US downplays appointment by Sudan of a special prosecutor for Darfur

August 7, 2008 (UNITED NATIONS) – The US said that Sudan must comply with UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions following the appointment of a special prosecutor to look into rights abuses committed in war ravaged region of Darfur.

“Sudan knows what is required of it under Security Council resolutions. We look forward to cooperation and adherence to those resolutions, assistance of UNAMID in its deployment efforts, active engagement in the peace process” the US deputy representative to the UN Alejandro Wolff told reporters in New York.

“These are not new elements, and they are fairly clear to anyone who cares to follow them” he added.

Wolff was responding to a question on how the US views the move by Sudan to probe Darfur war crimes.

The Sudanese justice minister Abdel-Basit Sabdarat yesterday named Nimr Ibrahim Mohamed as the Darfur prosecutor with 3 assistants; Kamal Mahjoub Ahmed, Al-Hadi Mahjoub Makkawi and Mamoun Mekki Hamid.

Sudan with the advice of regional organizations hopes to convince the international community that its judiciary is willing and able to look into the alleged crimes committed in Darfur.

But Sudan’s former prime minister and leader of the Umma Party Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi told the Qatar based Al-Jazeera Arabic TV that the move is “unfortunate” and “sends wrong signals to the international community”.

The Secretary General of Sudan’s communist party Ibrahim Nugud speaking to Al-Jazeera said that “any decisions made that don’t convince rebel groups is worthless”.

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked pre-trial judges in mid-July to issue arrest warrants for Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir.

Ocampo 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.

The African Union, Arab League, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) called for invoking Article 16 which allows the UNSC to suspend the ICC prosecutions in any case for a period of 12 months that can be renewed indefinitely.

China indicated last month that it will soon introduce a resolution in this regard. However the Belgian UN ambassador Jan Grauls who is August’s president of the UNSC said that no country made a formal request for consideration of the matter.

Wolff said that the US “doesn’t think this is an appropriate or timely issue to address”.

Asked whether the US would allow a debate on deferral of indictment or if they would block it he said that “the question of whether member states have the right to call a meeting is very clear under the charter and the rules of procedure, and we respect that”.

Last week Washington made a last minute decision to abstain from voting on a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution extending the mandate of the UN-African Union (AU) hybrid force in Darfur (UNAMID).

In explaining the abstention Wolff said his government strongly supports UNAMID but that the “language added to the resolution would send the wrong signal to the Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir and undermine efforts to bring him and others to justice”.

“Anything that signals a way out or any easy way to circumvent that we believe need to be opposed” the US diplomat said.

Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statute, but the UNSC triggered the provisions under the Statute 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)