Sudan rules out plans to challenge ICC jurisdiction over Darfur

By Wasil Ali

March 18, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese government has ruled out yesterday any plans to stand before the International Criminal Court (ICC) to challenge the admissibility of the Darfur case. In a closed meeting headed by president Omar al-Bashir voted against sending legal experts to the Hague for judicial proceedings.

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 daily al-Rayaam newspaper reported that the meeting evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of standing before the ICC and concluded that Sudan is not member of the ICC and is not obliged to cooperate with it.

This is the first time Khartoum officially stated its position on the charges brought by the ICC against two suspects. The Sudanese government was awaiting an analysis by its legal experts on how to deal with the ICC.

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)