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Updates on Sudan

31 Dec 2005

Representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Department of International Law participated in the third Assembly of States Parties. As of June 2005, Sudan had taken steps to ratify the Statute but encountered several obstacles. Most of the nine countries that border Sudan were hesitating to ratify, while the United States signed bilateral immunity agreements with many members of the Arab League and African Union. Sudan itself was contacted by the United States to sign a bilateral immunity agreement in 2003. Some legislators of Sudanese Parliament have urged that crimes stipulated in the Rome Statue should be incorporated into the Sudanese penal code, in consultation with other members of the Arab League. A possible area of concern within the Sudanese penal code is that criminal offenses can be pardoned through granting amnesty - which is incompatible with the Rome Statute.