ICC prosecutor formally seeks arrest of 3 Darfur rebel leaders

November 20, 2008 (PARIS) — The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo submitted today a sealed application to the judges requesting an arrest warrant be issued against three Darfur rebel leaders whose names were not disclosed.

The counts against the rebel leaders included war crimes of violence to life, intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a peacekeeping mission and pillaging.

Ocampo’s third case on Darfur, opened last December, investigates a rebel attack on the Haskanita military base last year that left 10 African Union (AU) soldiers dead and one missing.

Attacking peacekeepers constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute which forms the basis of the ICC.

The public summary of the prosecutor’s application said that the suspected rebel commanders “commanded forces of around 1,000 men in a convoy of approximately 30 vehicles mounted with heavy weapons to attack AMIS peacekeepers. They destroyed the communications installations, dormitories, vehicles and other materials belonging to AMIS”.

“After the attack, the three commanders personally participated, alongside the joint rebel forces, in pillaging the Camp, and removing property belonging to AMIS including approximately seventeen (17) vehicles, as well as refrigerators, computers, cellular phones, military boots and uniforms, fuel, ammunition and money” the ICC prosecutor alleged.

Ocampo told Washington Post in an interview that the African peacekeepers indicated to the rebels that they did not want to fight but they were killed anyway.

“I will not let such attacks go unpunished” Ocampo said.

Most rebel groups today said they will cooperate with the ICC and hand themselves over if indicted by the court.

“We are unconditionally committed to cooperating with the ICC from junior members to the most senior in the movement including my humble self. The cases investigated by the court are legal ones and not political. They should not be mixed” Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur, leader of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) told Sudan Tribune by phone from Paris.

The Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) welcomed the move by the ICC and urged world support to the court’s mission.

“The attack on peacekeepers is something we categorically condemned. It is a violation of international humanitarian law” JEM spokesperson Ahmed Hussein said.

“The ICC is the only venue to achieve justice in Darfur. Sudanese judiciary is incapable of carrying out these trials” he added.

The JEM London-based chairman of JEM’s legislative assembly, Tahir el-Faki, told Agence France Presse (AFP) that his group has knowledge of the identities of the perpetrators of Haskanita attack.

“We know exactly who the perpetrators are. I can’t say anything about that, but I reassure you that JEM is not implicated in Haskanita” El-Faki said.

One commander who led a breakaway faction of JEM at the time said he would hand himself in to the court if named.

“I will go, no problem. We cannot refuse. I know I was not involved” said Bahar Idriss Abu Garda who now heads an umbrella group of insurgents known as the United Resistance Front.

The ICC prosecutor in his application left the door open for an issuing a summons to appear rather than an arrest warrant if the suspects cooperate.

“Subject to the Pre-Trial Chamber’s determination, the Prosecution submits that a summons to appear could be an alternative pursued by the Court if the Court receives information as to the possible voluntary appearance of the individuals” the application reads.

Ocampo also told AFP that “while the judges decide on the warrants, they [suspects] now have the chance to appear on their own accord. They know who they are”.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon issued a statement today “taking note” of the prosecutor’s request and said that the court’s actions should be respected by all warring parties in Darfur.

“The Secretary-General emphasizes that the United Nations respects the independence of the Court and its judicial process, and stresses the critical importance of full compliance by all parties to the actions of the Court” Ban said.

The U.S. special envoy to Sudan, Richard Williamson in an interview with Reuters today welcomed the ICC move against rebel groups.

“I believe that for justice to be credible and for restorative justice to take place, all sides who commit crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide have to be held to account” the US official said.

But the Sudanese government downplayed the ICC announcement and stressed that it will not change its view on the court.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) welcomed the move and said it is an “important step toward protecting those who protect civilians”.

“Civilians rely on peacekeepers for protection, and any hope for restoring security for civilians in Darfur depends on peacekeepers being able to do their job,” said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch. “These warrant requests send a strong message that such crimes will not be tolerated.”

The director of the Aegis Trust group in UK said that the ICC indictment of rebel group commanders “is not about moral equivalence”.

“The rebels are not accused of conducting a genocidal campaign akin to the Government orchestrated atrocities. But attacks on aid workers and murder of peacekeepers cannot be tolerated,” Aegis Chief Executive Dr James Smith said.

The US based ENOUGH Project noted that the ICC move proves that “repeated claims by the Sudanese government that it is being unfairly targeted by the Court are without merit”.

The group also said that a pending case against Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir in the ICC “present a golden opportunity to use the regime’s desire to suspend these judicial proceedings as leverage not only in forging a peace agreement in Darfur but in getting implementation of the existing North-South peace deal back on track”.

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

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 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.

ENOUGH noted that “many governments that had earlier expressed unqualified support for Bashir are backing away quietly, making it increasingly plausible that it will be politically feasible for Bashir to be replaced as president of Sudan if his fellow party members follow the letter of the law in Sudan, hold him accountable for his actions, and push him to the side”.

The new case against the rebels by the ICC may make it morally difficult for the UNSC to secure a deferral to Al-Bashir’s case because the risk of appearing to have double standards on the issue of justice in the war ravaged region.

The UNSC last year strongly condemned the attack against the AU peacekeepers and said that “no effort should be spared so that the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice”.

Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statute, but the UN Security Council (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)