JOHANNESBURG — A South African judge on Sunday ordered authorities to prevent Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is in South Africa for an African Union summit, from leaving the country because of an international order for his arrest, human rights activists said.
Bashir appeared for a group photo with other African leaders at the summit in Johannesburg on Sunday, wearing a blue three-piece suit, a tie and a smile as cameras flashed.
A South African judge ordered authorities to prevent Bashir from leaving South Africa, human rights activists said Sunday.
"President Omar al-Bashir is prohibited from leaving the Republic of South Africa until a final order is made in this application," Judge Hans Fabricius said, according to local media reports.
The judge ordered the South African government to ensure that officials at all border posts enforce the court's decision, according to Caroline James, a lawyer with the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, a rights group. The court is expected to rule today if Bashir should be handed over to the International Criminal Court to face charges of alleged genocide and human rights abuses.
The charges against Bashir, who took power in a 1989 coup, stem from reported atrocities in the conflict in Darfur, in which 300,000 people were killed and 2 million displaced in a government campaign, according to United Nations figures.