Darfur JEM denounces African-Arab effort to defer ICC move
September 26, 2008 (LONDON) — The rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has denounced today African and Arab efforts to defer the possible issuance of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the Sudanese President and termed it a hostile action.
“Justice and Equality Movement Sudan strongly condemns attempts by some regional and international forces especially the African Union and the Arab League to disrupt the efforts of the International Criminal Court to bring to justice those who committed the most heinous crimes against humanity in this millennium in Darfur,” said JEM spokesperson Ahmed Hussein Adam.
The rebel movement which attacked Khartoum last May has long been critical for the tireless support provided by the Arab league to the Sudan. JEM said ready to discuss the Qatari mediation. It also had bad relations with the former AU envoy, Salim Ahmed Salim, for Darfur since the failure of Abuja peace talks in 2006.
Yesterday the Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha threatened in a speech before the UN Assembly General that no peace could be reached unless the ICC prosecutor request of an arrest warrant for Bashir is suspended.
However, Adam reiterated Friday that JEM believes in the inseparability of justice and peace in Darfur and rejects calls to exchange one for another.
He further stressed they consider attempts to block the indictment of the Sudanese president as “hostile action” against the victims and their rights.
Under the Rome Statue, the treaty governing the ICC, the Security Council can invoke Article 16 of the treaty to suspend jurisdiction of the world court in a case for up to one year, and can renew the suspension indefinitely.
Two of the three African Union countries in the Security Council, Libya and South Africa, sought to force a suspension of the ICC move in the UNAMID extension resolution adopted on July 31 but failed to get the required number of votes and instead accepted a watered-down paragraph that takes note of the African Union (AU) concern regarding the ICC move.
Adam also disclosed that JEM has decided to re-evaluate its relationship with the African Union and its aptness to serve as mediator in the next stage, adding that the rebel movement would announce its position in this regard very soon.
Other rebel groups expressed similar position towards the African and Arab request to block the ICC indictment. Yesterday, the head of the original Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), Abdel Wahid Al-Nur said such a position would encourage Khartoum to commit more atrocities in Darfur.
Meanwhile the spokesperson of the SLM-Unity, Mahgoub Hussein, also rejected any bargaining on international justice, stressing that they consider it as first step for peace in Darfur.
Analysts showed scepticism on the joint African-Arab move to suspend the ICC indictment and to hold peace talks on Darfur in Doha saying this could abort the internationally backed Qatari initiative and be construed as a move to support President Bashir instead of settling the five year conflict.
Adam also warned the Qatari government that this supportive stance for the deferral of the ICC jurisdiction does not help and it is in contradiction with its efforts to mediate between the parties in the conflict.
“This position does not help and is not in conformity with its efforts to mediate between the parties in Darfur crisis,” said the JEM official. He further added that for a mediator, “maintaining equal distance from each of the parties is an eligibility requirement for such a difficult task.”
The Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani earlier this week said he supports the ICC suspension because this would allow his government to begin its mediation to end the conflict.
“We are coordinating with the African Union and the United Nations how to start the next steps to solve firstly the issue of the accusations against some officials in Sudan and secondly to look into solving the Darfur crisis in a manner that serves peace and security in Africa,” Hamad said. In New York.
The ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. He accuses Bashir of orchestrating a campaign in Darfur since 2003 that has killed 35,000 people outright, at least another 100,000 through starvation and disease and forced 2.5 million from their homes.
It was only last week that judges have started reviewing the case in a process that could possibly drag on to the end of the year.
(ST)