Sudan says ICC prosecutor top impediment to peace

June 11, 2010 (WASHINGTON) — The Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations Abdel-Mahmood Abdel-Haleem lashed out the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo accusing him of becoming an impediment of peace in his country.

Ocampo submitted his semi-annual report to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) on Friday focusing mainly on Sudan’s refusal to cooperate with the court in handing over the interior minister of state Ahmed Haroun and militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb.

The ICC judges last month issued a formal decision last month requesting UNSC intervention in securing the cooperation of Sudan. It was the UNSC that asked the Hague tribunal to investigate the situation in Darfur five years ago. Last year, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Ocampo expressed hope that the judges’ decision would be “acknowledged and followed upon by this council” before he reports again in December.

Abdel-Haleem speaking to reporters after the briefing said that Ocampo is “telling his usual lies and fabrications” and “trying to intervene flagrantly and grossly in the affairs of Sudan”

“[Ocampo] is the greatest impediment to peace in the Sudan” the Sudanese official said.

He further praised Haroun, describing him as a “one of the greatest sons of the Sudan….[who] is doing a great job for his country”.

But the ICC prosecutor offered a different point of view saying that Haroun’s “expertise is to attack civilians using tribal militias….he should be arrested before he commits crimes in his new position”. Haroun is now the governor of South Kordofan.

The council president for this month, Mexico’s U.N. Ambassador Claude Heller, said that “the general sense” of the 15 council members was that Sudan should comply with the court’s demand and hand over the two men adding that “we need a holistic approach to the Sudan issues, and peace also requires justice”.

The UNSC did not issue any statement after it held closed-door discussions on the report. China and Russia usually oppose any measures by the council against Sudan.

Ocampo urged council members to ensure that the arrest of Haroun and Kushayb “be at all times a consistent request of this organization, through its representatives and envoys in the Sudan, as a critical condition for securing peace and stability to Darfur.”

He said a council meeting Monday of four top U.N. and African Union envoys and mediators dealing with Sudan offers “a perfect opportunity” to integrate requests for their arrest into the U.N.’s broader strategy for Sudan and Darfur.

Abdel-Haleem called Ocampo’s appearance before the council “a failure”.

“The prosecutor came today with a very specific request to the council to help him arresting those (men),” Abdel-Haleem said. “He did not get that.”

He said “the prosecutor and those who are singing his song” should not allow “issues like this one of today to overshadow the peace process in Sudan today.”

Sudan rejects the jurisdiction of the court saying the UNSC was legally wrong to refer the case to the ICC since it is not a member of the Rome Statute which founded the court.

The United Nations says more than 300,000 people have been killed since the Darfur conflict broke out in 2003, when minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government for a greater share of resources and power.

(ST)