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Sudan’s President Omar al Bashir has warned foreign organisations to respect his government or be kicked out of the country.
Bashir, who’s wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, has accused international peacekeepers of harbouring six Darfuris, whom he says instigated violent clashes in the Kalma refugee camp last month.
Speaking to Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow, Ibrahim Gambari, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur, says stopping aid work in the region would be irresponsible.
African Union leaders consider increasing military force and discuss ICC International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir on war crime charges.
Just a few minutes away from a blast that killed 76 people in Uganda earlier this month, delegates in the African Union debate increasing the role of the organization’s military force.
The African Union (AU) will likely remove the cap on the number of troops in AMISOM, but probably will not get permission to attack al-Shabaab in Somalia, which claimed responsibility for the blast.
[Jean Ping, African Union Commission Chairman]
“We need additional equipment adapted to the new mandate into attack instead of defence. So we need this equipment and we have asked for five helicopters already for that.”
The summit also addressed the ICC International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on war crimes charges.
President of Malawi and current chairman of the AU Bingu wa Mutharika says the warrant undermines African solidarity.
[Bingu wa Mutharika, President of Malawi and AU Chairperson]
“The issuance of a warrant of arrest for his excellency al-Bashir, a duly elected president of the Sudan, is a violation of the principles of sovereignty. To subject a sovereign head of state to a warrant of arrest is undermining African solidarity and African peace and security that we fought for, for so many years.”
African countries are divided about whether they should arrest al-Bashir.
Some African leaders say the ICC is obsessed with prosecuting Africans and ignores war criminals on other continents.
Sudan’s president has arrived in Chad on his first trip to a full member state of the International Criminal Court, which is demanding his arrest for war crimes and genocide.
Omar Al Bashir entered the capital N’Djamena to a warm welcome, with Chad saying it is under no obligation to arrest him.
He will be attending a summit of the Sahel-Saharan states in the country, despite Chad being a signatory of the Rome Statute that binds members to honour arrest warrants issued by the global court.
Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow reports from Khartoum, Sudan’s capital.
The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir will be arrested for genocide committed in Darfur.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, or ICC, said on Thursday that Sudan’s president must and will be arrested for genocide.
ICC chief prosecutor Moreno O’Campo spoke in the Hague, one day after President Omar Hassan al-Bashir arrived in Chad. It was his first visit to a full member state of the International Criminal Court.
The ICC said that as a member state Chad was obliged to arrest Bashir. However, Chad said that it was under no obligation to do so, and that Bashir would return home safely after attending the summit it was hosting.
But O’Campo said he should be detained and arrested by a court order.
[Moreno O’Campo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court]:
“President Bashir is abusing of his power to commit genocide in Darfur, to threaten Southern Sudan and now to impose his presence in the neighbouring countries. I think he should be detained, arrested by a court order. This is not a trivial issue, this is genocide. So I think that the destiny of President Bashir is to face justice. If he continues to travel he will give us opportunities to arrest him. His destiny is clear. He will travel to the Hague, the court can wait for him. The victims they cannot wait.”
Bashir was indicted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur last year. This month the court added genocide to the charges, accusing him of presiding over rape, torture and murder in the remote west of Sudan.
[Moreno O’Campo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court]:
“The security council requested the court intervention. The court decided it is genocide. Now the security council should implement measures to protect the victims, to protect neighbouring countries and to arrest president Bashir. Security Council will implement measures.”
Rebels in Darfur have dismissed as “cheap propaganda” claims by the Sudanese army that 300 of their fighters were killed in recent fighting.
Darfur’s Justice and Equality Movement, or JEM, claimed victory instead.
The fresh fighting came a day after the International Criminal Court issued three new genocide charges against Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, over his government’s conduct in the Darfur conflict.
Violence in the region has intensified since peace talks broke down in May.
This is the first in a series of Vblogs that IJCentral is producing with renowned experts and young professionals in order to build a space for people to explain, question and critique contemporary issues in the field of International Justice.
In celebration of International Justice Day (July 17th), the Bar Association of the City of New York presented an evening on the International Criminal Court (ICC). Twelve years to the day since the signing of the Rome Statute, which led to the establishment of the ICC, students, lawyers and activists gathered to hear three distinguished experts (Patricia O’Brien, Christian Wenaweser, and David Tolbert) talk on the creation, and future, of the ICC.
IJCentral was there to talk to the audience, to hear about their concerns and hopes for the ICC, and gather their opinions on the state of International Justice in 2010. The issues raised included the ongoing plight of the Fur population in Sudan, how the ICC will increase its worldwide legitimacy and jurisdiction, and if the US will ever become a member of the Court.
In this video reply to IJCentral’s “Ask the Prosecutor” initiative, Luis Moreno Ocampo talks about the current situation in Darfur and the recently issued arrest warrant for the crime of genocide against President Omar Al Bashir of Sudan.
If you have your own burning question for the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, please join the IJCentral Action Network.
On 17 June 2010, Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain (Banda) and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus (Jerbo) made their voluntary, initial appearance before the International Criminal Court (ICC), in compliance with summonses to appear issued by Pre-Trial Chamber I.
Mr. Banda and Mr. Jerbo are charged with three counts of war crimes allegedly committed during an attack carried out on 29 September 2007 against the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), a peace-keeping mission stationed at the Haskanita Military Group Site (MGS Haskanita) in the locality of Umm Kadada, North Darfur.
Pre-Trial Chamber I is composed of Presiding Judge Sylvia Steiner, Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng and Judge Cuno Tarfusser.
This video was produced in 2010 by the Public Information and Documentation Section of the ICC, for non-profit and educational purposes. The ICC encourages its use, reproduction and distribution for the same purposes. Sale or commercial use is strictly prohibited.
John Washburn, Convener of the American Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition for the ICC (AMICC), explains AMICC’s mission to help make the International Criminal Court a stronger institution and one that is attractive to U.S. citizens and policymakers. He also is at the Kampala ICC Review Conference to shed light on the reasoning behind U.S. foreign policy decisions, especially regarding its position vis-a-vis the ICC.