Follow Us:

Darfur: more on Al-Bashir's visit to Italy; Physicians for Human Rights condemns Harun's appointment; INTERPOL 'Red Notice' for Kushayb; calls for ceasefire in Darfur; Arbour on Darfur and ICC

18 Sept 2007

Dear all,

Please find below information on recent developments related to the
International Criminal Court's investigation in Darfur, Sudan including
further repercussions from President Al-Bashir’s visit to Italy to meet with
the Pope and Italy's premier; Physicians for Human Rights condemns Harun’s
appointment to committee investigating war crimes in Darfur; Interpol issued
a “Red Notice” for the arrest of Ali Kushayb; activist calls for ceasefire in
Darfur, urging the world to not look away from the Darfur crisis and NGOs in
Bahrain join international campaign for peace in Darfur; UNHCHR Louise Arbour
warns that: “There is very little indication of a change of attitude for the
better on the part of the government of Sudan to respond to the warrants issued
by the International Criminal Court"; and various op-eds.

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] <mailto:rodriguez@;coalitionfortheicc.org>

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

I. REPERCUSSIONS OF AL BASHIR’S VISIT TO ITALY AND HOLY SEE

i. “Sudanese leader meets Pope News Digest,” Financial Times, 15 September
2007,
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidFFT10725838C92D0F <http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidFFT10725838C92D0F>

“President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, whose Sudanese regime has been isolated
and placed under sanctions by western governments for atrocities committed
in Darfur, yesterday met Pope Benedict XVI and Italy's prime minister Romano
Prodi on a visit to Europe.

The Vatican and the Italian government defended themselves from criticism in
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.”

ii. “President Al-Bashir: Sudan will never go back to war,” Suna News
Agency, 15 September 2007,
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=upiSUB-2007091508514195&show_article <http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=upiSUB-2007091508514195&show_article>
=1

“President of the Republic Field Marshal Omer Al-Bashir has affirmed that
Sudan will never go back to war between its Northern and Southern
compatriots. Speaking at a press conference he held in Rome Friday evening,
President Al-Bashir affirmed that the South is given the right of
self-determination and that ‘the people of South Sudan are free to decide
between remaining part of the united Sudan or to have a separate State.’

Answering a question on the issue of the International Criminal Court and
its demands for handing over some Sudanese nationals, President Al-Bashir
explained that Sudan is not a signatory of Rome Convention and accordingly
Sudan has nothing to do with what is going on in the ICC.”

iii. “Sudan's president offers cease-fire when talks start; pope says hopes
suffering ends,” Mainichi Daily News (Japan), 15 September 2007,
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/international/news/20070915p2g00m0in011000c.ht <http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/international/news/20070915p2g00m0in011000c.ht>
ml

“In a rare, high-profile visit to the West, Sudan's president on Friday met
with the pope and Italy's premier, and offered to declare a cease-fire with
Darfur rebels to coincide with the start of U.N.-backed peace talks next
month.

While the pope in the past has denounced the humanitarian disaster in Darfur
as ‘horror,’ the Vatican chose an upbeat tone to describe Benedict's
25-minute talks with the Sudanese president in the papal summer palace in
Castel Gandolfo outside Rome.

Prodi called al-Bashir's visit a ‘useful’ way to press Sudan to make good on
its pledges about Darfur.

The International Criminal Court at The Hague has accused Khartoum of having
masterminded most of violence against civilians…Al-Bashir dismissed any idea
that his country would submit to the court's jurisdiction.

‘We don't have anything to do with this court,’ the president told the news
conference. ‘We are not going to waste our time’ on the issue. “

iv. “Sudan’s Beshir offers Darfur ceasefire, blasts rebels”, Agence France
Presse (AFP) reprinted in the Sudan Tribune, 15 September 2007,
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article23774 <http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article23774>

“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 negotiating table.

Also Friday, the US group Human Rights Watch urged both 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.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Haroun in April citing 42 counts of
crimes against humanity and war crimes. The court highlighted evidence that
Haroun recruited, paid and armed Janjaweed accused of raping and killing
civilians in Darfur in 2003 and 2004.

Haroun is now in charge of hearing human rights complaints from Darfur abuse
victims.

‘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. But Beshir told the evening news conference: ‘This issue is not our
business. We don’t have anything to do with this court, so we’re not going
to waste our time answering questions about it. We are not part of the Rome
protocol.’”

II. NGOs REACT TO HARUN’S APPOINTMENT TO CO-CHAIR SPECIAL COMMITTEE SET UP
TO INVESTIGATE WAR CRIMES

“Sudan's Appointment of Accused War Criminal to Human Rights Panel Is
Affront to Rule of Law- UN Security Council Must Ensure Haroun’s Arrest and
Delivery to The Hague,” Physicians for Human Rights, 12 September 2007,
www.physiciansforhumanrights.org

“Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today condemned Sudan's nomination of
Ahmed Haroun, a suspected war criminal, to co-chair a national committee
investigating human rights abuses in Sudan's Darfur region. The
International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant this spring for the
arrest of Haroun (now serving as Sudan's Humanitarian Affairs Minister) for
recruiting, arming and conspiring with pro-government militia (the
Janjaweed) to attack various towns and villages in Darfur. PHR called on
Sudan to immediately withdraw his name from consideration for the committee
and comply with the warrant for his arrest by the ICC. The United Nations
Security Council and all signatories to the Rome Statute must also
vigorously oppose this nomination and pressure Sudan to arrest Haroun and
deliver him to The Hague for trial, the group said.

‘Haroun's nomination shows the Government of Sudan's utter contempt for the
rule of law,’ said Frank Donaghue, CEO of Physicians for Human Rights. ‘It
is an outrage to appoint a principal architect of Darfur's horrors to probe
the very abuses he is alleged to have orchestrated.’

Though human rights groups have been sharply critical of the government's
hypocrisy, there has been little reaction to Haroun's nomination by the
international community.

‘The silence of the international community has been deafening,’ said
Donaghue. ‘The US and all other members of the UN Security Council must
ensure that Haroun is arrested and delivered to The Hague immediately.’

As Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Haroun currently oversees the ongoing
humanitarian effort on behalf of the Sudanese Government, including
controlling the access of aid workers to the region and the flow of
equipment and supplies to groups operating there. The humanitarian
operation in response to the Darfur conflict, which has flowed over the
border into neighboring Chad, is currently the world's largest relief effort
with 14,000 international aid workers on-the-ground supported by hundreds of
millions of dollars in international funding.”

III. HARUN, DEFIANT, SAYS MORENO OCAMPO “CAN DO NOTHING BUT TALK TO THE
PRESS”

i. “Darfur war crimes suspect says travel possible despite ICC arrest
warrant,” Sudan Tribune, 17 September 2007,
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article23795 <http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article23795>

“A Sudanese minister accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) said
he is not afraid of traveling abroad despite a pending arrest warrant
against him.

The minister of state for humanitarian affairs, Ahmed Mohamed Haroun,
sounding defiant told the daily Al-Rayaam newspaper that he is not concerned
about the International Police (Interpol) red notices distributed worldwide
asking for his arrest.

However Haroun acknowledged that he has not traveled since the arrest
warrants saying that as a government official ‘traveling is governed by the
benefits sought from such a trip’.

The war crimes suspect said the involvement of the ICC in Darfur is a
political one and not judicial. He also said that Ocampo can do nothing ‘but
talk to the press’.”

IV. INTERPOL: FIRST PICTURE OF KUSHAYB

“First picture of Darfur war crime suspect wanted by ICC,” by By Wasil Ali
(Sudan Tribune), 16 September 2007,
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article23792 <http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article23792>

“The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued ‘Red
Notice’ for the arrest of a Sudanese militia leader accused by the
International Criminal Court (ICC) of war crimes. The Interpol issued the
notice requesting the arrest Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also know as Ali
Kushayb on its website yesterday.

‘We have eyewitnesses who saw Kushayb on his horse giving instructions in
each of the cases. I have eyewitnesses who saw Kushayb involved in the
execution of prisoners, the rape of women,’ the ICC Chief prosecutor Luis
Moreno-Ocampo said.”

Note: The ICC and Interpol signed a cooperation agreement on 22 December
2004. The agreement establishes a framework of cooperation between the ICC
OTP and Interpol in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice.

V. CALLS FOR CEASEFIRE IN DARFUR- ACTIVISTS SAY “DON’T LOOK AWAY FROM DARFUR
CRISIS;” NGOS IN BAHRAIN JOIN CAMPAIGN FOR PEACE IN DARFUR

i. “Petition calls for immediate ceasefire in Darfur region,” Editorial by
Anne Penketh (UK’s The Independent), 15 September 2007,
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2964477.ece <http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2964477.ece>

“The Sudanese president has announced a truce ahead of planned peace talks
with Darfur rebels next month as the Pope received the Islamist leader
during a visit to Italy.
The announcement came ahead of a global "Day for Darfur" tomorrow aimed at
keeping up international pressure for a ceasefire and to speed up deployment
of a UN force.

The Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, sought to portray himself yesterday
as a peacemaker after holding talks in Rome with the Italian Prime Minister,
Romano Prodi.

However, human rights organizations expressed concern about President
al-Bashir's visit. Human Rights Watch said Italy should press him to arrest
leaders wanted by the International Criminal Court for their role in the
Darfur massacres. One suspect, Ahmed Haroun, a former junior interior
minister who is wanted on 42 counts of crimes against humanity, was recently
named state minister of humanitarian affairs. The appointment was described
as ‘outrageous and shows the government's utter disregard for the plight of
the Darfur displaced’ by Lotte Leicht, Human Rights Watch's EU advocacy
director.
Amnesty International said it was "remarkable" that the Italian government
had decided to receive the Sudanese leader.”

ii. “Activists urge leaders not to look away from Darfur crisis,” Associated
Press Worldstream, 17 September 2007,
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/17/europe/EU-GEN-Darfur-Day.php <http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/17/europe/EU-GEN-Darfur-Day.php>

“Protesters held demonstrations in several countries to urge world leaders
and the U.N. General Assembly to work harder to end the crisis in Darfur. In
London, hundreds of activists took part, many donning black blindfolds to
symbolize the international community's failure to act since vowing to stop
atrocities in Darfur two years ago.
Demonstrators in Rome wore white T-shirts with a bloodstained hand on the
front and marched to the Italian city's central Piazza Farnese. They carried
a peace torch, which they said was lit in Chad, where hundreds of thousands
from Darfur now live in refugee camps.

In Belgium, a few dozen people demonstrated outside the Palace of Justice in
Brussels.
Organizers of Sunday's events who planned protests in more than 30
countries, including Australia, Egypt, Germany, Japan, Mongolia, Nigeria,
South Africa and the United States said some in the international community
had become complacent since the U.N. Security Council approved plans on July
31 for a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for the vast, war-battered region
in western Sudan.

The U.N. General Assembly and world leaders planned to discuss the Darfur
crisis at their meeting this week in New York.

Activists say Darfur's violence is increasing, and they are demanding the
peacekeeping force be deployed swiftly, and that the international community
pressure all sides in the conflict to end the violence.

‘The world has acknowledged the atrocities in Darfur. And its leaders have
promised to end them. Now they must fulfill that promise,’ said Colleen
Connors from Globe for Darfur, a coalition of aid groups working in Darfur.

Actors Matt Damon, Don Cheedle, supermodel Elle MacPherson and South African
Archbishop Desmond Tutu are among the celebrities who appear in a video
filmed for the day in which they hold up slogans demanding action.

‘The people of Darfur need peace and they need it now. To make peace a
possibility governments should push for an immediate cease-fire and supply
the peacekeepers they have talked about for months,’ Damon said….”

iii. “Bahrain joins global campaign for Darfur,” Gulf Daily, 17 September
2007,
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=194051&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=3018 <http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=194051&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=3018>
1

“A campaign was launched in Bahrain yesterday to demand action on the
situation in Darfur ahead of the 62nd UN General Assembly, which opens in
New York next Tuesday.

It is part of a global effort spearheaded by Globe For Darfur and Save
Darfur Coalition, which invites people to join an online international
petition to urge governments and political leaders to ‘not look away now.’

The local campaign was organized by the Bahrain Society for Public Freedoms
in co-operation with Bahrain Coalition for International Criminal Court….”

VI. LOUISE ARBOUR: “DARFUR CONTINUES TO BE A MATTER OF SERIOUS
PREOCCUPATION”

i. “UN rights chief warns Darfur abuses continue unabated,” AFP,
17 September 2007,
http://fe45.news.sp1.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070917/wl_africa_afp/unrightssudandar <http://fe45.news.sp1.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070917/wl_africa_afp/unrightssudandar>
fur

“The United Nations top human rights official warned on Monday that rights
violations are continuing in Darfur and that the Sudanese government has yet
to make serious progress on tackling impunity for offenders.

‘Darfur continues to be a matter of serious preoccupation,’ UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour told journalists. ‘Human rights
violations continue to be of the same nature and largely on the same scale,’
she said.

People forced into camps after fleeing their homes continue to be targeted,
with women in particular vulnerable to sexual attacks, she said.

..Arbour warned that there was ’very little progress on national efforts to
combat the culture of impunity.’

…‘There is very little indication of a change of attitude for the better on
the part of the government of Sudan to respond to the warrants issued by the
International Criminal Court,’ she added.”

ii. “Rights violations are continuing with impunity in Darfur – UN,” Sudan
Tribune, 18 September 2007,
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article23811 <http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article23811>

“The United Nations top human rights official warned on Monday that rights
violations are continuing in Darfur and that the Sudanese government has yet
to make serious progress on tackling impunity for offenders.

However, Arbour did say that the ‘slightly more energized peace process’ and
the prospect of a joint UN-African Union ‘hybrid’ peacekeeping force give
some hope of new momentum towards a peaceful settlement.”

iii. “UN rights chief warns Darfur abuses continue unabated,” Agence France
Presse, 18 September 2007,
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBsVRhipo3lRQ-wPXdDvjptFS7iw <http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBsVRhipo3lRQ-wPXdDvjptFS7iw>

“The United Nations top human rights official warned on Monday that rights
violations are continuing in Darfur and that the Sudanese government has yet
to make serious progress on tackling impunity for offenders.

People forced into camps after fleeing their homes continue to be targeted,
with women in particular vulnerable to sexual attacks, [Louise Arbour] said.

‘There is very little indication of a change of attitude for the better on
the part of the government of Sudan to respond to the warrants issued by the
International Criminal Court,’ she added. In May, the ICC issued arrest
warrants for Ahmed Haroun, the secretary of state for humanitarian affairs,
and pro-government Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kosheib, but Sudan has
refused to hand them over….”

See also “Civilians still abused with impunity in Darfur, says UN,”
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/africa/news/article_1356646.php/Civilians <http://news.monstersandcritics.com/africa/news/article_1356646.php/Civilians>
_still_abused_with_impunity_in_Darfur__says_UN
and “UN High Commissioner Sees Slight Hope For Darfur,” Voice of America, 17
September 2007,
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-09-17-voa30.cfm <http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-09-17-voa30.cfm>

VII. EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS: HARUN’S APPOINTMENT ‘IS AN AFFRONT TO THE
VICTIMS AND A SLAP IN THE FACE TO THE UN’

i. “Enabling atrocity: The nomination of Ahmed Haroun to a human rights
committee is an affront to the victims of Darfur and a slap in the face to
the UN,” by Tom Porteous, The Guardian, 16 September 2007,
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tom_porteous/2007/09/enabling_atrocity.h <http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tom_porteous/2007/09/enabling_atrocity.h>
tml

“Two years ago today, over 150 nations signed up to the "responsibility to
protect," the principle that governments have a duty to intervene to protect
civilians threatened by war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic
cleansing, and genocide.

The grotesque atrocities committed in Darfur, documented by Human Rights
Watch and others, have been an early test of that principle. There is no
doubt that it is a challenging test. There are no obvious or easy solutions
to the crisis in Darfur. The practical and diplomatic obstacles are complex
and real.

But the bottom line is this: civilians continue to die and to suffer in
large numbers; the perpetrators continue to escape justice; and the world
stands by and watches.

But is the Sudanese government really playing ball?

From the point of view of the past and present victims of atrocities in
Darfur it does not look like it. On September 5, during a visit to Khartoum
by the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, the Sudanese government nominated
Ahmed Haroun to co-chair a committee which has been established to hear
complaints of victims of abuses in Darfur.

Ahmed Haroun is currently the state minister for humanitarian affairs. But
he was the minister with responsibility for Darfur within the interior
ministry in exactly the period when some of the worst atrocities were
committed by Sudanese forces and their proxies in Darfur. He was fingered by
Human Rights Watch in its December 2005 report Entrenching Impunity as one
of the leaders most responsible for crimes in Darfur in 2003 and 2004.

Haroun was one of those investigated by the international criminal court
after the situation in Darfur was referred to the court by the security
council in 2005. On April 27 this year the court issued an arrest warrant
against Haroun on 42 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes. The
ICC's pre-trial judges found "reasonable grounds to believe" that Haroun is
responsible for persecuting, raping, attacking and killing civilians in four
west Darfur villages in 2003 and 2004. Evidence indicates Haroun recruited,
paid and supplied arms to the Janjaweed who carried out the attacks.

Now, instead of cooperating with the ICC and handing Haroun over to face
trial, Khartoum has nominated him to head up a committee charged with
hearing the complaints of the victims of atrocities.

Is this extraordinary act of bad faith what western diplomats have in mind
when they talk of a new attitude of cooperation emanating from Khartoum?

In referring the Darfur portfolio to the ICC, the UN security council seemed
to accept that justice was an essential component of any effort to end the
violence in Darfur. Now, in their haste to applaud the Sudanese government
for its grudging acceptance of a new peacekeeping force for Darfur and for a
halting return to peace negotiations, the world's politicians and diplomats
are turning their backs on the principle of justice for war crimes and
crimes against humanity.

This is short-sighted and wrong. The nomination of Haroun to a human rights
committee is an affront to the victims of Darfur and a slap in the face to
the UN. If the international community remains silent in the face of this
provocation, instead of insisting that Khartoum cooperates with the ICC, the
Sudanese government will conclude rightly that it can continue to commit
atrocities in Darfur with impunity.”

ii. “African Union is an obstacle to peace in Darfur,” by Wasil Ali (Sudan
Tribune), 17 September 2007,
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article23794 <http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article23794>

“The thin line separating the positions of the African Union (AU) as a
regional organization and that of the Sudanese government, a party to the
Darfur conflict, has practically eroded last week. Diplomats at the UN
speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters that the AU is objecting to
a much needed non-African Union infantry soldiers as part of the hybrid
force.

The question becomes why did the AU oppose non-African troops? Is there
really an objective reason? The new hybrid force in Darfur needs expertise
and efficient units so they perform their duties in such a dangerous place.
The UN Security Council resolution speaks about African troops being the
first resort if available according to the UN standards.

The Sudanese government has made it clear that it does not want non-African
troops in Darfur. In their eyes the Africans are easier to manipulate into
taking favorable stances towards them and as such will not expose their
wrong doings in Darfur. As a matter of fact we have rarely seen an African
official criticize Sudan over the Darfur crisis.

We also must not forget that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been
trying throughout the last two years to sign a cooperation agreement with
the AU with no success. The ICC needed the help of the ICC particularly on
the investigation into Darfur war crimes. However the AU lobbied by Sudan,
has been rejecting the agreement despite persistent ICC efforts.

I think it is about time that the international community and Darfur
advocates realize that the AU and Khartoum are flip sides of the same coin.
The AU is acting as a proxy to the Sudanese government to make life more
difficult for the people of Darfur by delaying the deployment of
peacekeeping force, reducing its efficiency and acting as a biased mediator
in looking for a peace accord. We must get past the clichés praising the AU
for the work they have done in Darfur. The humanitarian crisis in Darfur
cannot be hijacked by a few men at the AU whose only interest is to please
one side at the expense of the other.”

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