Kenya urges world to reject ICC accusation against Sudan’s president
July 18, 2008 (NAIROBI) – Kenyan Vice-President today urged the international community to reject the accusations of genocide and crimes against humanity against Sudanese President filed by the International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor.
Last Monday the ICC prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo charged president Omer al-Bashir of a campaign of genocide that killed 35,000 people outright, at least another 100,000 through “slow death” and forced 2.5 million to flee their homes.
Kalonzo Musyoka made his statements during a press conference after talks with the Sudanese ambassador to Kenya Majok Guandong at his Jogoo House office on Friday.
Musyoka said the move by ICC would jeopardize the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Sudan and possibly worsen the fragile situation in Darfur.
Kenya was a key player in the peace talks between the government and the former rebel SPLM to end the conflict in southern Sudan.
He added that the indictment was not only ill-timed, but it also raised many diplomatic and legal issues, given that it was directed at a sitting president of sovereign state, which is not even a member of the ICC.
The vice-President said Kenya government was in favour of alternative persuasive measures to resolve the Darfur crisis rather than acts, which could worsen the situation and lead to the disintegration of the country.
He also hailed the African Union for taking a firm stand against the ICC move, saying that the continental body was working tirelessly to resolve the Sudanese problems and the indictment amounted to throwing a spanner in their works.
“The AU’s position is that nothing should be done that might jeopardize the peace processes in Sudan,” said El-Ghassim Wane, spokesman for the AU commission, the pan-African organization’s main executive body.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor of the Hague-based ICC, asked the court Monday for an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on 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.
If approved, it would be the first time the court had targeted a sitting head of state, and also the first time it had charged anyone with genocide, although other international tribunals have placed such charges.
(ST)