ICC Prosecutor urges world to be on the side of Darfur victims
By Wasil Ali
September 20, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — The Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo said that the world must ensure that Sudan turn over two Darfur war crimes suspects.
The meeting is expected to discuss primarily the preparations for the upcoming peace talks scheduled for 27 October in Libya and the deployment of the UN-AU hybrid operation (UNAMID).
The judges of the ICC issued their first arrest warrants for suspects accused of war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region in early May. The warrants were issued for Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs, and militia commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdelrahman, also know as Ali Kushayb. Sudan has so far rejected handing over the two suspects.
Ocampo has been pressing for the inclusion of the outstanding arrest warrants against two Sudanese officials in the agenda of the meeting. However it is not clear whether this will be the case.
“In Darfur the world witnessed the first successful phase of Ahmed Harun’s plan. Many people were forced out of their villages and into the camps. In the second phase happening in front of our eyes Ahmed Harun is controlling the victims inside the camps” he stressed.
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has appeared unwilling to press Sudan on the issue though he revealed that it was discussed in his meeting with the Sudanese president in Khartoum last week.
But Ocampo warned that such an approach will not bring peace to Darfur.
“World leaders must understand that if the justice component process is ignored crimes will continue and affect the humanitarian and security operation in Darfur.” He added.
The Sudanese envoy at the UN Ambassador Abdalmahmood Mohamad slammed Ocampo’s remarks saying he was trying to “destroy the peace process”.
Mohamad said that the ICC prosecutor was “wasting the taxpayers’ money of the ICC state parties” through his continuous visits to the UN headquarters.
“We would like the international community to observe and monitor what he [Ocampo] is doing. Ocampo is part of the orchestra playing a melody that would definitely entertain some people in this organization.” he added.
The Sudanese diplomat vowed that his government would not extradite the suspects.
But Ocampo issued a warning saying that he will inform the UN Security Council in his next report in December that Sudan is not cooperating with the ICC.
The prosecutor also hinted that his next report will carry some new information on the alleged resettlement of Arab tribes from Niger and Chad in Darfur by the Sudanese government to change the demographics of the region.
Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statue, but the UN Security Council triggered the provisions under the Statue that enables it to refer situations in non-State parties to the world court if it deems that it is a threat to international peace and security.
Experts estimate 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million forced from their homes in 4-1/2 years of conflict.
(ST)