Sudan says Darfur war crime trials on course
March 24, 2007 (NAIROBI) — Sudan said Saturday its national judicial system was capable of dealing effectively with war crime suspects implicated in the investigations on the Darfur conflict.
Addressing journalists in Nairobi, Sudanese State Minister of Foreign Affairs Al Samani El Wasila rejected the legitimacy of the International Criminal Court (ICC), insisting it would try Darfur war criminals after the court named a minister and a militia leader as suspects.
The chief prosecutor of the ICC named Ahmed Haroun, state interior minister during the height of the Darfur conflict, and a militia commander as the first suspects he wanted tried for war crimes in Darfur and suggested more could follow.
El Wasila said several suspects have already been identified since the crisis in Darfur broke out in 2003 but called for patience from the international community, saying they needed more evidence to convict the suspects.
“The International Criminal Court (ICC) efforts to try the Darfur war crime suspects should be complimentary and should only take place in cases where the government has shown clear unwillingness to provide justice,” El Wasila said.
“If there is fresh evidence, I can assure you everyone in government will be investigated and brought to justice,” the minister told journalists in Nairobi.
Sudan set up a probe committee headed by a retired judge, described by the minister as “very senior,” to undertake the Darfur investigations.
El Wasila said the Sudanese judicial system is one of the best in Africa and should be trusted to deliver justice to the suspected perpetrators of the Darfur war crimes.
“Our judicial system will take the necessary steps to ensure that justice prevails in Sudan. The ICC has never interrogated these suspects it is accusing of war crimes. All the allegations were gathered from 17 countries outside Sudan,” he added.
El Wasila said the process of trying war crime suspects anywhere in the world takes on average 10 years, but Sudan was committed to two years for the outcome.
He said his government was not hiding the truth about Darfur but the decisions taken by the judiciary should be respected.
He, however, added that in cases where there would be international dissatisfaction with the outcome of a trial, a retrial would be ordered.
The minister called for more dialogue on the Darfur crisis, saying harsh condemnations of the government of Sudan would not help lessen the problem in defraud.
“We strongly believe that the use of the three parties –including the African Union, the United Nations and Sudan—for dialogue is the best way to reach an effective solution. It is better than talking and making statements like genocide that worsen the situation,” El Wasila said.
He said the Sudanese government was now committed to providing a safe passage for relief convoys to reach the needy civilians and asked the United States and Britain to help in providing assistance to the needy people instead of threatening sanctions.
“Britain and the United States are part of the peace process in Sudan. Instead of criticizing Sudan over these allegations, they should address the root causes of this problem,” said the minister.
“We need assistance for the people of Darfur. The reason why they started the fighting was because of the poor roads and lack of basic needs,” he said.
(Xinhua)