The South African government urgently approached the International Criminal Court last Friday in a bid to avoid having to arrest Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir.
South Africa's ambassador to the Netherlands and a legal adviser tried to persuade a judge of the court that the South African government was subject to "competing obligations" hindering it from arresting Bashir, and that there was "lack of clarity in the law."
But the court rejected the representations, according to a document issued by the court on Saturday.
It told the South Africans that "there is no ambiguity in the law and that... is under the obligation to arrest and surrender [Bashir] to the court...
"[South Africa] cannot invoke any other decision, including that of the African Union, providing for any obligation to the contrary."
At the request of the court's prosecutor, the presiding judge, Judge Cuno Tarfusser, subsequently issued an urgent decision clarifying South Africa's obligations.
The decision reiterated that "there exists no ambiguity or uncertainty with respect to the obligation of the Republic of South Africa to immediately arrest and surrender Omar Al Bashir to the Court, and that the competent authorities... are already aware of this obligation."
