Emmanuel Gyezaho
15 October 2009
Uganda will not execute an international arrest warrant issued against Sudanese leader Gen. Omar El Bashir in the event he attends next week's African Union (AU) meeting in Kampala, President Museveni said yesterday.
Mr Museveni made the revelation while addressing a news conference at State House Entebbe where he confirmed that President Bashir had been invited, and was free to attend the AU's special summit on refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons in Africa slated for October 19 in Kampala, without the apprehension of a possible arrest.
"Yes, we invited him, he is a head of state of an African country," said Mr Museveni.
A wanted man by the International Criminal Court for his alleged role in the Dafur crisis, President Bashir will be comforted by Mr Museveni's comments which will rekindle fresh debate on the relevance of the ICC and the commitment of member states in meeting obligations to the Court such as executing arrest warrants.
Uganda is a signatory to the Rome Statute establishing the ICC. Early this year, Uganda was at the centre of a row over an invitation to the Sudan President to attend the Smart Partnership Dialogue in Kampala revolving around whether the country would meet its moral and legal obligations by arresting Gen. Bashir if he made the trip to Kampala.
Despite prodding by ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo to execute the warrants, Uganda advised Gen. Bashir against making the trip.
"When the ICC warrant came out, our position in the African Security Committee was let us not condemn Gen. Bashir, let us not condone him but let us do our own investigation. That is how President Thabo Mbeki was appointed to do further research in the allegations so that Africa takes its own position from what Thambo Mbeki says," Mr Museveni added.
Fate of CBS
President Museveni also spoke out for the first time since holding private talks with Kabaka Ronald Mutebi about the fate of shut down radio stations and offered no clear indication on when the media outlets will be reopened.
He defended the government's clamp down on the media following last month's violent uprising in several central districts and said while journalists have a duty to "enjoy your rights, you must respect the rights of others."
"Like the day we closed CBS, they were promoting insurrection; mukwate ejambia mwelwaneko, (you take pangas and fight. )You think we were going to allow that?" the President asked, adding; "And now there is calm in Uganda, and there is civilised conduct. But people were behaving as if they are wild animals; promoting sectarianism, how can that be allowed?"
Mr Museveni had summoned reporters to speak about the health of the Ugandan economy, reiterating comments made at the 47 Independence celebrations that Uganda's economy was performing above expectation.
Asked to comment about efforts to straighten relations between Buganda Kingdom and his regime, Mr Museveni said he was involved in private dialogue with Kabaka Mutebi telling reporters, "You just wait."
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