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| Africa Horn |
| Sudan: Bashir will 'not cooperate' with court, says diplomat |
| 2009-03-05 |
| (AKI) - Sudan's ambassador to Italy, Alier Deng Ruai Deng, said his country would not cooperate with the International Criminal Court after it issued an arrest warrant for president Omar al-Bashir for alleged war crimes in Darfur on Wednesday. Al-Bashir, the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the court, faces five counts of crimes against humanity, including responsibility for murder, rape and torture, and two counts of war crimes. "The view of Sudan is very clear. We will not accept such a decision from the ICC. We think it is a politically based decision, not based on legality," said Deng in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI). Deng said Sudan rejected the ICC's decision based on legal terms, as his country is not a party to the ICC's founding Rome statute. It is the first time that the court has issued an arrest order against a sitting head of state since it began work in 2002. The court in The Hague fell short of accusing al-Bashir (photo) of genocide, but the president immediately rejected the charges against him and dismissed any ICC ruling as worthless. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, after the warrant was announced and there were fears of widespread unrest. "We will absolutely not cooperate with the ICC, nor will we accept their decision. First of all because we are not party to the ICC and thus it has no jurisdiction over Sudan. This is the main and legal point of view and the main reason why we do not cooperate with them," said Deng. However, the ambassador stressed that Sudan's rejection of the court's jurisdiction did not mean it condoned the atrocities committed in Darfur and told AKI that the 65 year-old al-Bashir was the victim of political persecution. "(We will not cooperate) Not because we want to condone the atrocities that have taken place in Darfur. It is a principle position that we are not a member, we are not a party. Maybe the ICC has been influenced by certain circuits." Deng also claimed that evidence provided to the court was not reliable. "We see no strong evidence from the witness. Sources used were not reliable, and we have a problem in that sense. How do we know if this evidence is reliable?" However, Deng told AKI that he did not expect any negative repercussions in the short term with western countries. "Up to now, we do not think there are going to be any immediate repercussions after the decision. It could happen later, but up to now we don't think there will be any." Deng said Sudan ruled out the possibility of handing over al-Bashir to any tribunal, because he was still president and had immunity under international law. "He is enjoying his immunity as president of Sudan," concluded Deng. Al-Bashir will face five counts of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes, however, he will not face charges of genocide. The charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, were announced at a media conference in The Hague by court spokeswoman Laurence Blairon. Blairon said Bashir was suspected of being criminally responsible for "intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians and pillaging their property" Sudan's ruling party the National Congress, announced plans for a march in the capital Khartoum on Thursday to protest against the decision. The United Nations estimates at least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million others displaced from their homes in fighting across Darfur over the past six years between rebels, government forces and allied militiamen known as the Janjaweed. The militiamen are accused of widespread human rights abuses in their attacks against civilians. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 No shit. Color me suprised. |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-03-05 12:12 |
| #1 The right to uphold humanity and the interference of a third nation has resulted in bloody mess (Iraq). Does this mean we should turn a blind eye on crimes on humanity happening in other nations? Make your stance on the situation of arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir at www.allvoices.com/journalism . |
| Posted by: hannahh kelly 2009-03-05 10:24 |