Sudan’s al-Bashir attends inauguration of Rwanda’s President

August 18, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on Friday attended the inauguration ceremony of the Rwandan Paul Kagame for the third term, said the official news agency SUNA.

Twenty-one African heads of state were present at the ceremony which took place in front of a packed crowd at the national stadium in the capital, Kigali, entertained by a military parade and drummers.

Al-Bashir is under two International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants since 2008 for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur.
The Sudanese president visited several African states members of the ICC but he was not arrested. However, the issue generated a large literature in the international law on al-Bashir’s immunity.

Rwanda is not a state party to the tribunal of war crimes but has the obligation as a member of the United Nations to cooperate with the court. However, like many other African capitals, Kigali is critical to ICC and to its focus on Africa.

In 2008, President Kagame called the ICC a “fraudulent institution “that is “made for Africans and poor countries” who did not realize what they were signing up for when they ratified the Rome Statute.

Established in 2002 to try war criminals and perpetrators of genocide never tried at home, the ICC has opened inquiries involving nine nations, including Kenya, Ivory Coast, Libya, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Uganda, Mali and, most recently, Georgia.

(ST)