China signals it will not introduce resolution to defer Bashir indictment

November 2, 2008 (KHARTOUM) – A senior Chinese official suggested that his country has no plans to introduce a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution suspending the indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

China’s special envoy to Africa Liu Guijin told the pro-government daily Al-Rayaam in a rare interview that he toured Washington, Paris and London to discuss the ICC move without elaborating on the outcome of these talks.

“I want to point out that China undertook diligent efforts to overcome the ICC crisis and we maintained contacts with major Western capitals. All these initiatives are for the sake of avoiding any obstacles to the peace process in Darfur” Guijin said.

The Chinese official however denied reports that he had any specific proposals on the issue of the ICC.

In mid-July the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced that he is seeking an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir.

The ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. In early October ICC judges have officially started reviewing the case in a process that could possibly drag on to next year.

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.

But Guijin said that the UNSC has received no formal request for invoking Article 16 of the Rome Statute.

“There are some ideas to freeze the decision [ICC] from the AU and Arab League but as of yet no country or organization formally introduced a resolution at the UN” he said in response to a question on whether China will table a resolution.

Western members of the UNSC such as US and France made it clear that they would veto such a resolution was introduced at this point in time.

The Chinese official was careful not to direct criticism at the Hague based court but said that indicting a sitting head of state is “dangerous precedent”.

“This is not in the interest of the peace process in Darfur…This is like having a house on fire. The pressing need is to put out the fire and not look for the identity of the arsonist. We are focusing on extinguishing the fire first but that doesn’t mean we are turning a blind eye to the arsonist” the envoy said.

Last week Guijin concluded a week long visit to Sudan where he discussed with officials conditions outlined by Western countries before they will lift their objections to suspending Bashir’s indictment.

China has been accused by the West and human right groups of blocking international sanctions against Sudan to protect their oil investments.

UN experts estimate some 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million driven from their homes. Sudan blames the Western media for exaggerating the conflict and puts the death toll at 10,000.

(ST)