.
Also, the content of this and other State Department cables discussing Sudan has come to light, even if accidentally, on the eve of a crucial weeklong referendum starting on Jan. 9 when southern Sudan will vote whether to secede and declare independence from the politically dominant north. Southern leaders have long accused the Bashir government of cheating them out of oil revenues owed to them under the terms of a 2005 peace agreement, and news of the leaked cable has provided fodder for pro-independence politicians to broaden their support.
In his interview, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said he had asked the help of others, including the United States, in tracking Mr. Bashirs money. The U.S. are better equipped than we are, they can follow almost any transaction in dollars, he said.
By MARLISE SIMONS
Published: January 1, 2011.
PARIS The International Criminal Courts chief prosecutor has confirmed reports that he told diplomats that his office had found evidence that President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan had a huge personal fortune skimmed from his countrys oil income and kept in foreign accounts.
Enlarge This Image
Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters
President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan in Khartoum on Friday. He is accused of skimming a fortune from his country's oil income.
Related
- Times Topic: WikiLeaks
The assertion was made known in a leaked diplomatic cable, first published in the British newspaper The Guardian in December, from the cache obtained by WikiLeaksUnited Nations wrote that the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, had estimated that Mr. Bashir had a secret stash worth possibly $9 billion. Sudanese officials have dismissed the report. and made available to some news organizations. In the cable, which included other discussion of Sudan, an American diplomat at the
In an interview since then, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo elaborated on the cables reference to the money. He said investigators in his office who specialize in tracking the financing of violence had been looking into Mr. Bashirs finances for several years as part of the war-crimes case against him. He said they had found evidence that the president had a large private fortune in secret accounts outside Sudan and was using intermediaries to conduct business deals.
The money comes from oil, he said, and he is doing business through third parties. The prosecutor added that he had received estimates that Mr. Bashir had accrued from hundreds of millions of dollars to several billion, up to $9 billion.
Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said it was too early to discuss specifics, including where the secret accounts or the investments were held, other than to rule out any banks in Britain. He said they were in several places, outside Sudan.
We shall clarify this later, he said. We are not ready to make requests to freeze the money.
Absconding with Sudanese oil money it accounts for more than 90 percent of the countrys foreign currency revenues is not part of the charges the court can bring against Sudans president. He faces two international arrest warrants, one on charges of war crimes in Sudans province of Darfur, and a second one on charges of genocide against several Darfuri tribes.
But money-tracking frequently comes into war-crimes investigations, and Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said in the interview that it was part of his mandate to request the freezing of hidden money or property and later claim it for reparations to victims.
A lawyer close to the work of the financial investigators said that the money trail was a crucial part of the prosecutions case. We know that money is siphoned off and kept off the books, said the lawyer, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity. Al-Bashir is using the funds to control political groups, to pay the militias and also to enrich his family.
Identifying the movements of assets can be crucial to demonstrate who the other players are and how violence is financed, the lawyer said.
Still, the leaked diplomatic cable pointed to other motivations for investigating Mr. Bashirs money as well. Written in March 2009, soon after I.C.C. judges issued their first arrest warrant for the president, the cable says: Ocampo suggested if Bashirs stash of money were disclosed (he put the figure at possibly $9 billion) it would change Sudanese public opinion from him being a crusader to that of a thief. It continues, Ocampo suggested simply exposing that Bashir had illegal accounts would be enough to turn the Sudanese against him.
Also, the content of this and other State Department cables discussing Sudan has come to light, even if accidentally, on the eve of a crucial weeklong referendum starting on Jan. 9 when southern Sudan will vote whether to secede and declare independence from the politically dominant north. Southern leaders have long accused the Bashir government of cheating them out of oil revenues owed to them under the terms of a 2005 peace agreement, and news of the leaked cable has provided fodder for pro-independence politicians to broaden their support.
In his interview, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said he had asked the help of others, including the United States, in tracking Mr. Bashirs money. The U.S. are better equipped than we are, they can follow almost any transaction in dollars, he said.
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