Sudan president will not attend the UN General Assembly meetings
September 7, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir will not attend the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York due to start mid-September.
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.
In July Al-Bashir abruptly canceled a scheduled trip to Zambia which was hosting the Smart Partnership programme for developing nations. Zambia is party to the ICC Statute and has the obligation to arrest the Sudanese head of state if an arrest warrant is issued for him.
The Sudanese government has declined to make any formal announcement on whether Al-Bashir will fly to New York to lead his country’s delegation.
A well informed source told Sudan Tribune that Al-Bashir has been advised by his aides that he risks apprehension while at the UN headquarters.
The US is not a member of the ICC and no arrest warrant has been issued by the judges as of yet.
The Sudanese president traveled to Turkey in August where he hinted in an interview with Reuters that he may only visit countries which are not members of the ICC.
“We are not concerned about traveling, ourselves, we have good relations with a number of countries that do not have relations with the ICC” Al-Bashir said.
In late May the ICC managed to nab the former Congolese vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba in Belgium which is an ICC member. Bemba’s arrest warrant was not made public until he was actually arrested.
Also last month the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has been advised by the Legal department in the world body to “distance himself politically” from the Sudanese president following his indictment.
The UN Secretary General spokesperson Michele Montas commenting on the report said it is up to Ban to follow the advice.
Some observers have said that if the ICC judges endorse the prosecutor’s request Al-Bashir may find himself a prisoner in his own country.
Ayman Abdel-Aziz Salaama, professor of International Criminal law at Cairo University told Inter Press Service last month that even travel by the Sudanese president to non-state parties may prove difficult.
“Countries that have signed but whose parliaments haven’t ratified the convention, like Egypt and most other Arab countries, meanwhile, would have a moral obligation not to receive him or offer him refuge” he said.
In July the Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade told his Sudanese counterpart during a phone conversation that he will not be able to offer him refuge if the ICC judges issue an arrest warrant for him.
Wade speaking from Chicago told Senegal News Agency (APS) that he informed Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir that they are party to the ICC and they cannot “make an exception”.
Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statute, but the UNSC invoked 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)
garang lual ayum
Sudan president will not attend the UN General Assembly meetings
shame on you Al Bashir, why not attending the 63th UN submit if you think you are not guilty of abuses against humanity and your former enemies, the southern Sudanese.
it is now up to the world to look into it that such criminals are paid according to their currencies that they have paid for humanity. you therefore, should not hide, since hiding is just suspending your arrestment warranty for the International Criminal Court.
May you be informed that Sadam Son of Hossain was arrested within the territory of IRAQ, regardless of international right of state supremacy.
beware, that on this planet, all are open to insecurity as you created for Southern and Western Sudanese people.