Cambodia’s Prime Minister says ICC’s decision damages Sudan peace efforts
April 9, 2009 (PHNOM PENH) – The Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen slammed the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s decision to arrest the Sudanese President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir on Darfur crimes saying it hiders international efforts to end the six years conflict.
“The arrest warrant for the Sudanese President issued by The Hague court will remains without effect as you can wait and see” said Hun Sen in a speech at the Royal University of Agriculture in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.
The ICC issued last month an arrest warrant for the President Omer Al-Bashir on crimes against humanity and war crimes. However the court dropped the three counts of genocide that had been filled by the prosecutor in his request of July 14, 2008.
The issue of genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia is still raising controversies in the country. Hun Sen had been criticized for undermining effort to call to account the surviving members of a regime which killed 1.7 million from 1975 to 1979.
Critics allege that Cambodian Prime Minister has sought to limit the tribunal’s scope because other potential defendants are now loyal to him, and that to arrest them could be politically awkward.
“The Sudanese people and troops with weapons in their hands will not allow the court to arrest their leader,” said Hun Sen.
The ruling Sudanese president has his privilege in leading the country, he said, adding that “I do not know why ICC did like that.”
Further Hun Sen stressed that ICC cannot follow suit in Cambodia to arrest the surviving leaders of the former Khmer Rouge regime. Those leaders “now stay in a place here and we ourselves can arrest them for tribunal,” he added.
Currently, five senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge are under custody of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, which was co-installed by UN and the Cambodian government two years ago to put these people on trial on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.
(ST)