AU Widens Sudan’s Chances against ICC

(PANA)--The African Union (AU) has offered Sudan a survival chance against the issuance of an arrest warrant by recommending that states caught up in such circumstances are better off lobbying diplomatically.

A special report prepared for the AU’s council of foreign ministers - the executive council - the second most powerful arm after the Assembly of Heads of State, has suggested that African states use political and diplomatic pressure against such indictments. The report, exclusively obtained by PANA, recommended that all African states refer cases related to their sovereignty to the ICC, while sticking to the use of diplomatic immunity to scuttle attempts to arrest their nationals for trial under the universal jurisdiction. "African states can lodge diplomatic protests objecting to the abuse of universal jurisdiction by some states, especially where a right of diplomatic protection may be more appropriate to proceed in cases concerning nationals of the states concerned," the report stated.

The AU report was prepared by the African ministers in charge of justice and the attorneys-general of the 53-member pan-African body ahead of the Sharm El Sheikh summit which was held in Egypt, 30 June - 1 July. The report also suggested to African leaders facing the possibility of international arrest warrants that unlike the US, which deployed what it termed as the "policy of negotiations and threats" to have cases against its officials discontinued in Belgium, they could use the legal counsel of the newly-created African Court of Justice and Human Rights. Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir is facing arrest following the expected issuance of an arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over crimes committed in the Darfur region.

The AU ministerial statement noted that the court did not enjoy automatic jurisd iction which instead was based on consent of the parties to the suit. However, African state signatories to the ICC convention are obliged to enforce its arrest warrants and hand-over any suspect wanted for genocide or crimes against humanity. The concept of universal jurisdiction, under which a Brussels-based court sought the arrest and prosecution of Hissane Habre, has been a touchy issue for the African leaders. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has remained unusually cool to the proposed arrest warrant against El-Bashir, saying his office was under no obligation to intervene. In his statement hours after the prosecutor-general of The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) Louis Moreno-Ocampo announced he was pursuing an arrest warrant against the Sudanese leader, the UN chief said the court was independent.

"The Secretary-General emphasised that the court is an independent institution and that the United Nations must respect the independence of the judicial process," his spokesman said in a statement issued after the ICC prosecutor sought the warrant. The UN chief gave the assurance of the UN’s commitment to the protection of the vulnerable populations in Darfur and vowed to keep the humanitarian operations in Darfur alive, offering the much needed support to the war-scarred region. Sudanese authorities have appealed for leniency on the issuance of the arrest warrant against its leader, saying its willingness to seek peace and justice for Darfur had been demonstrated and that the rebel groups were forestalling the talks . Sudan insisted the arrest warrant would strengthen the rebels in Darfur against the government, whose legitimacy would then be undermined by the ICC indictment. Khartoum also pointed out that the international community must force the ICC to see the sense of their action on its leader, by taking into account the regional stability, including the hard-won peace for the Southern and Eastern Sudan.

Sudan has also urged the UN, the Arab League, the Conference of Islamic States and the African Union to appeal to the ICC to drop the indictment and sen d a strong and clear message to the rebel movements that negotiation is the only way to peace. However, what is the possible consequences of the ICC warrant and who will enforce it, if it is issued by the judges at the ICC, as requested by the chief prosecutor? Sudanese authorities are confident none of its friends within the AU, the Arab League and the Islamic Conference would dare enforce the arrest warrant, if issued. "The AU, the Arab League and the Islamic Conference have all opposed the arrest warrant. I do not know how those elements (ICC) will enforce it on Sudan," said Sudanese Ambassador to Kenya Majok Guandong.

The arrest warrant comes barely two weeks after the 11th session of the African Union (AU) heads of state and governments assembly met in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh to discuss the concept of universal jurisdiction. The concept of universal jurisdiction, one of the most contentious issues facing sitting African leaders and former leaders accused of various crimes against humanity and complicity in genocide, has added to the pain of enforcing the ICC treaty. Sudan argued it was not under the ICC jurisdiction and was therefore not obliged to respect, or even respond to the arrest warrant.

<< Back to main