Sudan ex-PM proposes hybrid court to try Darfur suspects

March 27, 2009 (CAIRO) –The leader of the largest Northern opposition party in Sudan repeated his call for the formation of a hybrid court to investigate right abuses committed in the Western region of Darfur.

The proposal comes weeks after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir on seven counts related to Darfur war crimes.

Al- Sadiq al-Mahdi who leads the opposition Umma party said that a hybrid court consisting of Arab, African and Sudanese judges.

Speaking at a forum in Cairo, Al-Mahdi said that the special courts would rule based on the international criminal law as Sudanese laws do not allow for prosecution of war crimes and provides immunity for officials, he noted.

Sudan has insisted that its judiciary is independent and capable of investigating any violations of human rights in the war torn region. Furthermore it rejected the participation of non-Sudanese judges

In 2004 the UNSC formed a UN commission of inquiry to look into Darfur abuses headed by former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Italian Antonio Cassese.

The commission concluded that the government did not pursue a policy of genocide in the Darfur region but that Khartoum and government-sponsored Arab militias known as the Janjaweed engaged in “widespread and systematic” abuse that may constitute crimes against humanity.

They further said that Sudanese judiciary is “is unable or unwilling” to prosecute those crimes and thus recommended referring the situation to the ICC.

The former prime minister warned that judicial steps alone will not solve the crisis in the country if not followed by political moves.

He listed a series of things that must be done to defuse the crisis including the resolution of the Darfur crisis, forming a broad coalition government political reform and holding elections.

Al-Mahdi said that a new government will include his party along with the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM), Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Sudanese Communist Party (SCP), Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) faction led by Minni Minnawi and Eastern Sudan Front.

The new coalition government would contact the UNSC to invoke Article 16 of the ICC Statute which allows the council to suspend the indictment for a period of 12-months that can be renewed indefinitely.

The Umma Party chief criticized the ruling NCP saying that their rigid position threatens Sudan of entering into a confrontation with the international community. However he also said that extraditing Bashir is “impossible because he is the head of state…and it is not suiting the national dignity”.

The NCP has rejected creating a new coalition government to incorporate new political parties. Currently the NCP and the ex-Southern rebels, SPLM dominate the government in accordance with the North-South peace agreement signed in 2005.

Al-Mahdi was ousted as prime minister in a bloodless military coup in 1989 by President al-Bashir and has been one of the most outspoken critics of the government ever since. However lately he has taken a more favorable position towards the government saying the latter became more accepting of other political parties.

(ST)