ICC urges UN to press Sudan on Darfur suspects
September 3, 2007 (THE HAGUE) — The UN must pressure Sudan to bring to justice two suspects wanted over atrocities committed in Darfur, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor said in an interview with AFP Monday.
Moreno-Ocampo met Ban on Wednesday in New York.
“I asked him to bring up the arrest warrants,” he said.
Countries that are members of the ICC must also do more on the issue, he said.
“This is the law … The state parties have to assume their responsibilities,” he said. “In four years, the court has become operational, more mature. We want to go farther, we have to get more support. We need consistency.”
In May, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Ahmed Haroun, the secretary of state for humanitarian affairs, and pro-government Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kosheib, but Sudan has refused to hand them over.
According to UN estimates, more than 200,000 people have died and some two million have been displaced in Darfur as a result of the combined effect of war and famine since the conflict erupted more than four years ago.
Khartoum disputes the figures and says only 9,000 people died.
“Haroun displaced these people, and now he controls them,” said Moreno-Ocampo, adding that “concentration camps” have resulted.
“It was not a tsunami” but people who have caused the humanitarian crisis in the region, he said.
“Executing the law will help to solve the situation,” he said. “If not, we’re encouraging the hardliners.”
Before Wednesday’s meeting with Moreno-Ocampo, Ban told reporters: “This is a very important issue. The ICC has issued the warrant of arrest for two people in Sudan and I’m going to discuss this matter with the president of the ICC.”
Since taking office in January Ban has made the Darfur crisis his top priority and will seek to ensure during his Sudan visit that the 26,000 strong UN-AU force can be deployed quickly and effectively to protect beleaguered civilians.
He is to meet officials in Juba in southern Sudan and Al-Fasher in Darfur before meeting President Omar al-Beshir in Khartoum on Thursday. He is then to visit Chad and Libya.
Some have expressed concerns that the ICC’s Darfur work is being sidelined.
The International Federation for Human Rights in August welcomed the approval of the UN-AU force, but said Sudan’s cooperation with the ICC must also be stressed.
Moreno-Ocampo said he wants the arrest warrants to be addressed at two international conferences later this month in New York, with one specifically dedicated to Darfur.
Further delays in executing the warrants would add to the suffering of victims who must serve as witnesses, he said. Some have been placed under witness protection, which often means being isolated from their families.
(AFP)