Human rights groups welcome ICC charges against Sudan president

July 14, 2008 (NEW YORK) – Human rights advocacy groups hailed the decision by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo to request arrest warrants against the Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir.

“Charging President al-Bashir for the hideous crimes in Darfur shows that no one is above the law,” said Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch’s International Justice Program. “It is the prosecutor’s job to follow the evidence wherever it leads, regardless of official position.”

Ocampo asked pre-trial judges today to issue arrest warrants for Sudan president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir.

The ICC’s prosecutor filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. Judges are expected to take months to study the evidence before deciding whether to order Al-Bashir’s arrest.

“It is an historic moment for international justice; the first time a serving head of state has been accused of genocide by the ICC,” says Dr James Smith, Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust.

Some Rights group said that the indictments may help move Sudan closer to peace.

‘ENOUGH Project’, an initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity said that the ICC indictments “can be a step forward in the path to secure peace”.

“Until there is a consequence for the commission of genocide, it will continue. This action introduces a cost, finally, into the equation” says John Prendergast Co-Chair of the ENOUGH Project and a former Clinton administration official.

Many observers and world officials voiced concern that the ICC announcement may jeopardize Darfur peacekeepers and aid workers and put the lives of Darfuris at risk.

But Brown from Aegis Trust downplayed any prospects of that happening.

“Many fear repercussions for UN personnel and aid workers in Sudan, but the people with most to lose from a backlash – Darfuris targeted for years by Omar al-Bashir’s regime – are celebrating today” he said.

Amnesty International urged Khartoum “to refrain from using the Prosecutor’s announcement as an excuse to block the U.N. peacekeeping mission from protecting civilians in Darfur or delivering humanitarian assistance”.

Some UN Security Council (UNSC) members mainly China and Russian have contemplated a resolution that would suspend any inducements per Article 16 of the ICC’s Statue.

But the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) said in a statement that “silence in the face of atrocities does not prevent further crimes”.

Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statue, but the UN Security Council (UNSC) invoked 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.

(ST)