Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Photo: U.S. Navy.

JNS.org – Seventy global Holocaust and genocide experts in a letter asked U.S. President Bararck Obama to arrest Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir for his role in the Darfur genocide if he arrives at the United Nations General Assebly in New York City this week.

The International Criminal Court indicted Bashir in 2009. The letter calling for his arrest was organized by The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies in Washington, D.C. Signatories include Prof. David S. Wyman, author of “The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust 1941-1945,” Prof. Yehuda Bauer, senior historian at Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust center, and Prof. Michael Berenbaum, former director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

“We urge you to arrest Bashir upon his arrival in New York City, and hand him over to the International Criminal Court for prosecution… This will demonstrate that the United States is committed to bringing war criminals to justice, and it will serve as a powerful deterrent to future would-be perpetrators of atrocities,” the letter stated.