From: emmanuel (emmanuel@bayou.com)
Date: Wed Sep 10 2008 - 09:03:11 EDT
US official predicts arrest warrant for Sudan president mid-October
September 9, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – A senior US official said he expects
the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant next
month for Sudanese President Omer Hassan al-Bashir.
.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad speaks to the
media after a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the
conflict between Russian and Georgia at United Nations headquarters in
New York August 11, 2008 (Reuters) The ICC’s prosecutor Luis
Moreno-Ocampo announced in mid-July that he requested an arrest warrant
for Al-Bashir.
Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes
against humanity and two of murder and accused Al-Bashir of
masterminding a campaign to get rid of the African tribes in Darfur;
Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.
The judges have yet to reach a decision on the charges but in other
cases handled by the court it took no more than 3 months for them to
make such a ruling. The unofficial timeframe for the case against
Al-Bashir expires on October 15.
The Egyptian Middle-East news agency (MENA) quoted the US Ambassador to
the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad as saying that the ICC judges may
make a ruling on the request for an arrest warrant by mid-October.
Khalilzad said the judges will likely endorse charges against Al-Bashir
but added that it may not include the counts of genocide.
The US diplomat further said that Ocampo’s request against Al-Bashir may
be a “maneuver” to force Khartoum to hand over two suspects already
charged by the ICC last year.
The judges of the ICC issued arrest warrants in April 2007 for Ahmed
Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs, and against militia
commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb in
connection with Darfur war crimes.
Sudan has so far refused to hand any of citizens to be tried abroad and
insisted that Haroun and Kushayb have been cleared of any wrongdoings.
In July Western diplomats at the UN Security Council (UNSC) told Reuters
that Al-Bashir may escape indictment if he hands over the two men.
“The suggestion of that has come from the chief prosecutor…his refusal
to cooperate in bringing to justice those that the ICC thought were
responsible for the actual killings on the ground adds force, adds
evidence to the allegation of command responsibility for those killings”
a senior UNSC diplomat told Reuters last July on condition of anonymity.
But the ICC prosecutor dismissed this suggestion in an interview with
Sudan Tribune in August.
“In December 2007 I said Haroun and Kushayb have to be arrested and
spoke about my upcoming cases. Now there is a pending case before the
judges. What I say publicly is always what I say privately” Ocampo said.
However the US envoy at the UN said that the charges against Al-Bashir
may be dropped if the Sudanese government sends the two suspects to The
Hague.
Under the Rome Statute which governs the work of the ICC, if the judges
issue an arrest warrant it “remains in effect until otherwise ordered by
the Court”.
Charges against an individual may be withdrawn only when the accused
stands before the ICC during what is known as “conformation of charges”
hearings. The ICC prosecutor may withdraw charges during the hearing or
the Judges may decline to confirm them.
Some members of the UNSC called for invoking Article 16 of the Rome
Statute which allows the council to suspend the ICC prosecutions in any
case for a period of 12 months that can be renewed indefinitely.
This demand has been supported by the African Union, Arab League,
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).
But any such resolution introduced appears to have little chances of
surviving a vote in the UNSC particularly with the veto wielding members
such as US, UK and France opposing it.
Sudan’s allies in the UNSC like China, Russia, South African and Libya
have not tabled a formal resolution after a failed attempt in July.
Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statute, but the UNSC triggered the
provisions under the Statute that enables it to refer situations in
non-State parties to the world court if it deems that it is a threat to
international peace and security.
(ST)
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