Sudan rejected Arab proposal to establish hybrid court for Darfur crimes: report

April 2, 2009 (CAIRO) – The Sudanese government dismissed a proposal submitted during the Arab League summit for hybrid courts to prosecute those suspected of committing war crimes in the Darfur region, an Arab diplomat told a Jordanian newspaper.

The unnamed diplomat told the Al-Dustour newspaper that the initiative recommended a Sudanese court that would be comprised of Arab and African judges.

The hybrid court was part of a “general package” submitted to resolve the issue of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir last month.

Sudan has refused to recognize the court saying it has not ratified its founding Rome Statute despite a referral by the UN Security Council (UNSC) four years ago of the Darfur case to the ICC under a Chapter VII resolution.

This week the Arab League gave its full backing to Sudan and issued a resolution rejecting the arrest warrant and urging its members not to cooperate with the ICC.

Furthermore the Pan-Arab body said that the decision against the Sudanese leader is a violation of international conventions providing for immunity of state officials from prosecution.

The diplomat also revealed that the Sudanese delegation was angered over another proposal submitted which argued that Bashir would resign, stand before the ICC in proceedings to be held in Sudan.

However he did not say whether the ideas were discussed during the foreign ministers preparatory meetings last weekend or in the Arab leader summit on Monday.

The diplomat expressed regret over Sudan’s refusal and warned that similar support by the Arabs was lent to late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein “but they abandoned him at the critical juncture”.

Last week Arab media reported that the Sudanese state minister for foreign affairs Ali Karti threatened his peers that his country will withdraw from the Arab League if all their demands are not incorporated in the final resolution.

“If you want to stand with us you are more than welcome but if you don’t like our position we will not put extra burden on your shoulders to bear” the diplomats quoted Karti as saying.

“This is a trap that we will not accept and we reject any decision. Voiding and rejecting [ICC decision] is what is required and anything less is unacceptable” he added.

Sudan main objection was any reference to resorting to the UN Security Council (UNSC) to invoke Article 16 of the Rome Statute that allows the council to suspend Bashir’s indictment for a period of 12 months that can be renewed indefinitely.

The deferral request was taken out of the resolution but today the Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa suggested that Article 16 remains the only viable option.

“The realistic and practical interpretation of rejecting the ICC accusations is invoking or resorting to procedures that are within the powers of the UNSC to assert the Arab rejection” Moussa told reporters in Cairo today.

He said that it may be necessary to resort to provisions within the Rome Statute relating to the deferral.

Last February a joint Arab-African delegation failed to convince the UNSC to support putting the ICC proceedings on halt.

Sudanese officials insisted however, that they are not part of the diplomatic initiative on an Article 16.

(ST)