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Sudan: Reuters article on Policeman Prosecution and HRW-ICG Joint Letter to Security Council

09 Feb 2006

Reuters has published an article on the prosecution of a Sudan policeman in the
Sudanese special war crimes court. The article mentions that ICC Prosecutor Luis
Moreno Ocampo is expected to visit Sudan later this month. The article provides
information on Sudan's position toward the ICC to date and its lack of
cooperation, while noting that Sudan has said it will allow the Prosecutor to
visit in late February.

Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group recently signed a joint
letter addressed to the Security Council asking that it "authorize, on an urgent
basis, a transition of the African Union force in Darfur to a U.N. mission under
Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter" which "should also be specifically empowered to
provide appropriate assistance to the International Criminal Court's
investigations in Darfur including the arrest of individuals indicted for crimes
against humanity and war crimes." The letter notes that this measure should be
part of a broader strategy which "includes support for the International
Criminal Court investigation in Darfur (as the Security Council has already
agreed)".

Please find excerpts from both the Reuters article and the joint letter below.

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

Warm Regards,
Esti T. Tambay
Information and Analysis Officer
Coalition for the International Criminal Court

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Reuters, Opheera McDoom, "Sudan policeman in court over Darfur violence" - 8
February 2006
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MCD843944.htm

"In a tiny, dim courtroom in Sudan, policeman Jamal Zacharia stood trial on
Wednesday for shooting and killing a student who tried to demonstrate against an
attack by militias on a Darfuri village. [...] This is the first case before
Sudan's special court for war crimes in the West Darfur capital el-Geneina and
the court was convened ahead of schedule for the case.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to visit
later this month. [...] The U.N. human rights chief said last month Sudan's
security services operate in a "climate of impunity." Sudan denies this. [...]

The proceedings were adjourned many times as the defence struggled because of
lack of time to prepare.

The ICC is investigating alleged war crimes in Darfur but no investigators have
been to Darfur, which the ICC says is because of lack of security but observers
attribute to Khartoum's reluctance to cooperate. Sudan's government, which has
signed but not ratified the treaty establishing the ICC, refuses to allow any
Sudanese citizen to be tried outside national courts and says it will not allow
ICC investigators to work in Darfur. But it has said it would allow prosecutor
Luis Moreno Ocampo to visit at the end of February.

Just ahead of Moreno Ocampo's address to the U.N. Security Council in December,
Sudan expanded its special Darfur court to include permanent seats in each of
the three Darfur states.

Zacharia is the first to stand trial in West Darfur. "This is the only case so
far before the court," said judge Ahmed Abou Zaid, head of the court. He said
international law took precedent over Sudanese law there. Sudanese law offers
immunity for army and police officers. "This court is special to deal with the
emergency in Darfur ... because there is a local war," he told Reuters.

A separate court next door heard the trial of another policeman accused of
raping a 10-year-old girl from the Mornei camp in West Darfur. Asked why this
case was not being tried in the much-publicised Darfur special court, a lawyer
close to the case said: "This is for political reasons." Rapes are often blamed
on armed, uniformed men but Khartoum denies any campaign of rape and has
arrested international aid workers for reporting such cases."

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Joint Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group Letter to the Members of
the U.N. Security Council Regarding Darfur, "Security Council Must Take Action
to Protect Civilians in Darfur" - 31 January 2006
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/31/sudan12577.htm

"We write to urge Security Council members to make the situation in Darfur,
Sudan a top priority in the coming weeks. As Secretary General Kofi Annan has
recently said, “a major new international effort” is needed to save lives in
Darfur. Such an effort will require the Security Council to take decisive and
immediate action and will demonstrate the Council’s commitment to the
international responsibility to protect civilians from massive human rights
abuses. [...]

We therefore ask that the Security Council authorize, on an urgent basis, a
transition of the African Union force in Darfur to a U.N. mission under Chapter
VII of the U.N. Charter. Such a mission should have a strong and clear mandate
that will allow it to protect itself and civilians by force if necessary, and to
disarm and disband the government-sponsored Janjaweed forces that have
confiscated land or pose a threat to the civilian population. The mission should
also be specifically empowered to provide appropriate assistance to the
International Criminal Court's investigations in Darfur including the arrest of
individuals indicted for crimes against humanity and war crimes. [...]

These measures should be part of a larger strategy that includes support for the
International Criminal Court investigation in Darfur (as the Security Council
has already agreed), assistance to help displaced people in Darfur rebuild their
communities (perhaps through a compensation fund funded by a set percentage of
the Sudanese government’s revenues), and increased diplomatic efforts to resolve
the conflict. But the urgent, immediate task must be protecting the lives of
vulnerable civilians. [...]"

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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