Darfur rebel leader cleared of war crimes charges

February 8, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – The judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) today ruled that there is not sufficient evidence to send a Darfur rebel leader to trial on charges that he commanded an attack on African Union (AU) peacekeepers in 2007.

The panel of three judges said in their 103-pages decision on the confirmation of charges hearings that took place last October that the prosecution failed to prove that Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, leader of Darfur United Resistance Front (URF), played a role in the deadly assault that left 12 soldiers dead and wounded eight others.

Abu Garda was the first individual to appear before The Hague based court in connection with the Darfur case. The rebel chief agreed to surrender himself voluntarily last year to face the charges saying he is confident of his innocence.

Two other unidentified rebel commanders accused of staging the attack are still at large amid reports last week that an attempt is made to have them voluntarily appear before the judges in a manner similar to Abu Garda.

The Sudanese government dismissed as a “theatrical play” his appearance orchestrated by the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to show his impartiality and pressure Sudan into cooperating with the court.

The ICC judges in the decision expressed agreement that the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) enjoyed protection under international convention under the peacekeepers classification in accordance with its mandate and that it was not involved in the fighting with either parties to the conflict, Government of Sudan or the rebels.

However, the court documents show that Abu Garda’s defense alleged that Government of Sudan officials inside the Haskanita camp namely Captain Bashir relayed coordinates of the rebels to the pilots and after rebel complaints he was removed from the camp before the fatal attack took on peacekeepers place.

The prosecution alleged that the attack on Haskanita was agreed upon by Abu Garda and other senior commanders of armed rebel groups in the course of two meetings on September 29 2007. The first meeting occurred “shortly after the attack on the rebel forces in Dalil Babiker, which had allegedly been carried out by the GoS around midday on 29 September 2007”.

“At the location where the JEM and combined SLA-Unity and SLA Abdul-Shafi forces had retreated, near Dalil Babiker, Mr. Abu Garda allegedly met with JEM and SLA-Unity commanders” and “at the meeting these commanders agreed among themselves to attack the MGS Haskanita”.

The second meeting took place took place in a forest near the camp “after which they directed their respective troops to move behind them and distributed their troops in various vehicles”.

However, the testimony of the seven witnesses on the meeting failed to convince the judges that Abu Garda was present there saying that the cumulative evidence “is weak and unreliable” due to inconsistencies inherent in them.

Among the witnesses were AMIS personnel who were present during the attack from the African countries that were part of the force.

The Pre-Trial Chamber gave the prosecution five days to submit a request to file a leave to appeal the decision though no statement was made by the prosecution office on today’s decision. The judges also left the door open to submit more evidence that can support confirmation of charges against Abu Garda.

This is the first time the in the history of the court that the prosecution fails to move a case past the confirmation of charges hearings on at least one of the counts contained in a summons to appear or an arrest warrant.

It comes less than a week after the Appeals Chamber granted the prosecution’s request for reviewing the Pre-trial Chamber decision not to include genocide charges against Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

Sudan does not recognize the court despite a UN Security Council (UNSC) referral in 2005 under Chapter VII.

(ST)