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The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

Africa: AU Voices Opposition to Indictment of Bashir

Polycarp Machira

16 July 2008

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The African Union yesterday opposed the indictment of Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir for genocide.

Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister Bernard Membe said in Dar es Salaam that Tanzania, as the AU chair, had petitioned the UN Security Council to defer the International Criminal Court's decision to investigate and prosecute President el-Bashir.

Mr Membe, who also chairs the AU's foreign affairs ministers' council, said the stay of the indictment would allow political transition in the country to bear the desired results while giving room to successful implementation of the peace accord among the warring factions.

"The AU is appealing to the UN Security Council to enforce Article 16 of the Rome Convention which allows it to intervene immediately and stop further bloodshed and deaths in Sudan," Mr Membe told at a press conference. The minister cautioned that the approval of the arrest warrant and subsequent prosecution of the Sudanese head of state at ICC could have "grave consequences in Sudan and Africa in general".

He said the UN Security Council and the AU had in the recent past been relentlessly engaged in finding a lasting solution to the Darfur crisis through various means, including the Sudanese inter-party peace talks on Darfur and an agreement to deploy UN-AU forces in the troubled region.

"It is against this background that the AU finds the move by the ICC prosecutor to indict President Omar el-Bashir as an untimely decision that could have serious consequences on efforts to find a lasting solution."

The AU made its position clear as pressure from Africa mounted on the ICC to drop its decision to charge Mr el-Bashir with masterminding genocide in Darfur. Demonstrations have been held in Sudan to protest the indictment while UN agencies operating in the region have put their workers on high alert.

The European Union has meanwhile reiterated its support for a negotiated political solution for the Darfur crisis, but steered clear of support or criticism of the indictment of the Sudanese leader.

In a statement yesterday, the EU delegation said it was up to the judges at the ICC to decide on the appeal by prosecutors who have applied for an international arrest warrant for President el-Bashir.

"The European Union has taken note of the statements made by the prosecutor of the ICC concerning the crimes committed in Darfur. It is now up to the judges of the pre-trial chamber to determine what action they intend to take in response to the request issued by the prosecutor," reads part of the statement.

The EU mission, however, was categorical that arrest warrants issued by the same court against Sudanese officials Ahmed Harun and Ali Kushayb be executed. It urged the Sudanese Government of National Unity and all parties, groups and movements in Darfur to work towards the objectives of the North-South peace agreement.Mr Membe said Tanzania, like many other African countries who were signatories to the ICC, did not condone violence and impunity.

The minister told reporters that when the matter arose on Sunday, President Kikwete talked to his Sudanese counterpart to obtain the details and clearly understand the situation on the ground. He said after consultations with the AU commissioner to Darfur, they concluded that the ICC was taking a hasty move that did not focus on the need to build a stable Africa.

Apart from derailing the peace agreement in Darfur, other nations which for a long time had not been at peace with Sudan could exploit the new opportunity to create more chaos and problems, he stated. "There is already a comprehensive agreement in the southern Sudan between the government and the SPLA, which may conduct elections early next year.

I think this is the effort that the international community ought to encourage," Mr Membe said. He said the intention to arresting a sitting president would pose problems as the Sudanese people would not let their president be arrested and prosecuted. He said the world has learnt a lot from Iraq after what happened during the time of Saddam Hussein and after his removal from power.

Speaking at the same occasion, Sudan's ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Abdelbagi Kabeir, told reporters that Sudan did not recognize ICC since it had not ratified the Rome agreement. "ICC does not have jurisdiction on Sudan, and the international court should not think of doing anything when there is a problem in the country. Our country is not a member of ICC and does not recognise it," he said.

He said it was wiser for the international community to recognize and support the national judicial system, complement it rather than thinking of a substitute government. The diplomat blamed the international community for failure to negotiate peace in the country, saying any other interference would create a big political vacuum like in Iraq.

He described the plan as a move by the west towards ensuring that Africa is torn apart, urging AU to stand strongly in supporting peace in the Sudan and elsewhere in the continent. "We believe it is Africa as a continent that will be affected by such ill-mannered moves and the continental leadership should not accept any such interference," he added.

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