Sudan’s FM calls for ICC suspension to achieve peace in Darfur
February 20, 2009 (CAP TOWN) — Sudanese foreign minister called to defer the indictment of the Sudanese president by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sudan’s President Omer Al-Bashir to allow peace achievement in Darfur.
The two sides discussed also business opportunity in the Sudan particularly in the south. A South Sudanese delegation will pay a visit to the Cap Town to meet with business community in South Africa.
The Sudanese minister told reporters following a meeting with Zuma that his government has started peace process in Doha this week with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and needs more time to engage the other rebel groups.
“We are asking for one year for postponement because this will give us time to work for peace in Darfur which we have already started with one movement, in Darfur we have many movements, more than ten about fifteen.” Alor said.
“The position of the Government of Sudan is that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for Darfur is again not for one or two or three organisations but for everybody because if we want peace it should be comprehensive.” He added.
Sudan government and the rebel JEM signed last Tuesday a goodwill and confidence building agreement in the Qatari capital.
The two parties agreed to take the necessary measures to create a conducive environment for the talks including halting the arrest of IDPs, facilitating the access of humanitarian aid, and exchanging prisoners of war and those sentenced to prison for being “culpable and arrested due to the conflict.”
However the deal, which was welcomed by the international community as a step towards inclusive peace process, has been criticized by the other rebel groups who said it means to halt the indictment of the Sudanese president or blamed the mediation for working only with JEM rebels.
The Sudanese minister further said that the expected arrest warrant for the Sudanese president would negatively impact the fragile political situation in the country. He mentioned the ongoing armed conflict in Darfur and the implementation of the 2005 peace deal that ended two decades of war in southern Sudan.
“So the situation is fragile but we are trying to make sure that the agreement is not fundamentally or negatively impacted on. I cannot exactly tell you much this thing is going to negatively impact on our political situation but definitely it will impact on the political situation.”
The African continent makes up the majority of the ICC members with 30 countries ratifying the Rome Statute which forms the basis of the court.
However, the African Union failed twice to convince the UN Security to invoke article 16 of Rome Statute to suspend the indictment of the Sudanese President. The first time was in July 2008 two weeks after his indictment by the ICC prosecutor on July 14; and the second time was when a joint delegation from the Au and Arab league discussed the issue with UN Security Council on February 12.
The second attempt came after the end of the AU summit early February where the African leader issued a statement calling on the Security Council to defer the indictment. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who was present at the AU summit took a different tone and warned that Sudan must adhere to any decision made by the ICC.
The judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) are expected to issue a decision soon on charges made last year by prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo against president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir that include three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder.
(ST)