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Darfur: Prosecutor to meet Danish FM to discuss on cooperation; China's Envoy to Africa on Darfur; More reactions to Harun's appointment; Al-Bashir visits Italy and Holy See; SG report on Children and Armed Conflict in Sudan; FIDH Press Release

14 Sept 2007

Dear all,

Please find below information on recent developments related to the
International Criminal Court's investigation in Darfur, Sudan, including:

I. ICC-OTP: Moreno-Ocampo to meet Danish Foreign Minister to discuss on
cooperation and arrests.
II. China’s Envoy to Africa Liu Guijing spoke to the media at the UN
Headquarters on the Darfur crisis and China’s position.
III.More NGO reactions to ICC-indictee Ahmed Harun’s appointment to the
Special Committee set up by the Sudanese government to investigate war
crimes in Darfur.
IV. Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir visit to Italy and the Holy See: Human
Rights Watch (HRW) and International Federation of Action by Christians for
the Abolition of Torture (FIACAT, in French) urged Italian President Prodi
and H.H. Pope Benedict XVI to encourage Sudan to cooperate with the ICC.
V. New SG report on children and armed conflict in Sudan mentions the ICC.
VI.FIDH’s press release “International Day for Darfur: On September 16, the
international community has the duty to protect civilians.”

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 Communications
[email protected]

*******
I. OTP MEDIA ADVISORY: MORENO OCAMPO TO MEET DANISH FOREIGN MINISTER TO
DISCUSS ON COOPERATION

“Media Advisory: ICC Prosecutor and Danish Foreign Minister to discuss
cooperation and arrests, 13 September 2007
Available at: http://www.icc-cpi.int/press/pressreleases/272.html

On September 14, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis
Moreno-Ocampo is in Copenhagen for a series of meetings with senior justice
and foreign ministry officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs
for Denmark, Dr Per Stig Møller.

In addition to providing an update on the four situations before the Court,
in Northern Uganda, DRC, Darfur (Sudan) and the Central African Republic,
the Prosecutor will address in all his meetings with the Danish the need for
the international community to ensure that all outstanding arrest warrants
issued by the ICC are enforced.

‘As international efforts intensify to promote comprehensive solutions for
peace in regions of conflict, the crimes must not be forgotten,’ said the
Prosecutor. ‘Darfur is a case in point. Ahmad Harun allegedly attacked
civilians and forced them from their homes into camps. Today this same man
is in charge of the camps and controlling the fate of his victims. He must
be removed from office, arrested and surrendered to the Court.’

According to the Prosecutor, ‘respect for the law is the only guarantee of
lasting peace. This is a lesson learned during the last decades of massive
violence and atrocities….’”

II. LIU GUIJING: “RESOLVING THE DARFUR ISSUE WOULD NOT BE ACCOMPLISHED BY
THE EXERTION OF PRESSURE, SANCTIONS AND MILITARY POWER”

Liu Guijin, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Darfur and
African spoke on September 11, 2007 to the media at the UN Headquarters on
the Darfur crisis and China’s position. An excerpt reads:

“Responding, he said there were some different numbers as to how many people
had been killed in the Darfur region. Regardless of the figures, the
Chinese Government and people were sorry about the loss of life and property
there. China had made a concrete contribution to the resolution of the
issue, for example, by providing humanitarian assistance to the region.
Some assistance had already been shipped to the region and more was on the
way. China would continue to provide even more humanitarian and development
assistance to the region. China was also providing development aid to
Darfur. In other words, China had provided tangible and practical
assistance for the region.”

The transcript is available at:
http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2007/070911_Liu.doc.htm

III. MORE NGO REACTIONS TO HARUN’S APPOINTMENT

NGO Centre Marocain des Droits Humains (Morocco), 13 September 2007, (link
unavailable)

“The national office of the Moroccan Center for Human Rights condemns the
Sudanese government’s recent appointment of Ahmed Haroun, former Minister of
Interior, to the post of co-president of the committee in charge of
investigating human rights violations perpetrated in Sudan, and in
particular Darfur, given that M. Haroun has been the subject of an
international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court on
the 27 April 2007 for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in
2003 and 2004.”

Translation from French is unofficial and has been prepared by the CICC.

IV. AL-BASHIR’S VISIT TO ITALY AND HOLY SEE- NGOS ASKED ROMANO PRODI AND
BENEDICT XVI TO URGE SUDAN TO ARREST WAR CRIMES SUSPECT

i. “Italy: Urge Sudan to Arrest War Crime Suspects. Prime Minister, Pope
Should Press Visiting Sudanese President,” Human Rights Watch (Press
Release), 14 September 2007,
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/09/13/sudan16866.htm

“Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Pope Benedict XVI should call on
the government of Sudan to fulfill its legal duty to arrest International
Criminal Court suspects when Sudan's President Omar El Bashir visits today,
Human Rights Watch said today.

During the visit of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Sudan
last week, the Sudanese government appointed International Criminal Court
(ICC) suspect Ahmed Haroun to chair a committee designated to hear human
rights complaints from victims of abuse in war-torn Darfur. Haroun, who is
currently the state minister of humanitarian affairs, is wanted by the ICC
for 42 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes. ICC judges found
‘reasonable grounds to believe’ that Haroun is responsible for persecuting,
raping, attacking and killing civilians in four western Darfur villages in
2003 and 2004.

Evidence indicates Haroun recruited, paid and supplied arms to the
government-backed ‘Janjaweed’ militias who carried out the attacks. Human
Rights Watch named Haroun as one of the government leaders implicated in
serious international crimes in Darfur in 2003-2004 in its December 2005
report ‘Entrenching Impunity’
<http://hrw.org/reports/2005/darfur1205/>….”

ii. “Sudan: Surrender the ICC Accused to The Hague: Letter to Pope Benedict
XVI on the Situation in Darfur,” Human Rights Watch (Open Letter), 13
September 2007,
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/09/13/sudan16868.htm

“In advance of your meeting with President Omar al-Bashir, Human Rights
Watch wishes to draw your attention to our concerns about lack of
accountability for the atrocities in Darfur. In particular we call on you to
raise with President Bashir Sudan’s obligation to fully cooperate with the
International Criminal Court (ICC) and execute arrest warrants issued by the
court.

The Sudanese government’s campaign of “ethnic cleansing” in the Darfur
region has gained widespread international attention since it began four
years ago. Since July 2003, Sudanese government forces and militia forces
known as “Janjaweed” have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity
on a massive scale during counterinsurgency operations in Darfur. Civilians
have suffered deliberate attack from land and air, summary execution, rape,
torture and the pillaging of their property. These crimes have been
documented extensively in reports by the United Nations’ International
Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights and by non-governmental organizations including Human Rights
Watch.

…. We urge you to use your good offices to call on President Bashir to
cooperate with the International Criminal Court and surrender the accused to
The Hague. In addition, we ask that you urge Sudan to act to reform its own
judicial system to strengthen its capacity to try cases in national courts.”

iii. “Italy: Encourage Sudan to Cooperate with the ICC: Letter to the
Italian Prime Minister,” Human Rights Watch (Open Letter), 13 September
2007,
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/09/13/sudan16866.htm

“Italy simply cannot be silent on this issue. During your meeting with
President Bashir, it is crucial that you stress, publicly and privately,
Sudan’s obligation to surrender the suspects to the ICC and fully cooperate
with the court’s further investigations. We urge you to convey to President
Bashir that failure to execute the warrants may result in targeted punitive
measures by Italy and other European countries against senior Sudanese
government officials. These measures may include travel bans and seizure of
assets….”

iv. Open Letter from the International federation of Action by Christians
for the Abolition of Torture to the Vatican in advance to the meeting of the
His Holiness The Pope with the Sudanese President, 13 September 2007,
http://www.coalitionfortheicc.org/documents/FIACAT_130907_fr.pdf

“The ACAT recalls that ‘the Sudanese authorities suspended any co-operation
with the ICC since March 2007’ and ‘refused surrender to the ICC, Ahmad
Muhammad Harum and Ali Muhammad Al Abd Al Rahman, both identified in the
arrest warrants issued in May 2007, for crimes committed in West Darfur in
August 2003 and March 2004’. They stress that under the Resolution 1593 of
the Security Council of the United Nations, Sudan, although it did not
ratify the Statute of Rome, should cooperate with the ICC and to bring all
the necessary assistance.”

Translation from French is unofficial and has been prepared by the CICC.

MEDIA REPORTS ON AL-BASHIR’S VISIT

i. “Sudan's president talks peace with Pope,” NSNBC, 14 September 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20776821/

“Sudan's president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, whose regime has been sanctioned
and largely isolated by western governments for atrocities committed in
Darfur, on Friday met Pope Benedict XVI and Italy's prime minister Romano
Prodi during a rare visit to Europe.

Both the Vatican and the Italian government sought to fend off criticism for
welcoming Mr Bashir - one of whose ministers is wanted by the International
Criminal Court for war crimes - by using the opportunity to press him to
reach a peace agreement with Darfur's disparate rebel groups at talks
scheduled to be held in Libya next month.

Mr Bashir gave his hosts at least something they could show for their
efforts by saying his government was willing to observe a ceasefire for the
talks due to start on October 27. He also used a press conference after
meeting Mr Prodi to urge Europe to ease sanctions against Khartoum and put
pressure on rebel leaders – some of whom are based in Europe – to attend the
talks.

….The Vatican said the pope, who met the Sudanese president at his summer
residence of Castel Gandolfo near Rome, expressed his ‘heartfelt hope’ that
the negotiations would succeed. The Vatican said ‘very positive views were
expressed’ but gave no details…”

ii. “Sudan's Beshir offers Darfur ceasefire,” AFP (via Google), 14 September
2007
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iuapYNRlkt_oRo6i7rpbUaQOwePA

“Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir said Friday he was ready to call a
ceasefire in the Darfur conflict ahead of peace talks with rebels planned
for next month.

Beshir made the offer just ahead of becoming the first Sudanese president to
meet with a pope. At the meeting, Pope Benedict XVI voiced his "heartfelt
hope" for the success of the peace talks, the Vatican said.

‘We stated that we are prepared for a ceasefire for the start of
negotiations in order to create a positive climate conducive to a positive
end to the negotiations,’ Beshir told a press conference after talks with
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.

Meanwhile the US group Human Rights Watch urged Prodi and the pope to call
for the arrest of International Criminal Court (ICC) suspects including
Sudan's State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Ahmed Haroun…”

iii. “Sudan president offers Darfur ceasefire,” Anatolian Times (Turkey), 14
September 2007
http://www.anatoliantimes.com/hbr2.asp?id=&s=int&a=070914102154.9auf9e40

“Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, on a landmark visit for talks with Pope
Benedict XVI, said Friday he was ready to call a Darfur ceasefire ahead of
peace talks with rebels.

The Sudanese president said he asked Prodi to pressure "certain European
countries harbouring some of these rebel groups" to persuade them to come to
the talks.

Prodi expressed Rome's hope that Khartoum will make "realistic
contributions" to the negotiations.

"Nominating a suspected war criminal to hear human rights complaints from
Darfur's victims is outrageous and shows the government's utter disregard
for their plight," said Lotte Leicht, EU advocacy director at Human Rights
Watch.

"The Italian government cannot stand by silently while President Bashir is
in Rome, the birthplace of the International Criminal Court," Leicht said….”

iv. “Sudan agrees to honour Darfur ceasefire for peace talks,” The Guardian
(UK), 14 September 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sudan/story/0,,2169289,00.html

“The Sudanese government today declared its willingness to observe a
ceasefire with rebel forces when peace talks start next month on the
conflict in Darfur.

The pledge came from the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, at a news
conference in Rome after talks with the Italian Prime Minister, Romano
Prodi.

Human rights groups have urged Mr Prodi and the Pope to call on Sudan to
fulfill its legal duty to arrest International Criminal Court suspects….”

V. SECRETARY GENERAL REPORT ON CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT IN SUDAN

The new SG report on children and armed conflict in Sudan is available at
http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2007/520

“The report stresses that the level of grave violations against children in
the Sudan remains high, including their recruitment and use by armed forces
and groups and rape and sexual violence, especially in Darfur. With over 30
armed groups operating in Sudanese territory, and with the regular shifts in
alliances and splintering of those groups, it is a considerable challenge to
present a definitive account of parties and violations. The task has been
compounded by continued access restrictions and a prevalence of attacks
against humanitarian personnel and assets. However, better and more
systematic monitoring and reporting is beginning to yield more reliable and
timely information on violations and perpetrators….

50. Also during the reporting period, the Government of National Unity was
represented at the Free Children from War conference, held in Paris in
February 2007, by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the National Council for
Child Welfare and the Northern Sudan Disarmament, Demobilization and
Reintegration Commission.…On 25 May 2007, a Government of National Unity
delegation headed by the State Minister for Social Welfare presented the
report of the Sudan to the Committee on the Rights of the Child regarding
the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights
of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child
Pornography. The delegation included representatives of the Government of
Southern Sudan. That report highlighted the measures being taken by the
national authorities. The Committee on the Rights of the Child commended the
Sudan on its work, recognizing that the ongoing conflict and widespread
violence affects not only large parts of the population but also obstructs
the implementation of the Optional Protocol. Among the recommendations made
by the Committee were the need for improved disaggregated data collection
for the country as a whole; ratification of the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court; strengthening of the National Council for
Child Welfare; and increased collaboration between the Council and
non-governmental organizations and civil society. Furthermore, the Committee
recommended that the Sudan take all necessary measures to prevent, prohibit
and punish any act or transaction whereby a child is transferred by any
person or group of persons to another for the purpose of recruitment in
armed conflict.…”

The UN News service published an article on the report’s release. The
article “Sudanese children still enduring grave human rights violations – UN
report,” is available at
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23796&Cr=sudan&Cr1

VI. GLOBAL DAY FOR DARFUR

“Global Day for Darfur: The International Community has the duty to protect
civilians,” International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), 14 September
2007,
http://www.fidh.org/spip.php?article4693

“On the occasion of the Global Day for Darfur, on 16 September, the
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member and partner
organisations, affirm their solidarity with the populations of Sudan, Chad
and Central African Republic who are victims of the current conflict and
urge the international community to respect its duty to protect them.

Since 2003, Darfur has been set ablaze by armed conflict between the
Sudanese authorities, its Janjaweed militia and rebel movements, leading to
the death of nearly 200,000 people. The conflict is characterised by grave
violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, the criminals
benefiting from complete impunity. The civilian population is victim of
indiscriminate air bombings, of killings, rapes, torture, systematic
looting, considered by the UN as war crimes and crimes against humanity. In
nearly five years of fighting, almost two million people have been forcibly
displaced and some 250,000 Sudanese civilians have had to take refuge in
Chad and the Central African Republic. Recent attacks against the personnel
of humanitarian organisations and the African Union (AU) forces impede
assistance to civilian populations.

The Darfur conflict has had grave consequences on the security situation in
the neighboring countries. Rebels from Chad and Central African Republic
have taken advantage of the conflict to launch attacks from Western Sudan.
The Janjaweed incursion on the Chadian territory and the exacerbation of
inter-ethnic rivalry have lead to the internal displacement of close to
170,000 persons, a humanitarian catastrophe.
Following a long period of inertia condemned by our organisations, the
international community, through the UN Security Council, finally decided to
deploy a hybrid African Union-United Nations force to Darfur, called upon
the International Criminal Court (ICC) to fight impunity of perpetrators of
the most serious crimes committed in the region. The UN is now supporting
the political negotiations for a peace agreement. However, in view of the
refusal of the Sudanese authorities to respect their international
obligations, the international community must remain vigilant and take
strong action for the resolution of the conflict, in accordance with
international law.

Our organisations call upon,

The Sudanese authorities and Sudanese rebels
To establish an effective ceasefire and stop all attacks against civilians,
humanitarian organisations and the AMIS forces ;
To abide by the joint AU-UN Road Map for Darfur Political Process, dated 8
June 2007 ;

The Sudanese authorities
To facilitate the immediate operationalisation of the UN-AU hybrid force ;
to abide by Tripoli and Riad agreements signed by Sudan and Chad, by
stopping all support to the Chadian rebels in Sudan and by conducting a
disarmament programme ;
To stop all support to the Janjaweed militia, disarming them, and proposing
a social reintegration programme ;
To facilitate the movement of humanitarian organisations ;
To facilitate the voluntary return of Sudanese refugees and displaced
persons ;
To take all effective measures to combat impunity for the most serious
crimes by the national courts, working in a complementary manner to that of
the International Criminal Court ;
To implement fully the recommendations of the Group of Experts on Darfur
created by the United Nations Human Rights Council ;
To cooperate fully with all the services of the International Criminal
Court, in particular by transferring Ahmad Muhammad Haroun and Ali Muhammad
Al Abd-Al-Rahan (alias Ali Kushayb) suspected of war crime and crim against
humanity for whom international arrest warrants were issued on 27 April 2007
;

The International Community
To support fully the immediate deployment of the a hybrid African
Union-United Nations force to Darfur, pursuant to UN Security Council
Resolution 1769 ;
To advocate for before the United Nations Security Council and the European
Union to deploy urgently an international intervention force to Eastern
Chad, with a mandate to protect refugees and displaced persons, as well as
civilians living at the Darfur border and to facilitate safe movement of
humanitarian organisations ;
To urge the United Nations Security Council to deploy urgently a UN police
force to Eastern Chad to support the European Union force.”

*********
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