Tuesday, Feb. 01, 2011
Omar Hassan al-Bashir
Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who came to power in Sudan after leading a coup in 1989 (he has been President since 1993), has the ignoble distinction of being the first sitting head of state for whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant. He is wanted for crimes against humanity, war crimes and, as of a second arrest warrant in 2010, genocide in Darfur. The indictments are not the only challenges al-Bashir faces. In January 2011, the same month southern Sudanese voted in a referendum to secede, students in the north took to the streets to protest al-Bashir's regime.