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Darfur: High Level Meetings in New York; Summary of CICC Press Briefing Friday 19 September; Op Eds by Louise Arbour, Richard Holbrooke and Mahmoud Suleiman

22 Sept 2008

Dear all,

Please find below the final of a two-part message related to the possibility of an Article 16 deferral of the ICC investigation in Darfur, Sudan.

In this digest you will find information from the ICC and other sources regarding high-level meetings in New York, including a summary of a CICC press briefing on Friday, 19 September. Also below are op-eds in The Financial Times by Richard Holbrooke, The International Herald Tribute by Louise Arbour and The Sudan Tribune by Mahmoud Suleiman.

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. ICC MEDIA ADVISORY

This document has been produced by the ICC- OTP. The CICC Secretariat distributes it as part of its mandate to keep member organizations and individuals informed about developments related to the ICC. The documents do not reflect the views of the CICC as a whole or its individual members.

"ICC Prosecutor in New York to meet with United Nations and African Union officials,"
ICC-OTP Press Release, 22 September 2008, http://www.icc-cpi.int/press/pressreleases/424.html

"On 22 to 26 September ICC Prosecutor, Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo, will be in New York to meet senior international actors and discuss how to further the protection of civilians in Darfur, stop the crimes, and ensure the execution of the Court's judicial mandate and decisions.

In July 2008, following a second investigation into crimes over the last five years in Darfur, the Office of the Prosecutor requested the issuance of an arrest warrant against President Al-Bashir for allegedly committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur.
"We received a judicial mandate and we fulfilled it. We presented a solid case. The evidence show that crimes against Darfurians continued today. Al -Bashir has complete control of his forces, and they are raping women today, they are promoting conditions in the camps to destroy entire communities and they are still bombing schools. The Judges will decide. It is an immense challenge for the political leaders of the world. They have to protect the victims and ensure respect for the Court decisions. Those sought by the Court have to face justice.
Between criminals and 2.5 millions victims, they should make the right decision" the Prosecutor said.

Pre-Trial Chamber I is reviewing evidence submitted by the Office of the Prosecutor and will determine if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the named individual committed the alleged crimes. The Prosecution has requested an arrest warrant.

Recently, the Office requested information from the Sudanese government about the Kalma Camp attack committed on 25 August where Sudanese forces allegedly killed at least 31 civilians. The Prosecution is also in the process of completing its third investigation, which is focused on rebel crimes, in particular those most responsible for the attack against African Union Peacekeepers in Haskanita in September 2007.

The International Criminal Court is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes if national authorities with jurisdiction are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely. The Office of the Prosecutor is currently investigating in four situations: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Northern Uganda, the Darfur Region of Sudan, and the Central African Republic, all still engulfed in various degrees of conflict with victims in urgent need of protection. "

II. CICC PRESS BRIEFING

"PRESS CONFERENCE ON DEVELOPMENTS RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL
COURT:
INVESTIGATION IN DARFUR, ROLE OF SECURITY COUNCIL,"
UN Department of Public Information, 19 September 2008, http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2008/080919_ICC.doc.htm

There would be "no peace without justice in Darfur", and any delay by the International Criminal Court in prosecuting the President of the Sudan would be devastating to the peace process in the region, Sudanese opposition Member of Parliament Salih Mahmoud Osman said at a Headquarters press conference today.
The press conference, sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Liechtenstein to the United Nations, was held jointly by Mr. Osman; Richard Dicker, Director of the International Justice Programme at Human Rights Watch; Osman Hummaida, a Sudanese human rights researcher and campaigner; and William Pace, Convenor of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court. It was held prior to the general debate of the sixty-third General Assembly session to provide more information on the implications of an Article 16 deferral of the President's possible prosecution by the International Criminal Court....Mr. Pace said the African Union Peace and Security Council was expected to hold a special meeting on Monday, 22 September, to discuss a resolution calling for the United Nations Security Council to "instruct the ICC to back off its consideration of the allegations by the Prosecutor".
Mr. Dicker added that efforts by countries or regional groups to press the Security Council to suspend the accusations against the President and give him a "get out of jail free card" would thus permeate the General Assembly's general debate, as well as behind-the-scenes ministerial consultations. "What this is all about is setting the stage and positioning for what will be round two at the Security Council to barter responsibility for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for impunity on behalf of Omer Al-Bashir."
The President and Government of the Sudan were responsible for numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as the forced displacement of more than 3 million people, said Mr. Osman. "If we consider the nature of crimes that are still occurring, it is extrajudicial killings, torture and rape, which has been used as a weapon of war." There was now a culture of impunity in the Sudan since none of the perpetrators of those crimes had been brought to justice.
"Our judicial system is incompetent and unwilling to bring perpetrators to justice," he said, adding that only the arrest and prosecution of the President could end the culture of impunity and bring lasting peace to Darfur.
However, there were many who disagreed with that opinion, Mr. Hummaida pointed out, explaining fears that an International Criminal Court case against the President might undermine the peace process in Darfur and jeopardize the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South Sudan. It might also be the cause for retaliatory attacks by the Government against civilians, humanitarian workers or United Nations Peacekeepers. Backing down now would be a mistake. "The [Prosecutor's] announcement has shifted the balance of power inside Sudan for those who are calling for reform, changes, accountability and political transformation, and it has demoralized the hardliners and the Government of Sudan." A deferral of the prosecution would send a message to the President and his Government that they had won and those calling for change and justice in the Sudan would be at risk once again.
Asked about the possibility of a deal between the International Criminal Court and the Government of the Sudan, wherein the Security Council would vote to defer the case regarding President Bashir in return for the handing over of two Sudanese officials for whom the Court had already issued arrest warrants, Mr. Hummaidi said such a deal would be difficult, if not impossible, since it would have serious implications for other members of the Sudanese Government who might themselves have been involved in war crimes.
In response to a question regarding the possibility of the Sudanese leading their own investigation into the war crimes allegations, Mr.
Dicker said he would "welcome a serious effort by Sudan to prosecute its own", but to date, the Government had done nothing to investigate or prosecute the most grave crimes. It would be up to the International Criminal Court judges to decide whether or not national efforts to investigate or prosecute were satisfactory and if it should step in.
Asked how big an impact an indictment would have on the President's behaviour, Mr. Osman in turn asked what it would mean if there were no indictment at all. "We have a situation where a perpetrator of genocide is threatening to commit even more crimes. What's the role of the international community if you allow that? Isn't there any moral responsibility?"
Regarding rumours that the Prosecutor's request for an arrest warrant was based partly on information provided by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), Mr. Dicker explained that the United Nations had long had a relationship agreement with the International Criminal Court that allowed for such types of cooperation between the two bodies.
When asked whether such information-sharing might put peacekeeping operations and staff at risk, Mr. Dicker said: "If the UN were to decide that it would allow a Government to bully it into silence in confining its own human rights reporting and what it did with that information, I think that would be a huge step back for the UN, its commitment to human rights, and its credibility."

III. MEDIA REPORTS ABOUT NEW YORK MEETINGS REGARDING ARTICLE 16

i. "Group urges caution in dealing with Sudan's leader" by Michael Astor (Associated Press), 22 September 2008, reprinted at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26839979/
"The head of an organization of Islamic nations on Monday urged the international community to proceed with caution in seeking to arrest Sudan's president on genocide charges....The Arab League and African Union have already sought a United Nations resolution to suspend the International Criminal Court's indictment against al-Bashir.
Speaking at a press conference at the U.N. General Assembly, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, appeared to support their stance, warning it was important that the international community did not "head to a point we cannot retreat from."
'I think we really have to be a little bit more prudent before we proceed more in this direction and I sense this is now the emerging consensus among different international organizations,' Ihsanoglu said.
'We have to give a chance to more negotiation for the Sudanese government to take more actions in the right direction before we have the international committee head to a point which we might regret.'
The Sudanese government was sending a delegation to the U.N. General Assembly to lobby for the indictment's suspension.
At the same time, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo headed to the United Nations to urge world leaders not to freeze his Darfur genocide case against al-Bashir, saying in a statement that the indictment was necessary to 'protect the victims.'
But Ihsanoglu said that it was important to balance the desire to see justice done with the region's peace and security.
'We have to strike a balance between the notion of justice and that of security and peace,' he said, adding 'we should not sacrifice one for the sake of other.'"

ii. "Sudan to lobby UN to avert president's prosecution," AFP (via Google), 22 September 2008, http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g4U8V9LC9OEREejxeVw9H44bK80wD93BNLAG0

"Sudan officials plan a behind-the-scenes lobbying effort at the United Nations this week to avert the prosecution of the country's longtime president on charges of genocide in Darfur.

But prospects seemed dim at a time when Sudan has shown little willingness to compromise and launched an expansive military offensive against rebels in western Darfur region: Efforts by African countries, the tiny Gulf state of Qatar and France to solve the crisis also have not yielded tangible results.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has asked judges to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir on charges he carried out genocide in Darfur.

.....The African Union has asked the U.N. Security Council to freeze the ICC case against al-Bashir, which can do so if it deems the prosecution as a threat to peace and security. While the Security Council took note of the request in July, it had said it would revisit it later.

It appears Sudan is now shying away from asking the council to halt the case as it becomes increasingly less likely that it would be able to avert a veto within the council.

The council initially asked the ICC to investigate the Darfur crisis and freezing the process at this point could be seen as not only undermining the court but also emboldening the Sudanese government.

Sudan also lost one its biggest supporters in the council, South African President Thabo Mbeki, who announced Sunday he would resign, effective as soon as a new president is chosen. He sent his foreign minister instead to the U.N. General Assembly meeting this week.

For now, Sudan plans to focus its attention on the General Assembly, which it will address on Tuesday...."

iii. "African Peace and Security Council Reviews Its Resolution on Sudan," Sudanese Media Center, 22 September 2008,
http://english.smc.sd/enmain/entopic/?artID=14536

"Sudan permanent envoy to UN ambassador Abdelmahmoud Abdelhalim stressed the importance of the meeting of African Peace and Security Council which will be held today to see the situation since the issuing of its resolution last July which condemns the allegation of ICC general prosecutor.

Of his part, Sudan permanent envoy to African Peace and Security Council Ambassador Mohieldeen Salim stated that the meeting is based on the resolution of African Peace and Security Council which was issued last July and supported Sudan in its case against ICC.
Salim stated that there is coordination between Sudan and regional organizations for the purpose of achieving peace in Darfur.

Vice President Ali Osman would deliver Sudan's address before the UN General Assembly next Thursday. The address will include the political situation in Sudan, implementation of peace agreement and ICC allegation...."

iv. "Taha Reviews Sudan Political Development before African Peace, Security Council," Sudanese Media Center, 22 September 2008,
http://english.smc.sd/enmain/entopic/?artID=14533

"Vice president Ali Osman Mohamed Taha addresses today meeting of African Peace and Security Council which would hold a special meeting in Sudan in the framework of the meeting of general assembly of united nation in New York. Taha would discuss in his speech before the two meetings the current issues in Sudan and the development of Darfur issue and the consequences of Ocampo decision.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and delegation member Deng Alor stated that Sudan delegation would conduct contacts in the framework of the meeting of the general assembly of UN.
It is worth noting that joint AU/ UN mediator Djibril Bassole who headed for New York to attend

the meeting of UN General Assembly would hold meetings with Secretary General of UN Ban Ki Moon and the committee of Arab Initiative headed by Qatar. He would present the outcome of his last meetings with some countries and his meeting with head of Justice and Equity movement Dr Khalil Ibrahim.

Of his part, Sudan permanent envoy to UN Ambassador Abdelmahmoud announced coordination concerning Ocampo statement which would take place between all Arab and regional organizations participating in the meeting.

The Ambassador affirmed that all parties present in New York call for correction of the situations resulted from Ocampo's decision.
Abdelmahmoud described Ocampo decision as irresponsible and is meant to smash peace chances in Sudan..."

v. "Senior UN, African Union officials outline worsening situation in Darfur," UN News Center, 22 September 2008, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=28154&Cr=darfur&Cr1=

"Top United Nations and African Union officials have held a meeting in New York to review the political, security and humanitarian situation in Darfur, including ongoing efforts to deploy a joint peacekeeping mission to the war-torn Sudanese region.

Yesterday's meeting, held at UN Headquarters, also focused on the recent decision of International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo - who is visiting New York this week for talks with international leaders - to seek an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and AU Commission Chairperson Jean Ping, who jointly convened the gathering of senior officials from the two organizations, heard briefings on the latest developments on the ground in Darfur.

Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes discussed the deteriorating security situation and its impact on efforts to bring aid to those in need across Darfur, a region roughly the size of Spain on Sudan's western flank.

Joint UN-AU Special Representative Rodolphe Adada noted that the situation has been relatively calm over the past few days, following the recent upsurge in violence, especially in North Darfur.

Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Susana Malcorra told the meeting about the current challenges to the full deployment of UNAMID, the hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force. The operation is slated to have about 26,000 troops and police officers when it reaches its peak, but currently has around only 10,000 uniformed personnel in the field.

The officials also reviewed Mr. Adada's activities, voiced the need for an early normalization of relations between Sudan and neighbouring Chad, and highlighted the importance of expediting the political process in Darfur.

In addition, they discussed the so-called Qatari initiative, which is aimed at furthering efforts to broker peace between rebels, the Government and the allied Janjaweed militiamen, who have been fighting since 2003.

During that period, some 300,000 people are estimated to have been killed as a result of direct combat, disease or malnutrition, while another 2.7 million people have been displaced because of the violence.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani, who chairs the Ministerial Committee as part of that initiative, is also expected to meet with Mr. Moreno-Ocampo in New York this week.

Mr. Moreno-Ocampo's visit comes two months after he requested an arrest warrant for Mr. al-Bashir for allegedly committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide over the last five years.

'We presented a solid case. The evidence shows that crimes against Darfurians continue today,' Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said. '[Mr.] al-Bashir has complete control of his forces, and they are raping women today, they are promoting conditions in the camps to destroy complete communities and they are still bombing schools,' he added.

The ICC pre-trial chamber is reviewing the evidence submitted by prosecutors to determine if there are reasonable grounds to believe the Sudanese President committed the alleged crimes and issue the arrest warrant.

'The judges will decide. Those sought by the court have to face justice,' Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said referring to his request for the arrest warrant. 'Between criminals and 2.5 million victims, they should make the right decision.'

'It is an immense challenge for the political leaders of the world. They have to protect the victims and ensure the respect for the court's decisions,' the ICC Prosecutor added, ahead of the General Assembly annual high-level debate, which starts tomorrow.

The prosecutor has also requested information from the Sudanese Government about the August attack on the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), where UNAMID said it had found evidence suggesting that Government forces killed at least 31 civilians while executing a search warrant for illegal weapons and drugs.

A third ICC Prosecutor's investigation coming to completion is focusing on crimes committed by rebels, in particular the attack on African Union
(AU) peacekeepers in September last year in Haskanita..."

vi."ICC PROSECUTOR URGES WORLD LEADERS TO HELP STOP DARFUR WAR CRIMES,"
UN Media Center, 22 September 2008
http://www.un.org/apps/news/latest-headlines.asp

" The International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor is in New York today to urge international leaders to better protect civilians in Darfur and allow the court to successfully prosecute crimes committed in the war-torn Sudanese region.

The visit by Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC Prosecutor, comes two months after he requested an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for allegedly committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide over the last five years in Darfur.

'We presented a solid case. The evidence shows that crimes against Darfurians continue today,' Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said.

'[Mr.] al-Bashir has complete control of his forces, and they are raping women today, they are promoting conditions in the camps to destroy complete communities and they are still bombing schools,' he added.

The ICC pre-trial chamber is reviewing the evidence submitted by prosecutors to determine if there are reasonable grounds to believe the Sudanese President committed the alleged crimes and issue the arrest warrant.

....'It is an immense challenge for the political leaders of the world.
They
have to protect the victims and ensure the respect for the court's decisions,' the ICC Prosecutor added ahead of the General Assembly annual high-level debate, which starts tomorrow.

The prosecutor has also requested information from the Sudanese Government about the August attack on the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), where evidence suggests Sudanese Government forces killed at least 31 civilians while executing a search warrant for illegal weapons and drugs.

.... Mr. Moreno-Ocampo 'will be meeting senior United Nations officials and expressing his appreciation of the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's staunch support for the independence of the international judiciary,' a spokesperson for the prosecutor told the UN News Centre.

The high-level officials meeting with the prosecutor on this visit include Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani, who chairs the Ministerial Committee aimed at furthering peace efforts in Darfur.

Others meeting with Mr. Moreno-Ocampo include AU Chairperson Jean Ping, British Minister of State responsible for Africa, Asia and the UN Mark Malloch Brown, French Minister of State for Human Rights Ramatoulaye Yade-Zimet and Netherlands Foreign Minister Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen...."

III. OP EDS

i."The arrest of Sudan's Bashir should proceed" by Richard Holbrooke (Financial Times), 21 September 2008, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/57d9e354-87ee-11dd-b114-0000779fd18c.html

"The request from the International Criminal Court prosecutor for an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's president, caused much hand-wringing by diplomats and others who say the search for justice will derail peace negotiations or endanger humanitarian relief workers.
Fearing that the crisis in Darfur will worsen if the prosecutor is allowed to proceed, they have launched an ill-considered campaign at the United Nations Security Council to delay the court's proceedings, perhaps for a year. The very nations that created the ICC appear to be afraid to let it do its work. A vote for deferral might come as early as next month.

For me, this is familiar terrain. When Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb leaders, were indicted by the Yugoslav tribunal in July 1995 for orchestrating atrocities in Bosnia, the media and many diplomats lamented that we would be unable to negotiate peace for Bosnia. Less than five months later, an agreement was reached in Dayton to end the war.

What had seemed an insurmountable obstacle turned out to be an unexpected opportunity. Before the indictments, we had already decided to marginalise Gen Mladic and Mr Karadzic and force Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian president, to take full responsibility for the war. Our negotiating team met them only once - in a hunting villa just outside Belgrade in September 1995 - but only with a prior understanding that Mr Milosevic would be responsible for their conduct, and only to lift the three-year siege of Sarajevo, which we accomplished that night. Later, when Mr Milosevic insisted that to achieve peace the two men had to participate in negotiations, I offered to arrest them personally if they set foot in the US.

Their removal from negotiations helped greatly in our success even though Mr Karadzic, forced by Mr Milosevic to sign the Dayton agreement, must have known it would end his political career. After he stepped down he invented a fable that I - and later Madeleine Albright - made deals with him that Nato would not pursue him. This wholly fabricated story, coming from a war criminal who also said the Muslims bombed their own marketplace in Sarajevo to lure Nato into war, is grotesque.

The key point is that the pariah status created by the indictment contributed to resolving the conflict and creating a more stable situation in Bosnia. The tragedy was not that these evil men were indicted; it was that it took almost 13 years to arrest Mr Karadzic and that Gen Mladic is still at large.

The US and the European Union confront a similar issue with Darfur. In 2005, the Security Council determined that offering impunity was a threat to peace. It referred the situation to the ICC prosecutor, who announced that the evidence pointed to the top of Sudan's government.
Suddenly, some Council members backed away from their earlier stance. In a routine resolution to extend the mandate of the Darfur peacekeeping mission, they added a statement of "concern" about the prosecutor's request and promised to raise the issue again.

The US abstained, neither wishing to veto the mission nor wanting to support anything leading to a delay in the prosecution of Mr Bashir.
China, Russia and others argued that an arrest warrant against Mr Bashir would frustrate peace prospects and jeopardise humanitarian workers. In October, these countries plan to ask the Security Council to defer the ICC's investigations for a renewable 12-month period.

Those advocating this step argue that it would give negotiators leverage to produce results in Darfur. Yet they have never produced evidence for this, nor defined what the benchmark for success would be at the end of the 12 months. Mr Bashir is simply playing for time, offering nothing.
Mr Milosevic did the same. Give Mr Bashir a year and he will take it - and ask for more.

The US and the EU must resist efforts to suspend ICC prosecutions. Peace negotiations have been stalled for nearly a year for reasons unrelated to a possible warrant against Mr Bashir. Suspension may seem a safer course to follow in the short run, but it will embolden him and other future suspected war criminals...."

ii. "Justice v. Politics," by Louise Arbour (International Herald Tribune), 16 September 2008, http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/16/opinion/edarbour.php

"When I announced the indictment of Slobodan Milosevic on May 27, 1999, at the height of the armed conflict between Serbia and NATO troops in Kosovo, many were dismayed.

The conventional wisdom at the time was that the indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, where I was chief prosecutor, would make the situation in Kosovo worse. Some said it would likely prove fatal to the prospect of any compromise by Milosevic
- that I had killed the chance for peace.

Predictably, Milosevic was contemptuous of the indictment and vowed that he would never face trial in The Hague...

Yet only a week later, Milosevic accepted the terms of a peace agreement and the war ended that month. Eighteen months later, a popular uprising swept Milosevic from office and he arrived in The Hague soon thereafter to face justice.

If the United Nations Security Council had had the authority to stop my indictment, things might have ended differently. And that's precisely the issue now at the center of a storm of controversy at the Security Council. How it is resolved will have serious implications for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and for the cause of international justice.

Not long after the ICC prosecutor announced he was seeking an arrest warrant against Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir for orchestrating a genocidal campaign in Darfur, diplomats and political observers predicted the worst. President Bashir denounced the prosecutor's request and rejected the authority of the ICC altogether.

Within days the African Union and Organization of Islamic Conference called on the Security Council to defer the case against Bashir, claiming it thwarted prospects for peace.

They also feared retaliation against peacekeepers and humanitarian workers in Sudan. Nearly half of the Security Council has expressed support for a deferral.

The ICC statute does empower the Security Council to defer the ICC process. But such power was intended to be used extremely rarely, and then only to promote justice, not to prevent it from running its course.

The ICC was founded on the principle that accountability for the world's most serious crimes is a prerequisite for long-term peace and security.
It is presumably with that in mind that the Security Council referred to Darfur case to the ICC in the first place in 2005.

The assumption should be, as the Milosevic precedent has illustrated, that judicial and political processes can be allowed to advance simultaneously and independently of each other. The goal should be to preserve the integrity of both the judicial and the political track, and, most important, to avoid the politicization of the court. Justice is a partner to peace, not an impediment to it.

To use a deferral for mere political convenience - or worse, to appease the threats of tyrants - would undermine the fledgling court. There is little hope for the promotion of the rule of law internationally if the most powerful international body makes it subservient to the rule of political expediency.

The past decade has seen tremendous advances in showing abusive leaders that their crimes will have consequences. Since the mid-1990s, for the first time in history, former heads of state have actually been brought to trial for human rights crimes.

To put ICC proceedings on hold in Darfur would send a dangerous signal to would-be war criminals that justice is negotiable and the Security Council can be held hostage to their threats.

The ICC has the ability to bring charges in real time, while conflicts are ongoing. This is not the first time, nor is it the last time, that we will face the question of whether justice interferes with peace.
Indeed, these issues will arise more and more frequently. And it will often be very tempting to suspend justice in exchange for promises to end a conflict.

But if the Security Council decides in the coming weeks to interfere with court proceedings, it will vindicate those who believe politics can trump justice. That will undermine the progress the world has made so far in bringing the most powerful human rights abusers to justice for their crimes."

Louise Arbour is the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

iii. "Deferral of ICC indictment is against justice in Darfur" by Mahmoud A. Suleiman (Sudan Tribune), 21 September 2008,
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article28691

"Media reports talk of the British and French governments will back efforts in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to stall the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuance of an arrest warrant against president of Sudan, Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir in order to protect the peace process in Darfur and Southern Sudan. It is flabbergasting and disappointing to the victims of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. If this is actually true, despite the fact that both countries are members of the ICC and have been the main advocates at the UNSC for referring the Darfur case to the Court, their credibility will be called into question. Many Sudanese people in Darfur thought that these Veto-wielding UNSC countries maintain credibility but it seems they have chosen to take that unexpected route nonetheless. On the face of it, this stance of the two permanent members of the UNSC seems to have been resorted to on the pretext to protect the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA/ Naivasha Agreement) signed on the 9th January 2005 that has ended the 21-year civil war between the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement
(SPLM) and the Government of Sudan (GOS). The CPA stands firm, but needs more support from the international community for its implementation.
The government of Sudan (GOS), the key partner in the Government of National Unity (GNU) is renowned for flouting rules and violating agreements with impunity. In the recent turn of events, it was learned that the indicted Sudanese president, Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir has relieved Pagan Amum, the general secretary of SPLM of his position as Minister of Cabinet Affairs. This news is not surprising since some of the hawks within the NCP elements such as Nafie Ali Nafie, a close presidential adviser, former inventor of the "Ghost Houses" and National Islamic Front (NIF) security and intelligence chief, criticized Mr.
Pagan and called on him to step down. The ghost houses, by the way, are torture houses used only by nights where screams of the victims could be heard from far distances but by day time these houses stand empty and silent. Earlier, the Sudanese foreign minister Deng Alor advised the government of Sudan to cooperate with the ICC.

Human Rights Watch said that the Naivasha agreement has settled the 21-year conflict waged mostly in southern Sudan, and will provide for a referendum in the south on self- determination in six and a half years.
Human Rights watch expressed concern at the absence of any substantive human rights clauses in the Naivasha peace accord despite the devastating war in southern Sudan and the ongoing cycle of impunity that has contributed to what we now see in Darfur.

The French stance is difficult to figure out where the International Criminal Court (ICC) is "a key tool, both in combating impunity when the most serious crimes, striking at the very essence of humanity are committed and in preventing the use of violence," according to the EU Presidency, currently held by France which is of great significance, given that France has a veto at the UN Security Council.

It is a common place that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) has been reached between the Government of Sudan (GOS) and the SPLM and not with individual members in the GOS or the SPLM. Accordingly, the CPA should continue in force whether the president of the NCP, Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir is in power or being arrested and taken to The Hague.
The truth of this assertion rests in the fact that the CPA has continued to remain viable despite the sad death of Dr. John Garang De Mabior, the father of the Vision of 'New Sudan'. The same case will be if al-Bashir departs to the ICC. Therefore, it is quite absurd that the international community's unfounded concern about the fate of CPA or the peace in Darfur in the post-al-Bashir era. The pillars of true peace are justice!
No peace without justice!

Sudan signed but has not ratified the Rome Statute of the (ICC) and is refusing to cooperate with its jurisdiction, but the UNSC triggered the provisions under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, to enables it to refer situations in non-State parties to the world court if it deems that it is a Threat to International Peace and security. This is beside Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Principle which in accordance with the Charter, including Chapter VII, on a case-by-case basis and in cooperation with relevant regional organizations as appropriate, should peaceful means be inadequate and national authorities manifestly fail to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, the UN member countries are prepared to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner through the UNSC. President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir will not be able to escape with impunity without being subjected to justice for the crimes he committed and is continuing to commit against the people of Sudan in Darfur no matter how long it takes.

The (UNSC) passed 17 resolutions on the Darfur crisis, all of which are internationally binding. The Sudanese regime has not complied with anyone of those resolutions to date, bearing in mind that they are meant to achieve security and peace in the region of Darfur. Many critics say that the UNSC is either a toothless lion or its members act with double standards; in both situations its credibility is tarnished. The Security Council failed to extend the arms embargo to the Sudanese government, impose travel sanctions and asset freezes on key government and military officials or implement the no-fly zone over Darfur.

Sudan's ambassador to the UN Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed has said in his usual belligerent rhetoric that the government of Sudan intends to ask the Security Council to block the prosecution, describing any attempt to arrest Bashir as "an act of war." He added that President Omar al-Bashir is weighing all options, including an undefined military response!

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Beijing maintains friendly relations with Sudan and is deeply concerned and worried about the ICC charges against president al-Bashir. He continues to say that the situation in the Darfur region is at a sensitive and critical moment and that China hopes all sides can resolve their differences through consultation and avoid adding complications that could interfere with or harm the atmosphere of cooperation. It is understood that China is consulting with other U.N. Security Council members to see if the court could be blocked from issuing an arrest warrant against Mr. Bashir, according to the Associated Press.

Analysts believe that Omar al-Bashir's threats in which he claims that he will make Sudan another Somalia if he is convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) as part of the world widely known lies of his collapsed unpopular regime and empty rhetoric for domestic consumption. Those are his usual raving menaces of refusal and soon return to surrender to reality under stark warning or confrontation.
Unfortunately, al-Bashir and his clique do not learn from their mistakes and never take lessons from experience. To say the world is better off without Omer al-Bashir and his NCP regime is to speak an obvious truth.
The old habits of bullying and blackmailing are not going to save al-Bashir from the predicaments of his abhorrent deeds in Darfur. The NCP needs to stop this nonsense and cooperate with the ICC.

...... Although, supposedly, fears have been raised that the arrest warrant could lead to attacks on UN peacekeepers in Darfur or the expulsion of Western diplomats, but it was reported that Al-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik, the Minister of Information and Communication as saying that Sudan would guarantee the safety of foreigners. After Omer al-Bashir loses the battle against the ICC, the Sudanese people are "going to hang him out to dry" and will not shed tears!

Will the UNSC as a "Dove of peace" for the world accomplish its mission in Darfur by distancing itself from the plans aiming at stalling the arrest warrant of the indicted Sudanese president by the International Criminal Court (ICC)? That is a sixty-four dollar question ($64 question)!..."