Sudan Tribune report on ICC warrant ‘false’: Official
September 16, 2008 (KHARTOUM) – A Sudanese official today dismissed a report on Sudan Tribune showing excerpts of the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.
But Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadiq described the report as “false”.
“The report is baseless” Al-Sadiq told the daily Qatari Al-Sharq newspaper.
“We have a summary of the application. It does not contain any allegations against another Sudanese official” he added.
The ICC has initially released a summary in July while promising a public application later that omits references to some of the sources, witnesses and other portions of the arrest warrant.
A Sudanese journalist in Khartoum told Sudan Tribune that security officers banned newspapers from including the report in Tuesday’s edition.
“The government was totally shocked. Sudanese officials declined to respond to questions on the content of the report including the Justice Minister” said the journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“A gloomy atmosphere prevailed when it [the report] came out. They gained some confidence boost after news that Britain and France will support a suspension of Al-Bashir’s indictment. Now they feel that more officials may be prosecuted in the future and not just the president” he added.
The ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced in mid-July that he requested an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir.
Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder and accused Al-Bashir of masterminding a campaign to get rid of the African tribes in Darfur; Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa
The ICC judges are still deliberating on whether to endorse the applications in a process that could take a few more months.
In the meanwhile Arab and African nations are scrambling to have the UN Security Council (UNSC) invoke Article 16 which allows the council to suspend the ICC prosecutions in any case for a period of 12 months that can be renewed indefinitely.
On Sunday the Guardian news paper said that London and Paris are quietly backing the suspension. However Sudanese officials said that they have not been formally notified of the intentions of both countries.
The issue is likely to come back in the spotlight during the UN General Assembly meetings which start this week. The African Union Peace and Security council will also meet in New York during the same time period.
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.
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The redacted application is avaibale at http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/cases/ICC-02-05-157-AnxA-ENG.pdf