ICC Judges begin consideration of Sudan president arrest warrant

By Wasil Ali

September 19, 2008 (WASHINGTON) —The Judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have officially started consideration of the application by prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requesting an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

The ICC’s prosecutor filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder.

There has been much speculation about when the ICC judges will make a decision on the prosecutor’s application with a widely expected date of October 15, three months following Ocampo’s announcement.

However Ocampo downplayed these speculations saying that a decision will likely not be made until the judges ask to meet with him.

Today the Judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber I issued a decision convening a closed meeting with the prosecutor “to receive additional information”.

The judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber I consist of Akua Kuenyehia from Ghana, Sylvia Steiner from Brazil and Anita Usacka from Latvia.

The closed session will take place on October 1st but the items that will be discussed was not disclosed in today’s decision.

ICC Judges routinely meet with the prosecutor following a request submitted by him for an arrest warrant or summons to appear to question aspects of the case before making a decision.

Last year the Pre-Trial Chamber I convened a similar meeting with the prosecutor to discuss the application regarding Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs, and Kushayb charged in connection with Darfur war crimes.

The meeting is believed to have discussed whether or not the two suspects will surrender themselves voluntarily to the court justifying a summons to appear rather than an arrest warrant.

The Judges eventually decided to issue an arrest warrant for the two suspects which remains pending.

It is expected that Pre-Trial Chamber I will take between a few weeks to 3 months to decide on Al-Bashir’s arrest warrant but it could take longer dragging into the next year.

Many observers await whether the Judges will endorse genocide counts brought against the Sudanese president which are likely to have political consequences particularly for Khartoum’s allies in The Arab world and Africa.

European Union (EU) rules prohibit its officials from communicating with individuals indicted of war crimes.

If the judges affirm Ocampo’s application Al-Bashir will be the first sitting head of state indicted while in office of war crimes.

The ICC prosecutor has maintained a 100% success rate in all the requests for arrest warrants he previously made to the judges in the other cases handled by the court.

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)