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African Union Warns Against Al-Bashir
Detention: Political Ramifications For
Darfur |
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July 13, 2008
The African Union has warned against any move to prosecute Omar
al-Bashir, Sudan's president, saying that a trial could
jeopardise peace efforts in the Darfur region.
The International Criminal Court is expected to issue an arrest
warrant for al-Bashir on Monday, the first against a sitting
head of state.
Sudan has called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League to
discuss the issue.
The AU's peace and security council met in Addis Ababa, the
Ethiopian capital on Saturday, issuing a statement which
expressed "strong conviction that the search for justice should
be pursued in a way that does not impede or jeopardise efforts
aimed at promoting lasting peace."
The council said it had been briefed on the ICC's plans by the
court's deputy prosecutor, and "reiterated the AU's concern with
the misuse of indictments against African leaders".
Darfur case
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC chief prosecutor, said on Thursday
that a new case covering "crimes committed in the whole of
Darfur over the last five years" would be opened on Monday, and
that al-Bashir would be named as those linked to the violence in
the region.
Moreno-Ocampo also said last month that Sudan's "entire state
apparatus" was involved in an organised campaign to attack
civilians in Darfur and said he would present judges with
evidence implicating senior Sudanese officials in July.
Judges will probably take several weeks or months to rule on the
likely application for new arrest warrants.
ICC judges had previously issued arrest warrants for Ahmad Harun,
a government minister, and Ali Kushayb, a militia commander, but
Khartoum has refused to hand them over.
In the event of an arrest warrant being issued, it will be the
first bid before The Hague-based tribunal to charge a sitting
head of state with war crimes.
Political ramifications
Gary Grant, a barrister specialising in international law, told
Al Jazeera that the legal proceedings will take effect when or
if al-Bashir is deposed.
He said: "If someday, as I suspect will happen, the judges of
the pre-trial chamber of the ICC agree to issue an arrest
warrant, it will simply be an extant arrest warrant - it is not
going to allow police officers to go in and arrest the sitting
president."
"If al-Bashir is deposed, there is not going to be many places
that he can go without being arrested ... and what sometimes
happens is that the very fact of this arrest warrant may cause
additional division within his government.
"What it may do is upset the status quo there, whereby former
allies, desperate to do deals to avoid themselves being
indicted, make efforts to depose the sitting president and hand
him over to The Hague where he can be tried," he said.
"This obviously can have a great political effect, but legally,
it is not going to bite while al-Bashir continues to sit
comfortably in his presidential suite."
The UN says up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2
million have been displaced since the Darfur conflict broke out
in February 2003. The Sudanese government disputes the figures
saying 10,000 have been killed.
The conflict began when African ethnic minority fighters took up
arms against the Arab-dominated government, which is alleged to
have employed Arab militias to fight back.
Khartoum condemnation
Khartoum has condemned the ICC move as "criminal".
"If you indict the head of state, the symbol of authority, the
symbol of the dignity of the country, then it is a serious issue
for us," Abdelhaleem Abdelmahmoud, Sudan's ambassador to the
United Nations, told Al Jazeera.
"We condemn this criminal move by the prosecutor-general. It is
very disastrous to the peace process, and to the efforts between
the United Nations and Sudan to deal peacefully with the problem
in Darfur.
"It is a very destabilising move," he said.
Abdelmahmoud also said that Sudan did not recognise the
jurisdiction of the ICC and called the charges "politically
motivated".
"It is one of the designs by the enemies of the country to
settle political scores, they tried it through sanctions, they
tried it through inciting our neighbours ... so it is a process
of conspiracies against our country,' he said.
Sudan does not recognise the jursidiction of the ICC.
'Triumph for justice'
Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the the Justice and Equality Movement
(Jem), the most powerful rebel group, said it was suspending all
military operations until the announcement expected on Monday,
to show its support for the ICC.
Jem came close to attacking Khartoum in May, the first time a
rebel group brought one of Sudan's multiple civil wars near the
capital. The clashes killed more than 200 and injured hundreds
more.
Ibrahim said: "This is a happy day for humanity in the whole
world, not only Darfur and Sudan.
"We are fully supporting the ICC if it happens that Bashir is at
the top of their list."
Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur, founder of the Sudan Liberation
Movement (SLM), said: "This is a new world age - it will send a
message that anyone who commits crimes and genocide will be
judged."
The SLM Unity faction, which is separate from the SLM, also
welcomed any ICC warrant for al-Bashir.
Sherif Harir, a senior SLM Unity commander, said: "This will
show our mothers, sisters, brothers in the refugee camps that
people care about them.
"Bashir has been killing us for so long. What more can he do? We
are not afraid of any backlash." -- Al-Jazeera |
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Source:
esinislam.com
+ Agencies |
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