Arab audiences vote for Bashir trial by the ICC

April 28, 2009 (DOHA) — In unexpected move an Arab forum approved efforts by the International Criminal Court to try the Sudanese President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir on war crimes in Darfur since 2003.

Some 350 people participating in Doha Debates TV show on Monday evening supported a motion calling on the Arab states to hand President Al-Bashir to the ICC. The audience voted 55 to 45 percent in favor of a motion.

Broadcasted by the BBC World Service every Saturday and Sunday, the Doha debate is funded by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.

The motion in favor of the ICC comes just three weeks after the Arab Summit rejected the ICC’s arrest warrant, issued on March 4, against al-Bashir for “international war crimes” and “crimes against humanity”.

The motion was supported by Ahmed Hussein Adam, spokesperson of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, and Hani Shukrallah, co-Editor and columnist for the Egyptian daily Al-Shorouk. While Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani, a Sudanese Presidential adviser, and Roland Marshal, senior research fellow at the National Center for Scientific Research in France, spoke against the motion.

First to speak for the motion was Ahmed Hussain Adam, who said that Bashir’s indictment and trial was essential for the region and for the world. He further said that “Sudan would be a better place if Bashir was taken to trial.”

“This is the only way to fight impunity and give a strong message to other dictators that violations of human rights will not be tolerated,” he argued, adding “we cannot let people kill in the name of national sovereignty.”

Adam also underlined that President Bashir can not be held accountable under the current interim constitution, and that the National Congress Party, which holds a majority in the parliament, would not allow any change to this provision. He also said the penal law does not include crimes against humanity or genocide, adding it would be very difficult to introduce the principle retroactively.

Hani Shukrallah, who also supported the motion, said the Arab world “as a whole is obliged to atone for the shame of having stood by the massacres of Darfur.

“I see no reason why we should be outraged by Israel and not show the same outrage over crimes by Arabs against fellow Arabs.”

He said Arab nations could not accuse the West of double standards “when we have double standards in our own backyard”.

Arab and African leaders supported Bashir and sought to convince the UN Security Council to defer the prosecution of the Sudanese President for one year.

UN experts say at least 300,000 people have been killed and more than 2.7mn driven from their homes in almost six years of ethnic and political fighting in Darfur.

Roland Marchal, who was the first to speak against the motion, argued that the Arab states should not hand over Bashir at the current time because of the lack of expertise of the ICC, the timing of its intervention and the fact that the ICC seemed only to respond to complaints about African countries.

“The ICC could play some role in transitional justice after the conflict has been resolved, but now is not the appropriate moment for intervention,” he argued, saying 13 NGOs had been expelled from Darfur and activists and journalists throughout the country were now being threatened and arrested in attempts to protect the president.

“We have got to get back to basics. If we don’t get the legitimacy for international justice, there is no justice. It is not proven that Bashir is to blame and the complexity of events needs careful investigation.

“We are not talking about an isolated dictator here. The actions of the ICC may have consequences far beyond Darfur and this is what we need to consider.”

The final speaker was the Sudanese presidential adviser, Ghazi Salah Eddin Atabani who gave three arguments as to why Bashir should not be handed to the ICC.

“This is a very weak case, with flimsy evidence – the prosecutor never even set foot in Darfur and had to rely on others testimonies,” he gave as his first argument, with the second being that “the ICC is an instrument of politics rather than justice.”

His third argument was that the “guardian of peace” according to the current peace process was the president, and his arrest would derail the country’s peace efforts.

Most of the questions posed by the audience were directed to the supporters of the motion. The result of the debate was a surprise. Speaking after the result JEM spokesperson hailed the success of their motion adding that it happens in the same place where Arab leaders shamelessly supported Bashir.

The 350-strong audiences are drawn mainly from Qatar’s student body and come from all over the Arab and Islamic worlds.

(ST)