Sudanese officials to be charged with war crimes in 2008: ICC prosecutor

March 12, 2008 (GENEVA) — The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) disclosed today that he is finalizing two investigations into the Darfur war crimes by the end of 2008.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo told Swiss Info news portal that one of the investigations relates to involvement of Sudanese officials in attacks against civilians while the other looks at rebel attacks against peacekeepers and aid workers.

“We are looking at who is behind all this. I know that Ahmad Haroun is now the minister for humanitarian affairs and is involved, but he is not alone” Ocampo said on the sidelines of 6th International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, in Geneva, Switzerland.

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 Abdel-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb. Sudan has so far rejected handing over the two suspects.

The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) circulated a notice for the arrest of both suspects in mid-2007.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) which asked the ICC to investigate Darfur crimes under a Chapter VII mandate in resolution 1593 three years ago, appears reluctant to force Sudan’s compliance.

Last December China, Russia and Qatar blocked a presidential statement supporting the arrest of Darfur war crime suspect and their extradition to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Ocampo said that the international community has “different views and no common position” with regards to extraditing Haroun and Kushayb.

“At my last Security Council briefing many states requested Haroun’s arrest, but the international community’s lack of consensus and collective action are part of the problem” he added.

The Argentinean born prosecutor has been pressing countries publicly and behind the scenes to press Sudan on the issue of handing over the suspects but with little success.

He made a rare criticism of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon last October for neglecting the issue of justice in his monthly reports on Sudan.

“Justice was not mentioned in the UNSG subsequent reports on Darfur where the UN secretariat developed a three prong approach with a humanitarian, political and security components only” Ocampo said in prepared remarks to the 11th diplomatic briefing at the ICC headquarters in the Hague.

Ocampo also revealed in the briefing that he has been approached by a number of countries suggesting that he should try and indict “lower level perpetrators, easier to arrest than Ministers or powerful militia leaders”.

Despite all that the ICC prosecutor said he was confident that both suspects will be prosecuted.

“I am Argentinean; I saw Jorge Rafael Videla [head of the junta] take power in Argentina and nine years later he was prosecuted; the same with Pinochet, Taylor and Milosevic. The era of impunity is over” Ocampo said.

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.

International experts estimate 200,000 people have died in the conflict. The Sudanese government says 9,000 people have been killed.

(ST)