Darfur’s special prosecutor admits pursuit of justice obstructed by politics

December 26, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan-appointed special prosecutor for Darfur Abdel-Dayem Zumrawi has acknowledged that efforts to serve justice in the war-torn western region have been overshadowed by the political situation in the country.

Speaking at a press conference held on Sunday at the premises of Sudan official news agency (SUNA) in Khartoum, Zumrawi announced that his office was planning on developing a witness-protection program in collaboration with the AU High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki.

Zumrawi was appointed as a special prosecutor for Darfur on October, 17 2010 to replace Nimr Ibrahim Mohamed who was moved aside without an explanation.

Mohamed has not brought any cases to court during his two years in office. He has made a failed attempt to investigate the then state minister for humanitarian affairs and current South Korodfan State governor Ahmed Haroun.

Haroun is one of three individuals named by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Louis Moreno Ocampo as having masterminded war crimes in Darfur region.

The ICC charged each of Haroun, militia leader Ali Kushayb and Sudan President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir against the background of the conflict which erupted in 2003 as rebels belonging mostly to African ethnic groups in the region took up arms against the central government in Khartoum.

A harsh counterinsurgency campaign orchestrated by Khartoum and its allied Arab militias led to the death of 300.000 people and displacement of more than 2 million, according to UN figures.

According to Khartoum though, only 10.000 people died.

Later this year, the ICC added the charge of genocide against president Al-Bashir, who refuses to cooperate with the court and denigrates its charges as part of a Western plot to overthrow his government.

Zumrawi, who declined to say whether Ali Kushayb is still free or in custody, admitted that political interferences had shielded Haroun from appearing before the former prosecutor.

However he later asserted that he intends to perform his duties without fear or bias.

“I am not concerned with political interferences” he said.

Zumrawi said that his office, which comprises representatives of the police and the army, is currently undertaking investigations into several incidents that occured in Darfur, including the recent attack on Tabra village in north Darfur and the inter-rebel fighting in the area of Qiridah in south Darfur.

He further revealed that 22 witnesses had so far been interrogated in the case of the attack on Tabra village, which occurred in early September 2010 when Arab militiamen allied with the Sudanese government went on a firing spree, leaving as many as 72 people dead and scores wounded.

The prosecutor said he was also investigating the inter-rebel fighting which in July 2008 drove thousands from their homes in Qiridah area and caused the killing of peacekeepers of the AU peacekeeping mission.

According to Zumrawi, investigations carried out by his office into Tabra attack, abduction of peacekeepers in Zalingi town and the robbery of a bank in Nyala town in south Darfur had so far resulted in charges against 51 suspects of whom 11 had already been arrested.

Zumrawi singled out the issue of witness-protection as on the one the problems faced by his office because witnesses tend to refrain from testifying due to political considerations.

In order to solve this problem, Zumrawi said his office had decided to initiate a witness-protection program following discussions with Mbeki panel.

He concluded that justice would extend to all those implicated in Darfur crimes whenever there are reasonable grounds to believe they are responsible.

(ST)