( CNN ) -- The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court says he has evidence to prove Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is guilty of genocide , even though he is not charged with the crime . Omar al-Bashir remains president and has traveled to several countries since warrant was issued . Luis Moreno-Ocampo spoke to CNN on Wednesday , two days after he appealed to the court to add genocide to the existing arrest warrant for al-Bashir . The court issued the warrant in March on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to his five-year campaign of violence in western Sudan 's Darfur region . `` The evidence shows it is genocide , '' Moreno-Ocampo said . The warrant was the first one ever issued for a sitting head of state by the world 's only permanent war crimes tribunal , based at The Hague in the Netherlands . It 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 remains president and 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 . The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Darfur , and 2.5 million have been forced to flee their homes . Sudan denies 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 there , according to the United Nations , Western governments and human rights organizations . The militias targeted civilian members of tribes from which the rebels drew strength . In his appeal to the court Monday , Moreno-Ocampo complained that the judges ' standard for adding the genocide charge to the warrant is too high . The judges want him to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that al-Bashir committed genocide , but that level of proof is not required for a warrant , which only requires a reasonable inference of guilt , he said . `` They are requesting a level of evidence that is the level of evidence required at the trial stage , not at the beginning of the process , '' Moreno-Ocampo said . Part of the reason that prosecutors can not provide more evidence at this stage is because al-Bashir is attacking witnesses who are willing to provide information to prosecutors , Moreno-Ocampo said . Presenting more evidence could endanger the victims , he said . `` It 's a legal issue , '' he said . `` The judgment by itself is very important , but in addition I can not accept this wrong legal standard . '' The judges believe the crimes that Moreno-Ocampo classifies as genocide instead fall under the category of crimes against humanity , he said . Even if Moreno-Ocampo were successful in adding genocide to the warrant , he would still face a difficult task 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 an intent to destroy , in whole or in part , a group based on -- in this case -- ethnicity or race , '' Ellis told CNN . `` Obviously the prosecutor believes he would be able to prove this intent and so he wants the opportunity to prove that in trial . '' But if Moreno-Ocampo loses the appeal , Ellis said , it would not minimize the seriousness of the case . `` The charges that have been ( alleged ) on war crimes and crimes against humanity are still very serious charges and they are egregious acts , '' he said . A ruling on the appeal is likely within six months , Moreno-Ocampo told CNN .
Luis Moreno-Ocampo calls for genocide to be added to al-Bashir 's charges . Sudan leader already charged with war crimes , crimes against humanity . Relates to five-year campaign of violence in western Sudan 's Darfur region . U.N. estimates 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict .