Ethiopian Review

The African Union’s (AU) decision not to help arrest Sudan’s president will not affect the International Criminal Court’s work, its prosecutor says.

Luis Moreno Ocampo told the BBC that Omar al-Bashir was still a wanted man and that it was up to each African state to decide whether to arrest him.

Mr Bashir was indicted over alleged atrocities in Darfur in March.

But on Friday an AU meeting in Libya agreed on a resolution saying they would not co-operate in his arrest.

In a statement, the AU pointed out that its request to the UN Security Council to delay Mr Bashir’s indictment had been ignored.

But, Mr Ocampo told the BBC that the AU decision was no victory for Sudan or Mr Bashir. “No-one is saying he’s innocent,” he said.

He said each of the 30 African states that signed up to the Rome treaty establishing the court would have to decide for themselves whether to arrest the Sudanese leader.

And he added that only the Security Council could suspend or lift the indictment against Mr Bashir, not the ICC.

The court has indicted the Sudanese president on two counts of war crimes – intentionally directing attacks on civilians and pillage – as well as five counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and torture, all related to the conflict in the Darfur region.

Mr Bashir has denied the allegations, saying the state has a responsibility to fight rebels.

Directed their anger

Botswana has confirmed it will not abide by the African Unions’s decision to ignore the arrest warrant.

Foreign Minister Phandu Skelemani told the BBC that the AU decision had been rushed through without a vote, and countries could not be expected to renege on treaties “because of a sulk”.

Earlier in March, thousands of protesters poured out in the streets of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, just minutes after an arrest warrant was issued for President al-Bashir.

Many directed their anger towards the ICC prosecutor, Mr Ocampo.

“This Ocampo is crazy if he thinks he will take our president,” said a protester, Ahmed Fanous, carrying a placard of the lawyer defaced with a cross.

“He is a tool of the West to attack Sudan.”

Mr Bashir has already dismissed the warrant as being “not worth the ink” in which it is written.

Bus loads of furious demonstrators arrived to a rally at a government building in the downtown area of Khartoum, singing and banging drums.

Some came direct from government offices to join an organised rally, but others said they had joined the demonstrations spontaneously.

Many carried giant posters of the president in support.

“We will support President Bashir until we die,” screamed another.

Others warned that the warrant would have a negative impact to Sudan.

Free to travel

“This will bring trouble to our country, this court should not be doing this,” said teacher Mohammed Hussein.

“This man is our leader, so do they really think we would allow anyone to come and put him in prison?” asked another demonstrator, Abubaker Omar.

And on Saturday, Sudan said its president was free to travel across Africa after heads of state of the African Union voted not to cooperate with the International Criminal Court’s indictment of him.

Under the court’s founding statute, member countries are required to arrest suspects within their territories. But, Bashir has only visited states not bound by the court’s rules since the warrant was issued in March.

Last week, African Union Heads of State meeting in Libya on Friday adopted a motion saying they would not cooperate with the ICC and its order to arrest Bashir or surrender him.

The AU wants a deferment of the indictment, saying the warrant compromises peace efforts in Darfur.

Khartoum said the decision meant Bashir would not fear arrest even if he visited South Africa and 29 other states on the continent signed up to the global court.

“The president is free to travel anywhere in Africa, including those countries that have ratified the ICC’s Rome statute,” said Sudan’s foreign ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadig.

“We think that Africa is now one front against the ICC… Most Africans believe it is a court that has been set up against Africa and the third world. (The African Union decision) makes us feel that we are not alone, that people are supporting us.”

President Bashir did not attend the inauguration of South African President Jacob Zuma in May, amid reports Pretoria had warned Khartoum that the Sudanese leader could be arrested.
However, al-Sadig said there would now be no obstacles to a visit.

“As far as we are concerned, whenever there are meetings in the African continent, or in Arab countries, he will go there,” added al-Sadig.

The spokesman said he thought the African Union’s decisions were immediately binding on members, so Bashir would not have to wait for further approval from the parliaments of each state.

Al-Sadig added he was not aware of any immediate plans for the president to embark on a wider African tour.

Gross rights violations

Rights group Amnesty International criticised the AU vote, saying it undermined the credibility of the 53-member body.

“This decision by the African Union member states shows a disdain for those in Darfur who suffered gross human rights violation and makes a mockery of the AU as an international body,” said Amnesty Africa director Erwin van der Borght.

“By supporting a wanted person accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, it undermines the credibility of states which are party to the Rome Statute and the AU as a whole.”

Washington accuses President Bashir of committing genocide during the conflict in Darfur, that surged in 2003 when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the Sudan government, accusing it of neglecting the western region.

Estimates of the death count range from 10,000, according to Khartoum, to 300,000, according the United Nations. Sudan accuses Western media of exaggerating the violence.

- News Agencies