UNITED NATIONS, June 5 (KUNA) — In what diplomats described as a “naive attitude,” Luis Marino-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday urged the Sudanese Government to arrest President Omar Al Bashir for crimes he ordered in Darfur.
“The arrest warrant concerning President Al Bashir has been sent to the Sudanese authorities. The Government of the Sudan has the responsibility to arrest him. Their legal obligation stems from the UN Charter and UNSC resolution 1593,” Ocampo told the Security Council in an open meeting.
Ocampo recalled that international experiences, as the case of Slobodan Milosevic of the former Yugoslavia and Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia, “tell us that the implementation of a judicial decision against a Head of State is a process that can take time, months or years. In the end however, they all faced justice”.
On March 4, ICC judges granted an arrest warrant for President Al Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in Sudan’s abusive counterinsurgency campaign in Darfur, west of the country.
Ocampo also insisted that the Sudanese Government “has also the duty” to arrest Ahmed Harum, a government official, and Ali Kushayb, a Janjaweed leader supported by the Sudanese Government.
He also called on all States Parties to the Rome Statute to arrest and surrender any indictee travelling to their territory.
After the arrest warrant was issued, Al-Bashir travelled to five countries, including Libya and Qatar. None of them is a state party to the Rome Statute.
Ocampo expressed regret that “as of now, there are no national proceedings in the Sudan” in relation to the massive crimes investigated by the court.
Al Bashir had said that the Sudanese legal system is fit to investigate the crimes and punish the perpetrators.
“We are at a crossroads. The next six months will be crucial. Most of the millions of victims of crimes have lived in the camps for four years. Youths are unable to move around. There is no education … there is a generation of child soldiers in the making,” he warned.
“There is a generation of victims faced with two options: They can leave the camps and die the same day; they can remain in the camps and die the day after,” he stated.
Human Rights Watch and other NGOs urged the Security Council to press for the surrender and trial of President Al Bashir and others wanted for serious crimes committed in Darfur.
Although Sudan is not a state party to the ICC, it is obligated to cooperate with the court under Security Council Resolution 1593, which referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC. (end) sj.bs KUNA 052054 Jun 09NNNN
حركة العدل و المساواة السودانية
موقع متخصص بنقل آخر الأخبار و البيانات و القرارات لحركة العدل و المساواة السودانية