S. Africa under pressure over Sudanese president warrant

July 15, 2009 (WASHINGTON) — The government of South Africa must clarify its position on the African Union (AU) decision asking its members not to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the extradition of Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir, more than a dozen NGO’s said in a joint statement today.

The NGO’s were also joined by several prominent South African figures including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

The AU adopted the resolution halting the cooperation with the ICC during their summit earlier this month in Libya. South Africa a signatory to the Rome Statute has made no objections to the draft text despite being a signatory to the Hague based court.

“As a State Party to the Rome Statute, South Africa is obliged to cooperate fully with the ICC in the arrest and transfer of President al-Bashir to the ICC, whether or not it agrees with the indictment” the statement read.

“Should the South African government persist with its support for the decision it will do so in open defiance of its own Constitution and law”.

South African officials have remained largely silent on the issue since the adjournment of the summit though some of them speaking on background defended their position on the grounds that Bashir is crucial to the peace process in Sudan.

But Howard Varney, from Cape Town’s International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) disagreed in an interview today with Voice of America (VOA).

“We do not believe it is. If it in fact was, and relevant supporting information had been put to the Security Council, then I am sure the Security Council would have considered that and invoked Article 16 of their own statute, which allows for the deferral that the Mbeki panel of the AU have called for,” he said.

“Certain information that is emerging from Sudan is that al-Bashir himself does not necessarily make or break the agreement” he added.

Last week the South African ‘Business Day’ cited the spokeswoman of the Department of International Relations and Co-operation Nomfanelo Kota as saying that while South African government would explain its position in due course, the AU resolution was not indicative of the government’s attitude to the ICC.

The coalition of civic groups called on President Jacob Zuma to “state unequivocally that South Africa will honor its treaty obligations under the Rome Statute to cooperate fully with the ICC”.

They also urged the government to abide by the South African Constitution and the Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act 27 of 2002.

Comfort Ero, head of the ICTJ warned that they are willing to take further steps if the government does not respond positively to their calls.

“We seek a commitment from SA government that it will comply with the letter of the law in this regard. We await this clarification and we will then decide how to further engage and respond,” she said.

Al-Bashir faces an outstanding arrest warrant by the ICC in connection with crimes allegedly committed in Sudan’s Western region of Darfur.

Last May South Africa informed Sudan that Bashir would be arrested if he attends the inauguration of the president-elect Jacob Zuma. Sudan’s First Vice President Salva Kiir was dispatched instead.

South Africa along with Botswana were the only two countries to publicly announce their intention to execute the arrest warrant if needed.

(ST)