Tag: Al-Bashir

UN Security Council not interested in ICC pleas

Amid worsening violence in Sudan’s Darfur region, a frustrated International Criminal Court prosecutor pleaded on Monday for the United Nations Security Council to take action to ensure justice “for the long-suffering victims of atrocity crimes.”

Wanted President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has traveled freely within Africa and has not yet been arrested.

The Hague-based court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s President al-Bashir, who is accused of crimes including alleged genocide in the country’s western Darfur province, in March 2009.

Yet Bashir rejects the court’s authority.

“It is long overdue for you to heed the cries of the victims of rape and sexual abuse, torture, mass displacement and other inhumane suffering Darfurians continue to endure,” said ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.

The United States, Britain and France have said the suffering in Darfur was at its worst level in a decade.

“Innocent civilians continue to bear the brunt of insecurity and instability, in particular as a result of what appears to be an ongoing government campaign to target them,” Bensouda said.

“The people alleged to be most responsible for these ongoing atrocities are the same people against whom warrants of arrest have already been issued,” she said.

The ICC’s Bensouda said the court had made ten referrals to the Security Council for non-compliance, including Sudan, Chad, Kenya, Djibouti, Malawi and Democratic Republic of Congo, but the 15-member council has not responded to any of the referrals.

Source: Reuters

ANC to appeal Bashir ruling

The government is to appeal the North Gauteng High Court’s judgment relating to Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir.

A statement released by the government’s communications department on Monday said the reasons for the appeal would be stated in the affidavit.

Bashir left the country while the ruling was being made by the court on whether or not he should be detained under an International Criminal Court indictment for war crimes in Darfur.

In leaving the country, Bashir violated of an interim court interdict ordering him to stay.

The government’s affidavit stated that the reason Bashir left the country was that his passport had not been handed in at immigration control at the Waterkloof Air Force Base.

The court has asked the National Prosecuting Authority to investigate the possibility of pursuing criminal charges against the government for its role in allowing him to leave.

Source: eNCA

ANC to review ICC participation

The minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe has announced that South Africa will review its participation in the International Criminal Court.

Small business development minister, Lindiwe Zulu, said during a parliamentary debate “Africa’s newest state‚ the Republic of South Sudan‚ would not be in existence today had the parties placed the issue of justice above all others.

“This does not mean that there is no role for justice for victims of conflicts. It means that recognising the complexities inherent in conflict resolution‚ it is best to address the question of justice in the context of a political settlement.”

The main thrust of her argument was that Africa required a special political dispensation.

“It should therefore be noted that‚ our efforts for the renewal of the continent will remain void if the fundamentals elements which include peace and stability are not realised. Peace and stability is therefore an important ingredient for development,” she said.

When the speaker called time on her, she concluded that South Africa would not allow the prosecution of a sitting head of state.

The consensus reached between the ANC and EFF is that the International Criminal Court has an anti-African bias, that it is tool of western powers to undermine “the weak” as Mantashe’s stated.

The largest bloc of countries consists of 34 African states, followed by 27 Latin American and Caribbean States. There are 19 from the Asia-Pacific region and 18 from eastern Europe. A further 25 come from western Europe and elsewhere.

Under the ICC’s Rome Statute terms‚ heads of state do not enjoy immunity.

Radebe said SA has to balance its obligations to the ICC with its obligations to the AU and individual states. In addition‚ he asserted‚ the ICC must have been aware that SA‚ in execution of the warrant‚ would breach its agreement with the AU.

President Jacob Zuma’s government is facing the risk of criminal charges over its handling of Al Bashir’s departure from the country last week.

Pretoria High Court Judge Dunstan Mlambo yesterday said the departure of the Sudanese president – who is wanted for war crimes – despite a court ruling barring him from leaving pending a decision on whether to execute a warrant of arrest against him‚ demonstrated the state’s disregard for the order.

The judge issued a grave warning‚ stating: “If the state or an organ of state‚ or state officials don’t abide by court orders‚ the democratic edifice will crumble stone by stone until it collapses and chaos ensues”.

Government to present affidavit on Bashir’s departure

Government is expected to present an affidavit to the High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday on why it let Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir leave the country against the interim court order prohibiting his departure.

The court also ruled that al-Bashir should be detained under an International Criminal Court (ICC) indictment on war crime charges.

Government will have to explain why it allowed the Sudanese President to leave the country.

Government earlier said it offered al-Bashir immunity because he was attending an African Union summit in Johannesburg. The ICC in Hague indicted al-Bashir for war crimes in Sudan’s western Darfur in 2003.

The ANC is calling on government to temporarily suspend South Africa’s membership of the International Criminal Court.

It follows controversy over Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir’s recent trip to South Africa.

The ANC has already urged government to work with other African states to protect the ICC from so-called undue influence from non-member states.

The party says the ICC is no longer useful.

Instead, the ANC says the court has allowed itself to be a proxy for powerful non-member states who want to persecute African leaders and effect regime change on the continent.

Opposition MPs said the government had undermined the rule of law it had sworn to protect by helping al-Bashir, who is facing genocide and crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court, leave South Africa.

The ANC insisted the issue was sub judice.

Said DA MP Stevens Mokgalapa: “The government, under President [Jacob] Zuma, has failed to uphold the constitution, has failed the people of South Africa and those who were murdered and displaced in Darfur.”

DA MP James Selfe asked the government to stop referring to al-Bashir as “his excellency”.

“The only thing he is excellent at is killing people,” said Selfe.

He pointed out that al-Bashir stood accused of a leading role in the genocide of 300000 black Africans.

Several MPs acknowledged that the International Criminal Court is unfairly targeting African leaders.

The Economic Freedom Fighters’ Chief Whip Floyd Shivambu says the court’s prosecution selection process needs to be reviewed.

“We do not agree with the selective prosecution of the ICC for Africans, because it looks like it has only existed for Africans since its establishment.”

“Also it was naive for whoever took the government to court to think that it can be wise to arrest a head of state here in South Africa. It was going to lead to instability in the origin country where he came from, it was going to even threaten our security in South Africa, but also it was going to lead to the undermining of the statute of South Africa in the international context,” Shivambu added.

COPE leader Mosiuoa Lekota said what had been done in the name of South Africa was a serious crime.

The Freedom Front Plus says government has exposed the ANC as a party that does not respect human rights.

“Sir, forget about Fifa. The Al-Bashir crisis makes the Fifa version look like a Sunday school picnic,” Freedom Front Plus leader, Pieter Mulder said.

“No other executive act has ever exposed the ANC as a human rights violator on such a grand scale to the whole world. Ons gaan die prys betaal hiervoor vir baie jare nog.”

SA troops ‘held hostage’ in Sudan

The Sudanese government of president Omar al-Bashir literally held a gun to South Africa’s head to secure his safe return to Khartoum.

Netwerk24 can reveal that about 800 South African soldiers in Darfur were held “hostage” by Sudanese troops when the drama around Al-Bashir’s possible arrest in South Africa escalated.

According to military experts, this effectively means Sudan blackmailed South Africa and the soldiers’ lives served as a guarantee for Al-Bashir’s safe return.

Only after Al-Bashir safely touched down in Khartoum on Monday, were Sudanese troops withdrawn. President Jacob Zuma is the commander-in-chief of the defence force.

“We were so scared – we were surrounded by soldiers. We handed out extra ammunition to all our troops in case they needed it,” said one South African soldier in Sudan on Tuesday.

“I am so thankful that South Africa did not arrest Bashir. The battalion commander said after Bashir touched down safely in Khartoum, all the [Sudanese] troops were withdrawn. The calamity has returned to normal,” reads a message sent by a soldier in Darfur to his friends in South Africa.

About 1 400 South African soldiers are serving in Darfur as part of a combined African Union/United Nations peace mission (Unamid). The current group are from 8 SA Infantry Battalion in Upington.

“Our nerves were shot and we were very relieved when the militants withdrew on Monday evening. We knew we were sitting ducks,” said a South African soldier.

Unamid said it was unaware of the situation.