Sudan says ICC prosecutor ‘messenger of destruction’
June 5, 2009 (UNITED NATIONS) – The Sudanese government lashed out at the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) following his semi-annual report to the UN Security Council (UNSC).
Ocampo urged the international community to sever or reduce ties with the indicted individuals which include Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir, former state minister for humanitarian affairs Ahmed Haroun and militia leader Ali Kushayb.
Sudan has refused to cooperate with the court in the extradition of the suspects. The UNSC despite a chapter VII resolution in March 2005 mandating Khartoum’s cooperation has taken little steps in the direction of forcing compliance.
The ICC prosecutor took note of his case against a Darfur rebel commander Bahr Idriss Abu Garda who is accused of masterminding attacks on African peacekeepers in October 2007.
Abu Garda appeared in mid-May voluntarily before the judges and a conformation of charges hearing is scheduled for next October.
Following the ICC prosecutor’s report no public statements were made by the UNSC members and instead went into a closed session.
A UN diplomat who attended the meeting said the most outspoken critic of The Hague based court came from the Libyan delegate who said resolution 1593 referring the Darfur case to the ICC “was a disaster”.
The Russian and Chinese delegations were mostly silent but the former said while his government respects the judicial mandate of the court he warned against the impact on peace process.
The delegates of Burkina Faso and Uganda said they support the court and noted that they are members but suggested that deferring the Bashir’s case.
The US, UK, France, Mexico, Croatia and Japan expressed their objection to any suspension of the indictment.
Today’s briefing witnessed near-clash between Ocampo and the Sudanese envoy at the UN Abdel-Haleem Abdel-Mahmood during the press stakeout.
The Sudanese official was waiting outside the council and when Ocampo came out walking to microphone he jumped to talk, an journalist at the press stakeout told Sudan Tribune today.
Ocampo stood right next to Abdel-Mahmood as the latter sharply lashed at him describing him as a “liar” who is working to propagate destruction.
He also described Ocampo “the man on his left” as a “fugitive from Sudanese justice” and said that the ICC prosecutor is practicing “Criminal tourism” with his backers around the world.
The Sudanese official called on the UNSC to put an end to Ocampo’s mandate saying that his government appointed a special prosecutor to look into Darfur crimes.
Ocampo refused to respond to Abdel-Mahmood saying he will speak about the “crimes going on Darfur”.
The UNSC is not expected to issue any statement in response to the prosecutor’s report. Russia and China are expected to object to any such action.
(ST)