Sudan says will not stand before ICC for any judicial proceedings
By Wasil Ali
March 10, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese minister denied that Sudan would challenge the jurisdiction of the ICC before its judges. He further said Sudan intends to try responsible of Darfur war crimes and has the means to do so.
The Sudanese justice Minster Mohamed Ali Al-Mardi dismissed reports today that Khartoum intends to challenge the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) before its judges. He stressed that the decisions of the ICC are binding to the nations which ratified the Rome Statue only.
Under the Rome Statue the suspects or the states of which they are citizens can challenge the admissibility of the case before the ICC judges. The judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC who were assigned the Darfur case are still examining evidence presented by the prosecutor but are expected to issue a decision soon.
The judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber I convened an all-day closed session with the prosecutor on Thursday regarding his application to issue a summons to appear for Harun and Kosheib.
The minister said in Cairo that the ICC role is a complementary one, but not an alternative to the national judiciary. He said that the ICC carries out its role in two cases only, which are the unwillingness and inability of the country to hold trials for the accuses persons, emphasizing that Sudan have the desire, will and the capability to inflict punishment on any convict.
Al-Mardi reaffirmed his country’s refusal to hand over any suspects to the ICC saying that the national courts are competent enough to handle any crimes committed in Darfur.
The Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, announced on February 27 that he filed charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Ahmed Mohamed Haroun the Sudanese minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kosheib.
If Sudan fails to comply with a summons to appear order issued by the ICC judges on a specified date an arrest warrant is issued for the named suspects. The arrest warrant will then be transmitted to the states that are parties to the Rome Statue and to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to execute. It is also expected that the UN Security Council would address Sudan’s failure to cooperate with the ICC as spelled out in resolution 1593 referring the situation in Darfur to the ICC.
Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statue, but the UN Security Council triggered the provisions under the Statue that enables it to refer situations in non-State parties to the world court if it deems that it is a threat to international peace and security.
(ST)