( CNN ) -- Judges at the International Criminal Court ruled Wednesday that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir may be charged with genocide for his role in a five-year campaign of violence in western Sudan 's Darfur region . Al-Bashir , who remains in office , has already been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity . Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had the genocide charge on his original arrest warrant for al-Bashir , but the pre-trial judges left off the charge when they approved the warrant last March . Moreno-Ocampo appealed in July , saying that the judges ' standard for adding the genocide charge was too high . The appellate court agreed with Moreno-Ocampo and ruled in his favor Wednesday . The appeals judges said the pre-trial chamber had applied an `` erroneous standard of proof '' to the genocide charge . The judges said they were not ruling on whether al-Bashir should be charged with genocide -- only whether the charge could be added to the arrest warrant . They said it will be up to the pre-trial chamber to determine whether to add the charge to the warrant , which could take several weeks . The International Criminal Court at The Hague , Netherlands , is a permanent , treaty-based tribunal dealing with the most serious crimes against humanity . It is an independent court that is not part of the United Nations . It is funded primarily by nations , but also receives contributions from governments , corporations and individuals . Even if genocide is added to the arrest warrant , Moreno-Ocampo still faces a challenge in proving the charges at trial , said Mark Ellis , the executive director of the International Bar Association . `` Genocide is a much more complicated legal position to meet ( than war crimes and crimes against humanity ) , because you have to show in proving genocide that there was a specific intent to destroy , in whole or in part , a group based on -- in this case -- ethnicity or race , '' Ellis told CNN in July . `` Obviously , the prosecutor believes he would be able to prove this intent and so he wants the opportunity to prove that in trial . '' The warrant for al-Bashir was the first ever issued by the ICC for a sitting head of state . It currently includes five counts of crimes against humanity , including murder , extermination , forcible transfer , torture and rape . It also includes two charges of war crimes for intentionally directing attacks against civilians and for pillaging . Al-Bashir has traveled to several countries since the warrant was issued , even though any country that is party to the ICC has an obligation to hand him over to The Hague , the court says . He openly attended the African Union conference in Ethiopia , which ended this week . Ethiopia is not party to the ICC . Al-Bashir is the front-runner in an election scheduled to take place in April , and a genocide charge is unlikely to harm his prospects . A genocide charge could further isolate Sudan , but it could also mobilize African nations around Sudan . Leaders from several African countries have said the ICC has been unfair to Africa , and they have threatened to pull out of the court . The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Darfur , and 2.5 million have been forced from their homes . Sudan denies that the death toll is that high . The violence in Darfur erupted in 2003 after rebels began an uprising against the Sudanese government . To counter the rebels , Sudanese authorities armed and cooperated with Arab militias that went from village to village in Darfur , killing , torturing and raping residents , according to the United Nations , Western governments and human rights organizations . The militias targeted civilian members of tribes from which the rebels drew strength . CNN 's David McKenzie contributed to this report .
ICC judges rule Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir can be charged with genocide . Charges would relate to his role in a five-year campaign of violence in Darfur . Bashir already facing charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity .