Correction: Sudan’s Bashir set to arrive in Turkey on Sunday afternoon

(Corrects Bashir arrival date to Sunday afternoon)

November 7, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir will arrive in Turkey on Monday afternoon to take part in the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Istanbul, according to a newspaper report.

The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) Al-Raed newspaper said that Bashir will fly from Egypt on Sunday after concluding his participation in the fourth Forum of China-Africa Cooperation in the morning of the same day.

Al-Bashir arrived today in Egypt to participate in the summit which is due to be held in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm al-Sheikh on Sunday.

The Sudanese head of state anticipated arrival in Turkey has generated controversy and criticisms from human rights groups and the European Union (EU) which privately urged the NATO member to consider the invitation it extended.

Turkey rebuffed the objections saying it is only a host of the OIC conference while saying that a bilateral visit by Bashir, who faces an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his alleged role in Darfur atrocities, in the future “is out of question”.

Turkey is not a signatory to the Rome Statute but is required to ratify it in order to achieve its long standing goal of joining the European Union (EU).

The Sudanese government has yet to officially confirm Bashir’s trip to Turkey as it usually does before his trips abroad.

One source in Khartoum told Sudan Tribune that the government “is trying to keep it [Bashir’s visit] quiet” in case Turkey comes under pressure to backtrack on the invitation causing a last minute cancellation and an “embarrassment”.

An advance protocol team from the Sudanese presidency is currently in Istanbul to prepare for Bashir’s arrival, the source added.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) both issued statements urging Turkey to either block his visit or arrest him.

“President Omar al Bashir is a fugitive from international justice, charged with responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes against men, women and children, including murder, rape, torture and forced displacement. It would be a disgrace for Turkey to offer him safe haven,” said Christopher Keith Hall, Senior Legal Advisor, at Amnesty International.

“It would not only amount to obstruction of justice, but just as offering shelter to a fleeing bank robber constitutes a crime under national law, so, too, would sheltering a fugitive from international justice be complicity in crime” he added.

“Turkey’s international image will plummet if it welcomes a man wanted to answer for some of the most heinous abuses against civilians in the world today,” said Elise Keppler, senior counsel with Human Rights Watch’s International Justice Program. “Turkey, after all, serves on the UN Security Council, whose referral led to the warrant against him.”

(ST)