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Darfur: HRW press release; strong call from the UK; Sudanese Liberation Movement Leader and Spokesman of Justice and Equality Movement stated support to the ICC; UN SG Ban Ki-moon urged further cooperation with the ICC; New release by IWPR; Editorial

04 Dec 2007

Dear all,

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

• A press release issued by Human Rights Watch in advance of the Prosecutor's briefing of the Security Council tomorrow (5 December 2007) on the situation in Darfur, Sudan;
• The strong call by UK Envoy John Sawers urging the Security Council
to address the ICC arrest warrants for Darfur;
• Minni Arcua Minawi, Leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM)
and senior assistant to President Al-Bashir stated support to the ICC; so
did the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), who called on the international
community to ‘stand behind ICC in the work it is doing in Darfur’;
• UN SG Ban Ki-Moon urged the arrest of Darfur suspects and further
cooperation with the ICC;
• Two articles published by IWPR on the difficult political situation
in Sudan between Khartoum and the rest of the country;
• An editorial by Angelina Jolie, Goodwill Ambassador to the UNHCR
on the importance of true accountability and the demanding justice for the
victims in Darfur and elsewhere.

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 and current situations before the Court or situations under
analysis. The Coalition, however, will continue to provide the most
up-to-date information about the ICC.

Regards,

Mariana Rodriguez Pareja
CICC Communications
[email protected]

__________________________________________________________

I. HUMAN RIGHTS PRESS RELEASE ON PROSECUTOR'S DARFUR BRIEFING

UN: Demand Arrests of Darfur Suspects; Security Council Should Urge Cooperation With the International Criminal Court, Press Release by Human Rights Watch, 4 December 2007, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/12/04/darfur17460.htm

(New York, December 4, 2007)

"The United Nations Security Council should follow up on the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors report tomorrow and call on Sudan to surrender two suspects to the court, Human Rights Watch said today.

"'The Security Council made a commitment to justice for the victims of Darfur when it referred the situation there to the International Criminal Court prosecutor,' (on March 31, 2005) said Richard Dicker, International Justice Program director at Human Rights Watch. 'With two arrest warrants, the rubber has hit the road and the council must now insist on arrests. Failing to do so would betray the people of Darfur and make a mockery of the councils own actions.'

"On April 27, 2007, the ICCs Pre-Trial Chamber issued arrest warrants for Ahmed Haroun and Ali Kosheib (the nom de guerre of Ali Mohammed Ali)...

"Haroun is currently Sudanese state minister of humanitarian affairs... Ali Kosheib, a top Janjaweed leader, was in Sudanese custody on other charges at the time the warrants were issued, but has recently been released.

...

'Our research indicates that official responsibility for widespread atrocities in Darfur goes to the highest levels of the Sudanese government,' said Dicker. 'These first two accused are just the tip of the iceberg. Thats why it is important to hear from the prosecutor on his ongoing investigations into the horrific crimes since 2003.'

II. UK CALLS ON SECURITY COUNCIL TO ADDRESS ICC ARREST WARRANTS

i. “Britain calls on UN Security Council to address Darfur ICC arrest
warrants,” Sudan Tribune, 28 Nov 2007
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article24935

“A senior British official called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to
address the issue of the outstanding arrest warrants against two Sudanese
accused of war crimes in war ravaged region of Darfur.

The UK envoy at the UNSC, John Sawers, told the council members that "peace
in Darfur also depends on ending the culture of impunity. We look on the
government of Sudan to respect its obligations under resolution 1593 and
carry out the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants."

… ‘It is frankly an insult to the UNSC that one of the indictees charged
with crimes against humanity in Darfur has been appointed a minister in the
Sudanese government’ Sawers said.

The UK diplomat suggested that it may be time for the UNSC to act on the
issue.

‘I am concerned that when the prosecutor of the ICC reports to the UNSC next
month, he will have little positive to say and we will have to address
that,’ he added.

The remarks by the British official signals the first time that a UNSC
member calls for action on the ICC arrest warrants since the prosecutor
addressed the council last June.

….. The ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has expressed frustration with the
unwillingness of the UNSC to address the issue….”

II. SLM AND JEM VOICED SUPORT TO ICC ROLE IN DARFUR-

i. “Sudan presidential assistant voices support to ICC role in Darfur,”
Sudan Tribune, 30 Nov 2007
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article24966

“The leader of the only Darfur rebel faction to sign the Darfur peace
agreement (DPA) last year, said that he is supports the work of the
International Criminal Court (ICC) in the war ravaged region.

Minni Arcua Minawi, leader of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and senior
assistant to Sudanese president told Sudan Tribune by phone from Khartoum
that the position of his movement never changed on the ICC.

‘Any one who commits a crime should be prosecuted. It is a matter of
justice’ he said.

…. Minawi said that despite being a member of the Sudanese government and an
aide to Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, he is ‘on the opposite end
of the spectrum’ with regards of the issue of Darfur war crimes.

Sources in the SLM faction told Sudan Tribune that Al-Bashir has privately
urged Minawi to support his rejection of the ICC as a member of the
government, but the ex-rebel leader turned down his request.

Minawi said that prosecuting Darfur war criminals before national courts ‘is
too late because ICC is already handling matter. The train has already left
the station’.

In response to allegations by Khartoum that the ICC is an impartial body,
the senior presidential assistant said that ‘there is simply no evidence to
support discrediting the court’.

The SLM leader said he has no contacts Haroun who is also a member of
Sudan’s cabinet….”

iii. “Darfur rebel group says world must not turn its back on the ICC,”
Sudan Tribune, 4 Dec 2007
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article25032

“The Darfur rebel group Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) called on the
international community to stand behind the International Criminal Court
(ICC) in the work it is doing in Darfur.

‘There will be no lasting peace in Darfur without enforcing justice’ JEM
spokesperson Ahmed Hussein Adam told Sudan Tribune by phone from London.

….Adam said that Haroun being part of the Sudanese government and heading a
human rights committee “is an insult to the conscience of the international
community and to the Darfur victims”.

The JEM official stressed that the ICC is one of humanity’s great
achievement since the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals.

…. However Adam said that the Sudanese judiciary is a body of the ruling
National Congress Party (NCP).

‘The Sudanese courts are unable and unwilling to handle the Darfur war
crimes. The people of Darfur believe that the ICC is the only venue for
prosecuting perpetrators of these crimes’ he added….”

III. BAN KI-MOON URGES THE ARREST OF SUSPECTS

i. “UN chief urges help to arrest Sudanese suspects in Darfur crimes,” Sudan
Tribune, 3 Dec 2007
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article25021

“Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged all countries on Monday ‘to do
everything in their power’ to help arrest two Sudanese accused of crimes
against humanity in conflict-wracked Darfur.

…. In an address to the court’s annual two-week meeting, Ban recalled the
launch of the tribunal in July 2002 and noted "with some satisfaction" that
two individuals indicted by the court — rival Congolese militia leaders —
have been arrested and transferred to The Hague, Netherlands for trial.

‘I urge all member states to do everything within their powers to assist in
enforcing these warrants,’ he said, stressing that ‘the single most
important determinant of success for any international tribunals is
cooperation.’

‘Of course, the arrest and surrender of indicted individuals can only be
undertaken by states, even where peacekeeping operations have been mandated
to assist with the task,’ Ban said.

…Sudan’s U.N. ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, reiterated again
on Monday that ‘our people will not be handed over to the Hague for any
trial.’

‘Our judiciary system is very capable of trying whoever is accused,’ Mohamad
said.”

ii. “UN chief urges closer co-op with Int'l Criminal Court,” China View, 3
Dec 2007
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/04/content_7194959.htm

“U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the international community on
Monday to maintain funding and public advocacy for the International
Criminal Court (ICC), stressing that the long-term success of which depends
on greater cooperation from states.

Ban told the sixth Assembly of States Parties, held at the U.N.
Headquarters in New York that the Court has quickly established itself as
the centerpiece of the system of international criminal justice in the five
years since the Rome Statute creating the ICC entered into force….”

iii. “UN chief urges arrest of Sudanese, Ugandan rebels accused of crimes
against humanity,” International Herald Tribune, 3 Dec 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/03/news/UN-GEN-UN-International-Court
.php

“…In an address to the court's annual two-week meeting, Ban recalled the
launch of the tribunal in July 2002 and noted ‘with some satisfaction’ that
two individuals indicted by the court — rival Congolese militia leaders —
have been arrested and transferred to The Hague, Netherlands for trial….

The tribunal has issued arrest warrants for former Sudanese interior
minister Ahmed Muhammed Harun, who was in charge of security in Darfur and
was appointed Sudan's humanitarian affairs minister after his indictment was
announced, and Ali Kushayb, known as a ‘colonel of colonels’ among the
janjaweed Arab militias who have terrorized Darfur villages….”

iv. “Ban Ki-moon Urges Greater Cooperation With ICC,” Scoop news, 3 Dec 2007
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S00215.htm

“The long-term success of the International Criminal Court (ICC) depends on
greater cooperation from the world's countries, Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon said today, calling on States to maintain their funding and public
advocacy for the tribunal.

Mr. Ban told the sixth Assembly of States Parties, held at United Nations
Headquarters in New York, that the Court has quickly "established itself as
the centrepiece of our system of international criminal justice" in the five
years since the Rome Statute creating the ICC entered into force….”

IV. IWPR: WAR THREATS AND DISAGREEMENT OVER UNITY

i. “War Threats Sounded,” IWPR (by Isaac Swangin in Juba, South Sudan), 29
Nov 2007
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=f&o=341004&apc_state=henh

“Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir’s recent call for the mobilisation of
paramilitary groups is the latest in a series of unsettling moves that have
further clouded the future of Sudan.

…. Following directives by the UN to look into the Darfur conflict, the
International Criminal Court, ICC, indicted al-Bashir’s minister for
humanitarian affairs, Muhammed Harun, along with Ali Kushayb, a leader of
the Janjaweed militia, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in
connection with the Darfur conflict.

In Khartoum, the youth department secretary of al-Bashir’s NCP, Haj Majed
Suwar, said that many party members were ready to answer the president’s
call to mobilise the PDF.

…. In addition to failing to implement the peace agreement, South Sudan has
accused al-Bashir’s government of failing to withdraw the Sudan Armed
Forces, SAF. from the southern territories, primarily its oil rich regions
around the Abyei province.

The south supports a boundary line between itself and the north that was
drawn in 1956, and would give it control over much of the oil-rich Abyei
region. A report that recently affirmed that boundary was rebuffed by
al-Bashir….”

ii. “Al-Bashir Losing Grip on Unity Government,” IWPR (by Anthony Lodiong in
Khartoum, Sudan), 29 Nov 2007
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=f&o=341006&apc_state=henh

“The recent decision by South Sudan’s leader Salva Kiir to withdraw from the
coalition government in Sudan, formed in 2005 after more than 20 years of
civil war, may threaten a fragile peace in the war-ravaged region.

Likewise, it could lead to the emergence a second front for the government
of Sudan president Omar al-Bashir, which is already struggling with rebels
in its western Darfur region.

… For his part, al-Bashir says he is not interested in going back to war.
Rather, he has said he intends to keep the unity government functioning.

…. The International Criminal Court, ICC, has indicted al-Bashir’s minister
for humanitarian affairs, Muhammed Harun, along with Ali Kushayb, a leader
of the janjaweed militia, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in
connection with the Darfur conflict.

… Al-Bashir’s government apparently is worried that if Abyei is allocated to
the south, his government would lose its valuable revenue if southerners
voted for independence in the country’s planned 2011 referendum….”

V. EDITORIAL BY ANGELINA JOLIE FOR THE ECONOMIST (US EDITION)

i. “A year for accountability,” by Angelina Jolie, Goodwill Ambassador to
the UNHCR, The Economist (US Edition)
http://www.economist.com/theworldin/international/displayStory.cfm?story_id=
10120144&d=2008

“On a recent mission for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,
I had the opportunity to visit a refugee camp in Chad just across the border
with Sudan. Sitting with a group of refugees, I asked them what they needed.
These were people who had seen family members killed, neighbours raped,
their villages burned and looted, their entire communities driven from their
land. So it was no surprise when people began listing the things that could
improve their lives just a little bit. Better tents, said one; better access
to medical facilities, said another. But then a teenage boy raised his hand
and said, with powerful simplicity, " Nous voulons un procès." We want a
trial.

I believe 2008 can be the year in which we begin seeking true accountability
and demanding justice for the victims in Darfur and elsewhere. Through
accountability we can begin the process of righting past wrongs, and even
change the behaviour of some of the world's worst criminals.

….. In The Hague, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has begun trials of
two of the Congolese leaders charged with fomenting killings and rapes amid
the violence that has raged there for over a decade.

Make no mistake, the existence of these trials alone changes behaviour

Make no mistake, the existence of these trials alone changes behaviour.
Seeing the indictment of Thomas Lubanga and the detention of Germain Katanga
by the ICC brought to mind a trip I had taken to Congo five years ago. In
the Ituri region, where Mr Katanga's reign of terror had been most intense,
our group attended a meeting of rebel leaders. They had gathered in a field
to discuss the prospects for a peace agreement—which were not looking very
good. The conversation turned hostile and the situation grew extremely
tense. At that point, one of my colleagues asked for the name of one of the
rebels, announcing, perhaps a bit recklessly, that he was going to pass it
along to the ICC.

It was remarkable: this rebel leader's whole posture changed from aggression
to conciliation. The ICC had been around for only five months. It had tried
no one. Yet its very existence was enough to intimidate a man who had been
terrorising the population for years.

… This is not an isolated example. Accountability has the potential to
change behaviour, to check aggression by those who are used to acting with
impunity. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the ICC, has said that even
genocide is not a crime of passion; it is a calculated decision. He is
right. Common sense tells us that when risks are weighed, decisions are made
differently. When crimes against humanity are punished consistently and
severely, the killers' calculus will change.”

**********************************
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 (potential and current), or situations under analysis
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