Rights groups slam Sudanese president’s upcoming visit to Nigeria
July 12, 2013 (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir is scheduled to fly to Nigeria on Sunday to attend a summit on HIV/AIDS that is set to start on Monday, an official in Khartoum announced.
Qatar news agency (QNA) reported that the Sudanese ambassador Taj El-Sir Mahjoub told the state Sudan radio that Bashir will also meet a number of African leaders on the sidelines of the summit to discuss bilateral cooperation and ways to further boost coordination in regional and international issues.
The Sudanese president will also brief his counterparts on the developments regarding the peace process between Khartoum and Juba, he added.
The al-Youm al-Tali newspaper reported in its Friday edition that Bashir will be accompanied by the ministers of health, foreign affairs and presidential affairs.
The visit will be the newest venture of defiance by the Sudanese leader who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Darfur.
Nigeria as a state party to the founding treaty of the ICC has a theoretical obligation to apprehend Bashir should he set foot on its territories.
Since the issuance of the warrant in 2009, several ICC members in Africa allowed Bashir to visit including Chad, Kenya, Malawi and Djibouti.
These states assert that they are simply adhering to African Union (AU) resolutions instructing them not to comply with the warrants against Bashir.
But some states in Africa such as South Africa, Uganda and Botswana have warned Bashir not to visit so as not to risk arrest.
Even countries such as Kenya and Malawi, which have received Bashir once, declined to do so again following domestic and international pressure.
In late 2011, a Kenyan judge issues an arrest warrant ordering the government to arrest him if he flies into the country again. Nairobi has appealed the ruling which has yet to be decided.
The Sudanese leader has snubbed an African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) meeting in Abuja that was called for in order to discuss a report of the AU Panel on Darfur led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki.
At the time the Nigerian government made it clear that it has no intention of arresting him despite the outstanding warrant.
“Hand him over to who when he is invited by the AU?” an anonymous government source in Nigeria told Agence France Presse (AFP).
But later some sources suggested that despite the invite, Abuja quietly asked Khartoum to send another official in Bashir’s place.
‘SIDE WITH VICTIMS’
Reports of Bashir’s planned trip to Nigeria drew rebuke from Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC).
“Al-Bashir is a fugitive charged with heinous crimes committed in Darfur and he belongs in custody. Many other African states have made clear he will not be welcomed or avoided his visits, including South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, and Uganda. Nigeria should side with victims and arrest or bar entry to al-Bashir” said Elise Keppler, a senior justice counsel at HRW in a statement sent to Sudan Tribune.
“Nigeria should not welcome ICC fugitive Sudanese president al-Bashir. It should stand with victims and arrest al-Bashir or bar him entry to Nigeria,” she added.
CICC also echoed the same position by that of HRW.
“Permitting President Al-Bashir to visit its territory without arresting him would constitute a failure of Nigeria to meet its obligations under the Rome Statute of the ICC,” said Stephen Lamony, senior adviser for the Coalition for the ICC.
“If Nigeria and other members of the ICC are committed to ending impunity, they must not allow ICC arrest warrants to go unenforced, and at the very least must not accept visits from suspects like Al-Bashir,” he added.
Nigerian officials said they expect more than 30 heads of states to attend the summit.
(ST)