Dilemma for Washington as ICC begins Darfur probe
By Guy Dinmore and Nikki Tait, Financial Times
WASHINGTON/LONDON, June 6, 2005 — The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday launched an investigation into suspected war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region, a development likely to present problems for the Bush administration as it opposes the court’s existence and maintains close intelligence links with the Khartoum government.
Up to 300,000 people are thought to have been killed during the two-year-old conflict in western Sudan, and more than 2m people have fled their homes. Independent aid and rights organisations accuse rebel groups, the government and allied Arab militia the Janjaweed of atrocities.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor, called for international co-operation with his investigation, which would focus on “the individuals who bear the greatest criminal responsibility for crimes committed in Darfur”. The UN has given the ICC a list of 51 names of war crime suspects.
The US had no immediate reaction to the ICC statement, and it is not clear whether it will co-operate with requests for help. Sudan has previously refused to co-operate. US legislation blocks co-operation with the court, but a senior State Department official has said that requests could be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The Bush administration, analysts say, has put itself in a delicate situation. On the one hand the US last year was the first big power to accuse the Sudanese government and Janjaweed militia of responsibility for genocide in Darfur. Yet it lobbied against a UN Security Council resolution in March that referred the case to the ICC because of its opposition to the court.
John Bolton, whose confirmation as the next US envoy to the UN has been held up in the Senate, has spearheaded Washington’s efforts against the court.
Despite abstaining in the vote, the US has used the threat of the ICC to press Khartoum to stop the violence and prosecute those responsible. Robert Zoellick, deputy secretary of state, visited Darfur last week for the second time in two months.
At the same time, according to officials, the US maintains a close relationship with Sudanese officials and intelligence officers believed to be responsible for the ethnic cleansing and village burning in Darfur. US officials say Sudan is a valuable partner in the “global war on terror”. Washington also fears Khartoum’s isolation would jeopardise the peace deal ending the decades-old north-south conflict.
Heather Hamilton, of Citizens for Global Solutions, which supports the ICC, said there was no sign the US would co-operate with the court. The US could become a haven for suspected war criminals as it would resist extradition of suspects, she added.
Richard Dicker, at Human Rights Watch’s international justice programme, said the key issue would be the extent to which Sudan co-operated with the investigation. As a UN member state Sudan had “a clear legal obligation” to do so.