Ahmed Haroun, a former powerful member of the Sudanese government accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, has been released from prison in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Haroun was the head of the ruling National Congress Party and was arrested in 2019 along with dozens of other Sudanese officials following a popular uprising and military coup that ousted former President Omar al-Bashir's regime. Haroun is charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with over 40 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the early 2000s in Darfur, while he served as Sudan's State Minister for the Interior and later State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs.
Sudan has been in turmoil since fighting between two military factions broke out 12 days ago, resulting in the deaths of at least 459 people and more than 4,000 injuries, according to the World Health Organization. The situation has turned parts of Khartoum into a war zone, and water supplies are scarce, with food running out in Khartoum state.
In an audio message circulated on social media on Tuesday, Haroun said he and several other former regime figures left Kober prison in Khartoum after chaos erupted in the facility on Sunday. The prisoners were released by authorities after inmates protested the lack of food and water by burning two cars inside the prison grounds. Haroun claimed he and the other figures left with the help of prison guards and armed forces and have been relocated to a safe place. He stated he would turn himself in when the situation returned to normal.
There are unconfirmed reports that former President al-Bashir was also among the prisoners released from Kober prison. However, Sudanese police sources and Sudan's Police media office denied this and revealed that Bashir remains in the custody of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) at a military hospital in Omdurman, west of Khartoum. The SAF said it had nothing to do with Haroun's release and accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of aiding him.
The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 when several rebel groups in the western region of Sudan took up arms against the government in Khartoum. In response, the government launched a brutal counterinsurgency operation that targeted opposition groups and tribes associated with the insurgents. The government-backed Janjaweed militia was mobilized to crush the revolt and unleashed a wave of violence that Washington and activists said amounted to genocide. The UN estimated that 2.5 million people were displaced, and 300,000 people may have died in the Darfur conflict.
Haroun, who was among the senior leadership in Bashir's regime, was sanctioned by the US government in 2007. The US Department of the Treasury named him as a liaison "between the Sudanese government and the Government-supported Janjaweed militias, which have attacked and brutalized innocent civilians in the region." Haroun has previously denied the ICC charges.