Short messages to international figures on ICC & Darfur

By Wasil Ali*

April 26, 2009 — Amr Moussa, Arab League Secretary General: Per your statements the Israeli assault on Gaza and the human toll that resulted is a war crime requiring ICC intervention to achieve justice. But you said that Darfur conflict, despite the heavy death toll far outnumbering Gaza, is nothing more than a “semi-civil war” and that the ICC is charging a serving head state so according to you it is the wrong thing to do. So what exactly is your definition of double standards?

Mikhail Margelov, Russian special envoy to Sudan: In all your press appearances, you have made it a habit to say that the ICC complicated the situation in Darfur and that indicting Bashir was the inappropriate thing to do. However, never once do you mention that your government along with others voted in favor of referring the Darfur case to the ICC at the UNSC. Your delegation explained their vote by saying that “all those responsible for grave crimes must be punished, as pointed out in the report of the [UN] Commission of Inquiry. The resolution adopted today would promote an effective solution to the fight against impunity”. Is the Russian Federation as a world power saying that it took the wrong decision back then? Or does Moscow believe that the ICC mandate should have been restricted to go after low ranking officials?

Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission: You have been the most outspoken critics of the ICC, perhaps sometimes more so than Sudanese officials. Now with the ICC inching close towards a decision on the rebels who killed AU troops in Darfur, are you going to also condemn this move as you did with Bashir’s case, or will you support it or will you stay silent?

Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar: In an interview with SPIEGEL magazine you said that the arrest warrant issued against Bashir would drown Sudan and the region into chaos and encourage Qaeda like groups. Irrespective of the merits of such a scenario that you put forward, did it ever cross your mind that the millions of people stranded for last six years in crowded camps in Darfur could also turn into extremists as a reaction to what they perceive as denied justice?

Muammar Gadhafi, Libyan leader and AU chairman: You said that the ICC is practicing “new world terrorism”. The Libyan government paid billions of dollars in compensation to families of victims of the Lockerbie bombing. It was your government that formally “accepted responsibility” to the terrorist act in a letter to UNSC back in 2003. This year you also defended the Somali pirates in what they do saying they are trying to make a living. So if the ICC is a terrorist organization because they go after alleged perpetrator of war crimes and crimes against humanity, what labeling should one give you and your government which confessed to being behind planting a bomb on a civilian airplane killing hundreds of passengers?

Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, Foreign minister of Egypt: Your statements suggested that the ICC warrant against Bashir is a “disagreement” between Sudan and The Hague court without the support of the UNSC with no obligations to execute. As the top diplomat in a regional power like Egypt are you not aware that it was the UNSC which referred the Darfur case to the ICC under a Chapter VII resolution making it mandatory for Sudan to cooperate?

Arab leaders: In the last Arab summit held in Qatar, you expressed support to the special tribunal that is investigating those behind the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. However you condemned the ICC arrest warrant against Bashir saying it is a violation of Sudan’s sovereignty. What if the Hariri Tribunal indicts Syrian president or any other senior official? Will your position still say the same? Is it a coincidence that Syria has been the staunchest supporter of Bashir since the arrest warrant?

Olusegun Obasanjo, former Nigerian president: In an interview with Al-Jazeera English TV you suggested that in the Darfur conflict, Bashir was simply saving his country and crushing the rebellion so he should not be held criminally liable by the ICC. You were the same person who in 2004 described the Darfur conflict as “genocide”. Don’t you think it takes more than a counterinsurgency campaign to commit genocide against civilians?

Mohamed Parkad, Djiboutian justice minister: You announced that you will not honor your obligations under the Rome Statute with regard to executing ICC arrest warrants for Bashir. Is the state of Djibouti challenging the ICC or itself when it refuses to abide by what it has voluntarily signed and ratified? Does this mean that Djibouti could do the same thing with other international treaties and agreements it signed?

Thabo Mbeki, Chair of the AU panel on Darfur: Given that the idea of this panel emerged right after Bashir’s indictment last year, could it really be hoped that you will be impartial and trying to devise mechanisms to handle accountability issues or is it simply trying to find a way out to Bashir from ICC prosecution? Also given your statements against Bashir’s indictment “regardless of whatever facts might be advanced” do you think you are the right person to head this panel?

* The author is a Sudan Tribune journalist, can be reached at [email protected]