Questions surround ICC letter to Sudan on Darfur suspects
By Wasil Ali
May 1, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed the existence of a letter that was sent to Khartoum requesting clarification on its position regarding the extradition of the Darfur suspects to court.
The Chief Prosecutor of the ICC had announced late February that he filed charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Ahmed Muhammed Harun the Sudanese minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kosheib.
The statement described the letter as part of the attempts by prosecutor to “secure cooperation from the Government of Sudan”. The statement voiced rare criticism of Sudan for lack of cooperation citing “outstanding requests for information, materials, and other forms of cooperation”.
The Sudanese justice Minster Mohamed Ali Al-Mardi commented on the letter by reiterating Sudan’s position rejecting the jurisdiction of the court and refusing to hand over any Sudanese citizen to be tried abroad. According to the ICC’s statement, failure by Sudan to comply with any forthcoming decision by the judges “could justify the issuance of warrants of arrest, subject of course to the Pre-Trial Chamber’s determination”.
There has been conflicting reports from Khartoum on the exact contents of the letter. The head of Sudan’s Bar association, Fathi Khalil has condemned Ocampo’s letter and called on the government to ignore it. Al-Sudani newspaper published in Khartoum quoting a foreign minister official that Ocampo advised the Sudanese government to accept UN peacekeepers in Darfur to avoid ICC prosecutions. The newspaper described the letter as ‘explorative’ in nature opening the door for a compromise with the ICC.
It is not clear what triggered Ocampo’s letter to Sudan at this specific time. The judges of Pre-Trial Chamber at the ICC who are looking at the Darfur case are still deliberating on the evidence submitted by the prosecutor on the Darfur case.
However sources at the ICC told Sudan Tribune that the judges have not requested any information or evidence from the prosecutor since both sides convened in a closed hearing on March 8th. The Darfur case at the ICC has surpassed the Ugandan Resistance Army (LRA) case in the length of time it took before the judges issued a decision on the evidence.
Ocampo has originally requested that the judges issue a summons to appear against the two suspects instead of an arrest warrant. The prosecutor however, has to demonstrate to the judges that a summons to appear will ensure the suspects appearance before the court.
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)