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EU's plans for peace force in neigbouring Chad; UN calls to prosecute war crimes; Al-Bashir's push for rebels to join the peace talks; appeal from NGOs objecting Al-Bashir's participation in Summit in Lisbon

31 July 2007

Dear all,

Please find below excerpts from media articles on recent developments
related to the ICC's investigation in Darfur including news of European
Union plans for a Darfur peace force in neighboring Chad; UN calls for Sudan
to prosecute war crimes; President Omar Al-Bashir's push for rebels to join
the peace talks; an appeal from NGOs objecting to Al-Bashir's participation
in the December EU-AU summit in Lisbon; and an IWPR report stating that few
victims will participate in Sudan's trials.

Please note that all translations below are unofficial and provided by the
CICC Secretariat as a service to our members, and should not be disseminated
in official documents.

Please also 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.

With regards,

Mariana Rodriguez Pareja
CICC Spanish Information Services Coordinator and Latin America Analyst
[email protected]

*************

I. EU'S PLANS FOR PEACE FORCE IN NEIGBOURING CHAD AND UN CALLS TO PROSECUTE
WAR CRIMES

i. "EU Ministers Back Peacekeepers for Chad," Associated Press, 23 July
2007,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6800044,00.html

"European Union nations agreed Monday to start planning for a possible
3,000-member peacekeeping mission to Chad to help provide security and aid
to tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the conflict in neighboring Darfur.

.In Sudan, President Omar al-Bashir concluded a three-day visit to the
western Darfur region, his first since the conflict began in early 2003.
Al-Bashir, who has been implicated by the international community in
genocide in Darfur, played down the troubles throughout his visit. He said
the region was now safe and peaceful and denied assessments by international
aid groups and foreign media that violence was worsening.

.Al-Bashir's government denies accusations that most of the atrocities
against civilians in Darfur were committed by the janjaweed, a militia of
largely Arab nomads unleashed by the government against the rebels and the
ethnic African tribes they hail from. But the International Criminal Court
in The Hague recently issued arrest warrants against a Cabinet minister and
a suspected janjaweed chief on 51 counts of crimes against humanity and war
crimes.

ii. "UN rights body urges Sudan to prosecute war crimes," Reuters, 27 July
2007,
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L27887128.htm

"The U.N. committee also expressed concern at payment of 'diya', or blood
money, for murder in Sudan, as well as reports of widespread torture in
prisons, persistent discrimination against women, and the use of child
soldiers. It told Khartoum to report back in a year on its progress in
addressing the most urgent concerns, including the prosecution of war crimes
and improving cooperation with the International Criminal Court. 'Serious
crimes arising out of the situation in Darfur must be properly followed up
and urgently prosecuted without amnesty,' Shearer said."

iii. "UN Condemns Gross Human Rights Violations in Sudan," Voice of America,
27 July 2007, http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-07-27-voa52.cfm

"The U.N. Human Rights Committee urges the Sudanese government to follow up
on the allegations arising out of the situation in Darfur. Vice-Chairman of
the Committee, Ivan Shearer, says Khartoum must prosecute these crimes
without amnesty and must distance itself from militias.

.The U.N. Human Rights Committee is also urging the government of Sudan to
cooperate with the International Criminal Court, to make sure that all human
rights violations are investigated, and that those responsible for such
violations are prosecuted at national or international level."

II. AL-BASHIR URGES REBELS TO JOIN JUBA TALKS WHILE NGOS REJECT HIS PRESENCE
AT EU-AU SUMMIT

i. "Sudan's al-Bashir urges Darfur rebels to join peace talks with
government," Associated Press, 24 July 2007,
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/23/africa/AF-GEN-Sudan-Darfur.php

"Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir urged Darfur rebels on Monday to join
peace talks with the government as he ended his tour of the troubled western
Sudan region he described as largely peaceful. 'We are in the post-peace era
and are now entering the state of development,' he said.

.Khartoum denies accusations that most of the atrocities against civilians
were committed by the janjaweed, a militia of largely Arab nomads unleashed
by the government against the rebels and the ethnic African tribes they hail
from. But the International Criminal Court in The Hague recently issued
arrest warrants against a Cabinet minister and a suspected janjaweed chief
on 51 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

..'If one talks of lack of security, then it is not in Darfur. What they are
talking about is Iraq, Palestine, or Afghanistan, and I challenge them all
to come here,' the president said, without specifying who he was addressing.
Sudanese officials frequently compare the situation in Darfur which the
White House describes as genocide to the violence in Iraq since the 2003
US-led invasion."

ii. "NGOs object to Al-Bashir's presence at the EU-AU Summit," Angola Pres,
18 July 2007,
http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-f.asp?ID=546335

"OXFAM, International Crisis Group (ICG) and Human Rights Watch (HRW)
requested the Portuguese government not to invite the Sudanese president to
the Euro-African summit to take place in December in Portugal, according to
a source in Brussels.

In a press conference, the three organizations said that since Khartoum does
not cooperate with the International Criminal Court that accused [two]
Sudanese citizens of crimes against humanity in Darfur, the European Union
should oppose the presence of President Al-Bashir in the Summit in Lisbon."

III. EX U.S. MARINE DOCUMENTS GENOCIDE ; JOURNALISTS TO TACKLE PROPAGANDA;
IWPR: FEW VICTIMS LIKELY TO PARTICIPATE IN SUDAN TRIAL

i. "Ex-Marine Documents Darfur Tragedy; `Arctic Tale'," Bloomberg News, 25
July 2007,
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aAa7jym3BlZc&refer=muse

".While the African Union still has troops in Darfur, the violence
continues. The Sudanese government has resisted calls for a United Nations
peacekeeping force and a war-crimes investigation by the International
Criminal Court has yet to result in any trials. But Steidle isn't giving up.

Steidle and his activist sister continue to work for Darfur-related
charities and visit the refugee camps across the border in Chad (for obvious
reasons, he can't return to the Sudan). He has written a book, and testified
before the International Criminal Court in the Hague, giving names, dates
and places of the massacres he observed. But if the court hands down
indictments, who's going to go into that hellhole and arrest the suspects?
To paraphrase Gandhi's famous quip, international justice sounds like a good
idea, but we haven't seen it yet. Ultimately, if the American people are too
numb, too infotained and too narcotized to care, then we don't have anyone
to blame for Darfur, or for the next Darfur, whenever and wherever it
happens.."

ii. "ICC: Sudanese journalist to tackle government propaganda," BBC
Monitoring Middle East- Political, 27 July 2007, [link unavailable]

Text of report in English by independent USAID-funded Sudan Radio Service on
27 July

"To counter what it says is misleading information from Sudan's Government
of National Unity [GONU], the International Criminal Court [ICC], is talking
with Sudanese journalists living abroad about the role of the court.

According to Middle East newspaper reporter and conference participant
Mustafa Siri, the ICC hopes the conference will encourage journalists to
report that the ICC is not a political court, but a court of law. The
four-day conference, which started yesterday in Kampala, Uganda, is set to
counter what the ICC said is inaccurate information from the GONU.

[Mustafa Siri]: 'The International Criminal Court is aiming to organize a
campaign to enlighten Sudanese people through the media about the ICC and
the way of following a legal procedure, as well as enlighten them that the
ICC is not a political court. Because the Sudanese government is making a
campaign against ICC and it thinks it's a political issue. Also the ICC will
present things about the Sudan law and its appropriateness with issues of
crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.' "

iii. Few Victims Likely to Participate in Sudan Trial," by Caroline Tosh,
(IWPR), 25 July 2007, http://www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=f&o=337401&apc_state=henh

"Although people who have suffered directly from the violence in Darfur,
western Sudan, can apply to take part in any future trial held at the
International Criminal Court, an expert on international law has warned that
the actual scope of victim participation is likely to be disappointing.

In what has been hailed as a groundbreaking development in international
justice, victims are accorded the right to present their views and
observations to the International Criminal Court, ICC, and play a role at
various stages of proceedings. Their participation is on a voluntary basis,
unlike witnesses who are summoned to testify, and they are free to make
submissions on issues they themselves feel are important. But in order to be
accepted as victims, they must formally apply to the court.

In the case of Sudan, Mariana Goetz of REDRESS, an organisation which seeks
reparation for torture victims, said, 'Perhaps one of the most important
things to remember is that probably participation of victims [in
proceedings] will be quite disappointing.'

***********

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