George Clooney
Actor George Clooney is arrested for civil disobedience after protesting at the Sudan Embassy in Washington March 16, 2012. Clooney was protesting the escalating humanitarian crisis in Sudan. REUTERS

George Clooney was arrested on Friday during a protest outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington D.C.

The arrest, first reported by CNN, comes two days after the actor testified before a Senate committee about new evidence of war crimes being committed in Sudan's Nuba Mountains.

Friday's protest was against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who Clooney and his satellite monitoring group believe ordered air strikes against ethnic minorities once loyal to South Sudan.

It is absolutely without question a war crime that we saw firsthand, the actor told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee while presenting his findings on Wednesday.

Clooney's father Nick, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia and several other activists were also detained at the embassy on Massachusetts Avenue. According to reports, the protestors were asked to leave the grounds, which are private property belonging to the Sudanese government, but refused.

Clooney has made a number of humanitarian visits to Sudan and the Darfur region of the country, where he visited with refugees of a years-long ethnic conflict.

Related: George Clooney And The New-Ethics of Satellite Surveillance

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