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One year ago Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, on charges of crimes against humanity. Now, on the first anniversary of the arrest warrant, fighting is raging in Darfur 鈥� the war-torn Sudanese province that is the source of much of the case against Mr. Bashir.

Yet in Khartoum, the African country鈥檚 capital, ubiquitous campaign posters hail Bashir鈥檚 run in April national elections. The president鈥檚 most prominent challenger, however, is censured for even mentioning the ICC鈥檚 indictment of the Sudanese leader.

Many observers of Darfur have retreated in recent months from calling the conflict in the province a 鈥済enocide,鈥� as President George W. Bush did during his tenure. But human rights experts say Bashir still must be held accountable for the government鈥檚 legacy of intense violence in Darfur if the country is ever to know peace and justice.

鈥淭he fact is that peace and reconciliation and accountability are all intertwined, and you鈥檙e never going to have the first two without the third element,鈥� says Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition in Washington.

Mr. Fowler just returned from three weeks in Sudan, including a visit to Darfur. The national elections, he says, are virtually meaningless for Darfur 鈥� even though they will be the country鈥檚 first multiparty voting in more than 20 years 鈥� because of unregistered, displaced populations and widespread insecurity.

鈥淒arfur remains under a state of emergency, and the environment there is one of generalized insecurity, with a lot of people running around with guns,鈥� Fowler says. 鈥淪o it is not at all conducive to any meaningful elections.鈥�

On Wednesday, the US State Department issued a statement saying it is 鈥渆xtremely concerned鈥� about reports of new government offensives against rebels in Darfur. According to United Nations officials, the result has been a new spike in civilian deaths.

The United States says the renewed violence is 鈥渦ndermining the spirit of the peace process鈥� between the government and rebel groups.

The government in Khartoum claims that any civilian deaths are the result of rebel attacks on the general population.

For more on the Darfur situation, click here.

In addition, violence is rising in the southern part of the country, despite a comprehensive peace agreement signed with southern rebel groups. US Sen. Russ Feingold (D) of Wisconsin, chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, on Thursday called on the international community to recommit to bringing peace and security and fair elections to Sudan. He warned that a return to generalized violence would have far-reaching consequences.

鈥淎 renewed civil war in Sudan would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences for the entire country and the wider region,鈥� Senator Feingold said following passage of a Senate resolution urging heightened international attention to Sudan.

Bashir came to power in a 1989 coup. Now, he and his ruling party see success in the national elections as a way to give the government legitimacy 鈥� and obscure Bashir鈥檚 indictment as a war criminal, say experts like Fowler of Save Darfur. But with the cards apparently stacked in the ruling party鈥檚 favor, Fowler says, it鈥檚 hard to see how the elections will help resolve Sudan鈥檚 crisis.

鈥淭he problem is the playing field is so unlevel to begin with that simply holding an election does not mean the results will be credible,鈥� Fowler says. He was in Khartoum when the official campaign began, and he saw a sea of Bashir posters.

鈥淭here are other presidential candidates,鈥� he notes, including Sadiq al-Mahdi, the former prime minister who was ousted in the 1989 coup and who was censured Wednesday for speaking of Bashir鈥檚 ICC indictment. 鈥淏ut I never saw one poster for any of them. So that tells you something about the sheer dominance of the ruling party.鈥�