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Darfur: Sudan Ambassador to UN Wants Restriction on Prosecutor Visits; Sudanese Reactions; General Reports and Assessments; Egypt and Sudanese Presidents Meet; UN Daily Press Briefings; FIDH Press Release

08 May 2007

As previously reported, on Wednesday, 2 May 2007, the International Criminal Court (ICC) made public that the judges of Pre-Trial Chamber I had issued warrants of arrest on 27 April 2007 for Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb, the two individuals named by ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in his February filing on the Darfur situation. Please find below more reports and reactions to this development:

A. SUDAN PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO UN WANTS TO RESTRICT PROSECUTOR VISITS: Sudan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem has told al-Sahafa should restrict his visits to UN headquarters as these create a 'political dimension.'

B. MORE SUDANESE REACTIONS:
(1) Members of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the Southern Darfur Parliament have urged the government to hand over the ICC suspects
(2) The Bar Association has reportedly prepared a legal document for the ICC, rejecting the surrender of the suspects.
(3) In the latest of a series of remarks, Minister of Justice Muhammad Ali al-Mardi has characterized the Prosecutor's attempts to obtain the arrest of the ICC suspects as 'piracy.'
(4) Speaker of the National Assembly Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Tahir has rejected ICC jurisdiction.
(5) The Presidential Assistant and Deputy Chairman of the ruling National Congress Party, Nafi Ali Nafi, has criticized the Prosecutor's remarks.

C. MORE GENERAL MEDIA COVERAGE, ANALYSIS AND REACTIONS: more articles and assessments following the issuance of arrest warrants.

D. EGYPT AND SUDANESE PRESIDENTS MEET, DISCUSS ICC: Sudanese President al-Bashir has met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Among other issues, they reportedly discussed the ICC.

E. REFERENCES TO ICC IN UN DAILY PRESS BRIEFINGS: several references to the ICC's issuance of arrest warrants and the Registrar's visit to Chad in the Daily Press Briefings by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

F. FIDH MEDIA STATEMENT: A press release issued by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) on the issuance of arrest warrants. Please note that NGO media statements are available at http://www.coalitionfortheicc.org/?mod=darfur#20.

Please take note of the Coalition's policy on situations before the ICC (below), which explicitly states that the CICC will NOT take a position on potential or pending situations before the Court. The Coalition, however, will continue to provide the most up-to-date information about the ICC.

Warm Regards,
Esti Tambay
Information and Analysis Officer
Coalition for the International Criminal Court

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A. SUDAN PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO UN WANTS TO RESTRICT PROSECUTOR VISITS

1. Sudan Tribune, Wasil Ali, "Sudan demands restricting ICC's prosecutor visits to UN," 7 May 2007
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article21753

"Sudan's envoy to the UN accused the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, of jeopardizing Darfur peace process, requesting to restrict his visits to UN headquarters. Sudan's permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem told al-Sahafa daily that Ocampo's is starting to add a political dimension to his work through his continuous visits to the UN and meeting with Security Council permanent representatives. [...]

Abdalmahmood alleged that Ocampo is asking UN Security Council envoys on a regular basis to pressure Sudan. He demanded that the ICC prosecutor reduce the number of visits he makes to New York to avoid "jeopardizing the Darfur peace process". Abdalmahmood implied that Ocampo should be allowed to come to the UN only for his semi-annual reports on the Darfur case.

The statements by Sudan's UN envoy are the latest in a series of a bitter and negative campaign against ICC's chief prosecutor by Khartoum. Sudanese officials have been particularly upset by Ocampo's statements following the issuance of the arrest warrants, in which he said that Haroun and Kushayb "will have to face justice, they will be in the dock, in two months or two years". The Sudanese government has interpreted it to indicate a pre-judgment by the ICC against the two suspects. The Sudanese justice Minister Mohamed Ali Al-Mardi that this statement demonstrates his "incorrect understanding of justice" and described attempts to arrest any Sudanese national by ICC "an international piracy." [...]"

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B. MORE SUDANESE REACTIONS

1. Al-Ayyam, "SPLM parliamentarians call on government to hand over Darfur suspects," 7 May 2007
(link not available but report reflected by Sudan Tribune: http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article21766)

"Members of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement's [SPLM] block in Southern Darfur Parliament have called on the government to lift immunity from the state minister, Ahmad Harun, who is accused of crimes in Darfur and to hand him over along with Ali Kushayb to the International Criminal Court [ICC] in The Hague.

Meanwhile, speakers in a workshop about Darfur in the National Assembly yesterday recommended the formation of a committee from parliament to negotiate with the non signatories of the Abuja Peace Agreement, and to hurry up in settling crime issues in Darfur which are under discussion in courts.

On the other hand the deputy chairman of the parliament, Atim Garang, accused the government of interfering in tribal conflicts in Darfur and for being biased to one side against the other.

Furthermore, a member of parliament from the SPLM, Al-Fashir unit, Ahmad Isa, criticized in a telephone call to Al-Ayyam the proposals made by members of the [ruling] National Congress [NC] to persuade crime witnesses in Darfur not to collaborate with the ICC. Isa says that it is more useful for those members to call upon the government to hand over the suspected people to the ICC and not to provide them immunity. He explained that the issue is legal and not political. He affirmed that it is necessary for the Justice Ministry to lift immunity from the state minister, Ahmad Harun.

In the same context the secretary-general of SPLM block of [western Darfur], Al-Junaynah unit, Salwa Adam, said that it was necessary to hand over the war crime suspects in Darfur to the ICC. "The government should hand over the suspects to The Hague since a suspect is innocent until he is convicted" she told Al-Ayyam newspaper."

2. Sudan Media Center, "Bar Association Pushes Legal Document to ICC," 7 May 2007
http://www.smc.sd/en/artopic.asp?artID=14357&aCK=EA

"Bar Association decided pushing legal document to International Criminal Court (ICC) as regards arrest warrant against state minister at humanitarian affairs ministry Ahmed Haroon and Ali Koasheib, accused by war crimes in Darfur. In special statement to (smc) Bar Association chief Fathi Khalil said Bar Association prepared legal document for ICC rejecting handing over Haroon and Koasheib, pointing out Bar association initiative considered Human Rights defense rather than defending the two men. Khalil disclosed contacts with Arab and international lawyers union for abolishing ICC resolution."

3. Republic of Sudan Radio, Omdurman, "Sudan's justice minister says "ICC does not have the right" to try any citizen," 6 May 2007
(link not available)

"Minister of Justice Muhammad Ali al-Mardi stressed that the International Criminal Court [ICC] does not have the right to try any Sudanese nationals. He said that the statements by the ICC's prosecutor general that he would arrest the accused Sudanese outside Sudan through Interpol represented international piracy.

[Mardi] He would have thus practiced piracy. He would no longer be a general prosecutor of an ICC but becomes a pirate. There is no more fitting description for what he is doing. It [ICC] does not have any jurisdiction on any Sudanese national. This is something that they know, but this is a political attitude, a political decision, and political steps through which they pursue an agenda drafted to combat Sudan and corner it in order to implement their schemes. But they will not be able to do so, God willing."

4. Suna News Agency, "Al-Tahir praises in interview to Saudi newspaper efforts of Saudi Monarch in normalization of relations between Sudan and Chad," 6 May 2007
http://www.sudaneseonline.com/en2/publish/Latest_News_1/Al-Tahir_praises_in_interview_to_Saudi_newspaper_efforts_of_Saudi_Monarch_in_normalization_of_relations_between_Sudan_and_Chad.shtml

"[...] With respect to the International Criminal Court (ICC), [Speaker of the National Assembly Ahmed Ibrahim] Al-Tahir explained that ICC has no jurisdiction on Sudan because it did not ratify it, pointing out that it is a kind of pressure on the country and that the whole issue is political and not legal one. [...]"

5. Al-Ra'y al-Amm, "Presidential aide terms ICC prosecution as 'political drama'," 6 May 2007
(link not available)

"The presidential assistant and deputy chairman of the [ruling] National Congress [NC], Nafi Ali Nafi, has condemned the talk of the general prosecutor of the International Criminal Court [ICC] in which he says that the ICC will pass a sentence of lifetime imprisonment over both the [Sudanese] state minister at the ministry of humanitarian affairs Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb on the suspect of committing war crimes in Darfur.
Nafi told reporters that the general prosecutor despite understanding law passed his judgment before the case even reached the court. He pointed out that this is a proof that the whole thing is a political drama and those people are assigned to say what they are saying. He added that this is political pressure and that the government was used to it."

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C. MORE GENERAL MEDIA COVERAGE, ANALYSIS AND REACTIONS

1. Agence France Presse, Mohammed Ali Saeed, "Khartoum headed for showdown with UN over Darfur trials," 3 May 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070503/wl_afp/sudandarfuricc_070503163018

"Sudan faces the risk of further sanctions and isolation after unequivocally ruling out any cooperation with the International Criminal Court over Darfur, analysts warned on Thursday. [...]

"The government should have had the wisdom to bend to the will of the ICC. Now it will have to face grave consequences -- the issue will move from being a simple demand for the suspects to be handed over to a possible confrontation with the (UN) Security Council," said Sudanese professor of international law Sheikh Eddin Shiddo. He said that if the Security Council becomes involved -- which is more than likely -- it could go as far as imposing economic sanctions or even using force under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter. [...]

Some Sudanese press analysts have questioned the government position, which is to reject any collaboration with the ICC and not attempt to use legal mechanisms to contest the charges, which were made at the end of February. They say the government should have consulted international lawyers with a view to contesting the ICC allegations. [...]

Such a position is wrong, according to analyst Saleh Mahmud, a lawyer and communist member of parliament. He believes that the government "has failed to organise credible trials for those suspected of being behind crimes in Darfur." Mahmud said the ICC issued the arrest warrants because "Sudanese justice has not shown a willingness to judge" officials for abuses in Darfur, where the United Nations says civil war has killed some 200,000 people and two million have been forced to flee their homes since the conflict began in 2003. [...] As a foretaste of the pressures Sudan risks exposing itself to, both the United States and France have called on Khartoum to cooperate with the ICC, whose chief prosecutor has said the two accused will be brought to justice. [...]"

2. IWPR, Lisa Clifford, "Executions 'Cynical' Attempt to Hinder ICC," 4 May 2007: http://www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=f&o=335342&apc_state=henh

"Hanging of Sudanese soldiers for killing Darfur rebel suspect has little to do with the administration of justice, argue Sudan watchers. The recent execution of two Sudanese soldiers for war crimes in Darfur is another cynical attempt by Khartoum to hinder International Criminal Court, ICC, prosecutions of suspected war criminals, say analysts interviewed by IWPR.

The men were hung in late April, just days before ICC judges issued warrants for the arrest of a former government minister and a militia commander - the first two Sudanese suspects that prosecutors want to bring to The Hague to stand trial. [...]"

3. Inter Press Service, "Govt Rejects ICC Warrants On Darfur," 3 May 2007 http://allafrica.com/stories/200705040243.html

"[...] But there is no confidence that the Sudanese government is able or willing to prosecute him effectively in this case, according to Amnesty International. "The U.N. Security Council must now demand that Sudan -- or any other state in whose territory the two suspects are found -- arrest and surrender them immediately," said Erwin van der Borght, director of Amnesty's Africa Programme. "The U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) should also be requested and equipped to arrest and surrender them," van der Borght stressed.

Amnesty urged the African Union to press the Sudanese government to arrest and surrender the two men, and to direct their forces currently in Darfur to do the same if they are found within their sphere of operations.

"Today's decision by the ICC indicates an important step forward in how the international community will deal with Sudan over the gross human rights violations taking place in Darfur," said van der Borght Wednesday.

It is no longer seen to be enough to just conduct political negotiations over strengthening the current peacekeeping force in Darfur and try to further peace talks, he said.  "Concrete steps must also be taken immediately to hold people to account for the crimes being perpetrated against the people of Darfur," said van der Borght. "Seeking justice for the people of Darfur now will not hinder the continuing search for a political solution -- it will only serve to make that solution, when it is found, more durable." [...]"

4. UN News Service, "International Criminal Court holds outreach mission in neighbouring Chad," 3 May 2007
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22439&Cr=sudan&Cr1=

"Following this week's arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against suspects wanted in connection with the violence in Sudan's Darfur region, ICC officials are conducting a three-day visit to refugee camps in eastern Chad to explain their work to some of the estimated 2 million people who have fled there. The ICC Registrar Bruno Cathala and the Head of the Division of Victims and Counsel Didier Preira arrived in eastern Chad yesterday to talk with refugee representatives in three camps, the Court said in a press release. [...] During the visit, which is part of the Court's outreach strategy on Darfur, Mr. Cathala and Mr. Preira will focus on the rights of victims to participate in ICC proceedings, including in presenting their views and concerns at all stages, regardless of whether they are called to testify as witnesses. [...]"

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D. EGYPT AND SUDANESE PRESIDENTS MEET, DISCUSS ICC

1. Xinhua General News Service, "Sudanese president arrives in Cairo on official visit," 6 May 2007
http://english.people.com.cn/200705/08/eng20070508_372671.html

"Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir arrived here on Monday to pay an official visit to Egypt to tackle on means of supporting stability in Sudan and efforts to solve the problem of the western Sudanese Darfur region. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is scheduled to meet with Bashir to discuss a number of topics of joint interest, topped by the Darfur issue and bilateral relations, as well as Sudan's relation with the international community and the issue of the International Criminal Court, according to Egyptian Presidential Spokesman Suleiman Awad and Sudanese Presidential Adviser Abdullah Ali Masar. [...]"

2. Republic of Sudan Radio, Omdurman, "Sudanese, Egyptian presidents hold bilateral talks in Cairo," 7 May 2007
(link not available)

"The president of the republic, FM Umar al-Bashir, held talks with the Egyptian leader, Husni Mubarak, this afternoon in Cairo. The talks touched on Egypt's efforts to achieve peace in Sudan and support the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The talks also discussed the efforts being made to reach a settlement for the Darfur crisis and Sudan's relation with the international community, the UN and the International Criminal Court as well as developments in the Middle East. [...]

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E. REFERENCES TO ICC IN UN DAILY PRESS BRIEFINGS

1. Text of Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, 2 May 2007
http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2007/db070502.doc.htm

"[...] Turning to Sudan, the judges of the International Criminal Court today issued warrants for the arrest of Sudan's Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and a Janjaweed militia leader in connection with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. In a public decision, the ICC judges ruled that there is sufficient evidence on the merits of the Prosecutor's case and reasonable grounds to believe that the two individuals are responsible for murder, rape, torture, the forced displacement of entire villages and other war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Prosecutor's case not only highlights the connection between a senior minister in the Sudanese Government and a militia leader, it also shows the underlying operational system that enabled massive crimes against innocent civilians in Darfur.  And all of this is contained in a press release from the International Criminal Court, available upstairs. [...]"

2. Text of Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, 3 May 2007
http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2007/db070503.doc.htm

"[...] And on Sudan, the Registrar of the International Criminal Court is visiting three camps housing Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad as part of the outreach strategy the Court has to deal with Darfur. His three-day visit, which ends tomorrow, is intended to explain the mandate and activities of the Court, especially the right of victims to participate in Court proceedings.  The ICC has a press release with more details. [...]"

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F. FIDH MEDIA STATEMENT

1. Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'Homme (FIDH),
Press Release, "Sudan must surrender an acting Minister and a Janjaweed militia leader to the International Criminal Court; The ICC delivers its first warrants of arrest against those presumably responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur," 3 May 2007
http://www.coalitionfortheicc.org/documents/CP_3mai07_ENG.pdf

"The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) delivered yesterday its two first arrest warrants in the framework of the investigation currently carried out on the international crimes committed in Darfur. Ahmad Muhammad Harun (Ahmad Harun), former Minister for the Interior and current Minister in charge of Humanitarian Affaires within the Sudanese
Government, and Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman (alias Ali Kushayb), one of the leaders of the Janjaweed militia, are accused of 51 counts of murder, rape, acts of torture and other serious crimes committed against the civilian population, that would constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Court insists also on the complicity links between the former Minister for the Interior and the Janjaweed militia.

These arrest warrants follow the request presented on 27 February by the Prosecutor of the ICC, which concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the persons quoted have committed crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court, and requested the Pre-Trial Chamber to decide on the issuance of summons to appear or warrants of arrest.

The Chamber, contrary to the Prosecutor, considered that summons to appear would not be sufficient to ensure the appearance of these persons and therefore issued two arrest warrants, to be transmitted to the Government of Sudan, as well as to all States Parties of the Rome Statute and members of the United Nations Security Council, which referred the situation to the Prosecutor.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Sudan Organisation against Torture (SOAT), its affiliated organisation in Sudan, consider that the Government of Sudan must imperatively cooperate with the Court and immediately surrender to it Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb. Sudan must also allow the Office of the Prosecutor to enter Darfur in order to carry on its investigations and collaborate with all investigative steps taken in Sudan.

FIDH and SOAT call upon all States who are under the obligation to cooperate with the Court to facilitate the execution of the arrest warrants. Additionally, the United Nations Security Council must ensure the effective implementation of Resolution 1593 of March 2005, which referred the situation to the Prosecutor leading to the opening of an investigation on 1 June 2005.2 In particular, the African Union and the Arab League States must support the action of the ICC in Darfur, by watching over the execution of the warrants of arrest by Sudan and that Sudan cooperates fully with the ICC."

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CICC'S POLICY ON THE REFERRAL AND PROSECUTION OF SITUATIONS BEFORE THE
ICC:

The Coalition for the ICC is not an organ of the Court. The CICC is an independent NGO movement dedicated to the establishment of the International Criminal Court as a fair, effective, and independent international organization. The Coalition will continue to provide the most up-to-date information about the ICC and to help coordinate global action to effectively implement the Rome Statute of the ICC. The Coalition will also endeavor to respond to basic queries and to raise awareness about the ICC's trigger mechanisms and procedures, as they develop. The Coalition as a whole, and its secretariat, do not endorse or promote specific investigations or prosecutions or take a position on situations before the ICC. However, individual CICC members may endorse referrals, provide legal and other support on investigations, or develop partnerships with local and other organizations in the course of their efforts.

Communications to the ICC can be sent to:
ICC
P.O. Box 19519
2500 CM The Hague
The Netherlands