ICC judges to rule on genocide appeal against Sudanese president next week
January 28, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – The appeal chamber judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced today that they will issue a long awaited ruling pending since last July on the prosecutor’s appeal against the decision of the Pre-Trial chamber that refused to endorse genocide charges against Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.
Ocampo accused Bashir of masterminding a campaign to get rid of the African tribes in Darfur; Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa, something which Khartoum vehemently denies labeling the accusations leveled at the Sudanese president as “lies” and a “Western conspiracy”.
The prosecutor’s central argument is that the Rome Statute only requires the judges to affirm that there is “reasonable evidence” that an individual committed a certain crime for the issuance of an arrest warrant.
His appeal contends that the judges applied a higher threshold of evidentiary proof than required at this stage of the proceedings thus the ruling will determine “whether the Pre-Trial Chamber applied the correct legal test under article 58 of the Statute to determine whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir is criminally responsible for genocide”.
Two pro-Sudan groups namely Sudan Workers Trade Unions Federation and the Sudan International Defence Group have filed amicus curiae briefs urging the judges to dismiss the prosecutor’s appeal.
The five member appeal chamber originally included Judges Akua Kuenyehia from Ghana and Anita Usacka from Latvia who were part of Pre-Trial Chamber I that decided on the case against the Sudanese president.
However, both judges asked the ICC president to recuse them from sitting on this appeal for citing their previous involvement with the case. The ICC presidency granted them their request and replaced them with Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova from Bulgaria and Judge Joyce Aluoch from Kenya.
Prior to the appeal chamber announcement and speaking from Davos in Switzerland, Ocampo said on Thursday said he expects judges to add a charge of genocide.
“The people in the camps are still suffering what I consider genocide,” he told Reuters in an interview. “And in a few weeks the appeal chairman will rule on my request to include genocide charges. I think I will win”
Ocampo said conditions in the camps amounted to a “slow death” which the world had lost interest in adding that Bashir is now in the process of getting marginalized.
“President Bashir is indicted. He is a fugitive president,” he said, citing what he said were refusals by South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria, Turkey and Venezuela to host the Sudanese leader since the warrant was issued.
“It’s a process of marginalization…. Bashir’s destiny is to face justice — in two years or 20 years”.
However, Bashir managed to maintain ability to travel regionally to countries such as Egypt, Eretria, Libya and going as far as Zimbabwe and Mauritania, none of which are ICC members. This weekend he is scheduled to fly to Addis Ababa to take part in the African Union (AU) summit.
The AU has gave full backing to Bashir in its summit last year and decided that no African nation will cooperate with the ICC in apprehending him even if party to the Rome Statute though some countries have later dissented from this resolution.
The appeal chamber decision would have no real practical implication as an arrest warrant is hanging on his head but if an adverse decision is made against Bashir it may increase pressure on him.
If the appeal chamber agrees with the prosecutor it may remand the case back to the Pre-Trial Chamber I to issue a new decision consistent with their opinion or directly order that the genocide charges be added.
(ST)
Gatwech
ICC judges to rule on genocide appeal against Sudanese president next week
Bashir must remain a wanted criminal until he is captured alive and hang. He will remain a fugitive leader and law breaker.
Gosh, why Sudan is being run by law breakers in both North and South?
Time1
ICC judges to rule on genocide appeal against Sudanese president next week
This should be appreciated fromt he ICC, Darfur people needs justice and need the world to s tand with them against this massacres and crimes that is still going on as we speak, just last week alone more than 10 darfuris have been senteced to death for oppositon Omer bashir.
Genocide has to be stopped anywhere int he world, what happen during the holocaust should not be allowed to happen again, that is why the ICC judges must pass this Genocide charges against Omer bashir to bring him to face justices over his war crimes in Darfur.
God bless Ocambo in his bravery to face the Sudanese president.
Sudan virus
ICC judges to rule on genocide appeal against Sudanese president next week
The Arrest of Bashiir will bring high impact on peace/and war against terrorism in Africa,especially Darfur and Somalia.
Simpleman
ICC judges to rule on genocide appeal against Sudanese president next week
Bashir is finish this marks the end of his least deadly kicks
Safe journey mr.dictator
murlescrewed
ICC judges to rule on genocide appeal against Sudanese president next week
ENOUGH of this! This is our PRESIDENT for better or worse. We as Sudanese must put the national dignity before these unproven allegations. Al-Bashir is not personally culpable for what happened in Darfur. He is being targeted by the enemies of the Sudan.
Under certain circumstances, we would have to really think hard whether these charges are based on legal reasoning or other agenda. If what happened in Darfur was similar to what Pol Pot did in Cambodia or Hitler did in Nazi third Reich, we would be seeing refugee camps turned into giant killing fields. But this is not the case. The government has not reacted correctly to insurgency in Darfur but this does not really amount to genocide. I hope the judges dismiss all charges and help Sudan in enforcing justice in Darfur.
Al-Bashir has done a good thing in the South by ending war there. That is millions of lives saved. If he could do that in the South, would the same guy commit genocide in Darfur? Let’s be realistic here and call attention to some deficiencies in ICC case.
I am all for justice as long as it is based on laws and not other motives. What the ICC is doing is based on emotions and not laws. It is creating a precedent that will haunt it in the future.
Master
NEW STUDY ON DARFUR DEATHS – ALL A LIE
New research on the conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur region shows that more than 80 percent of the 300,000 deaths since fighting began in 2003 were the result of disease, not violence.
The findings, published Friday in the medical journal The Lancet, suggest many among the millions of people uprooted by the conflict could remain at great risk of succumbing to the malnutrition, diarrhea and waterborne diseases that have ravaged their squalid refugee camps even as fighting has ebbed.
Fighting between rebels and Sudanese government forces began in Darfur in 2003, driving 2.7 million people from their homes and creating an enormous humanitarian crisis in the vast desert region. Sudan’s government has said the casualty figures are exaggerated.
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The violence has largely subsided, but banditry and kidnappings of foreign aid workers continue to plague efforts to stabilize the region.
Researchers at the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters at the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels, Belgium, put together the study. They reviewed 107 mortality surveys from 2003 to 2008 and chose 63 that met all of the data requirements for their combined statistical analysis.
The study found the number of deaths from violence peaked in early 2004, a year after the fighting began with a rebellion by ethnic African tribes accusing the Arab-dominated government of neglect.
At the height of the conflict, government-allied militias known as the janjaweed burned down entire villages, government planes dropped bombs on populated areas and reports of rape by the gunmen abounded.
During that period, Darfur was called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Since 2005, most of Darfur’s deaths have been the result of disease, and displaced people have been the most susceptible, the review found.
lope lomohidang
ICC judges to rule on genocide appeal against Sudanese president next week
why others always involve LAM ,RIEK amongs others as wrong doers
AL-BASIR has seen have painful it is to others, now let us think how may people are going to follow AL-BASIR. when will his drive
OSMAN TAHA BE SHAKEN. remenber we are going have peace if BASIR DISAPPEAR from our EYEZ AND EARS that is the time we glorify lord of SOUTH SUDAN
GOD BLESS THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SUFFERING AT THE HAND OF
GENECIDE RELIEF
US FROM THAT PAIN
AMEN LOMOHIDANG
M.Cool.J
ICC judges to rule on genocide appeal against Sudanese president next week
Ocampo,
Don’t give up.Fight on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
telfajbago
ICC judges to rule on genocide appeal against Sudanese president next week
The genociode is going on in Darfur while the judges are proceeding with their snail-moving slow judicial procedures, relctant to include the already happened and still happening genocide crime against the innocent civilians of Darfur.However, the International Community will be lacking seriousness to stop the genocide, if the fugitive Al Bashir is to go rule the country again, in the rigged election, and dance on the bones of the people . What a hypocritical world.
AUGUSTINO DENG
ICC judges to rule on genocide appeal against Sudanese president next week
I don’t know why Southerners people are always cracking their minds in the Arrestment of “Pseudo-Intellectual” leader Mr Omar Bashir? What is the needs of negotiating something obvious? Omar Bashir’s crime is known by everybody and that is why it is expected by the ICC to send Omar Bashir to the jail. How can a person be a leader and kill his own people?
I indeed agree with the ICC proposals of making Omar Bashir to see the jail right away. What I have to reminded the ICC is that they are making a delayment or procrastination on the a genda of an Arrestment of Bashir. They supposed to captivated Omar Bashir during the time when they filed those 10 charges on him.
First, did the Southerner leader Salva Kiir Miyardit agree about the Arrestment of Omar Bashir? I hope that ICC needs to contact Salva Kiir Miyardit first of all and explain it to him about the reasons why Omar Bashir is needed to go to the jail since he doesn’t know the advantages of Omar Bashir Arrestment. I don’t wants myself to hear again from Salva Kiir Miyardit sending a warning letter to ICC. When should Salva Kiir Miyardit be known as a President of Sudan not a President of Southern Sudan like he called himself as such? Why do our Southern Sudanese always like to be in a second ladder? Why we are not in the First Ladder instead of second,third and forth?Its become useless if the leader always forget about the fate of his people. SPLM/SPLA fought for about 22 years and if people know that this should be the way in which our Movement is going to be, then there is no point of creating Factions against Khartoum Government.
I’m really doubt that our Southern Sudanese Government under the leadership of Salva Kiir Miyardit and the rest of the other people will not bring any victory at all. As a result, we Southerners people of Southern Sudan, we will still go back to Khartoum Government like what happened in Anyanya 1. People said that the Arrestment of Omar Bashir will discontinue the acceleration of the CPA. Why the death of Dr John Garang Mabior doesn’t affected the CPA rather than the Arrestment of Omar Bashir will be the one which will cause the CPA to collapse? Does it mean that Omar Bashir is the one who sign the CPA by himself without Dr John Garang Mabior? The supporters of this agenda are all “sycophant people”-those who always rely under the rich people for the favor to gains something. Gains whatever you wanted from Omar Bashir and make sure that you will die of it.
After all, Salva Kiir needs to close his mouth about the ICC initiative of their proposal Arrestment which they have waged on Omar Bashir. Let Salva Kiir Miyardit see the problem of the Southern Sudan first. I have never saw a person in my life starting cleaning his room or house from the front-inner door through the inner-corner of his door. Cleaning of the house started from the innner-corner to the front-inner of the house.
So, Mr Salva Kiir Miyardit Advisors needs to oriented a careful cleaning of the house to Salva Kiir Miyardit. With this “Micro-politic” which I see in our Southern Sudan,Omar Bashir will never leave from power since Some Southerners leaders never scrutinized before-hand. There are so many way of killing rats. You can kill rats by poisoning it, Shooting it, trapping it, stonning it and catapult it. Why Southerner leaders don’t use one method of killing rat above?