The issuance of an arrest warrant against the Sudanese President, Bashir has been a hot issue during the African leaders' meeting in Sirte, central Libya and could end up with a total rejection of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
African leaders discussing the continent’s position on the ICC agreed on the need for the leaders to request the court, through the United Nations Security Council, which forwarded the Bashir issue to the court, to lift the arrest warrant.
African leaders agreed in February to unilaterally seek the lifting of the arrest warrant for a period of one year to allow the Sudanese President to lead the government efforts in restoring peace in Darfur, Western Sudan.
Ghanaian Foreign Minister Muhammad Mumuni said Thursday the African leaders were unanimous that the lifting of the arrest warrant was critical to the peace efforts in Darfur and were still committed to having their request executed.
“We still take the position that article 16 of the ICC should be invoked. We have a holistic view on the need to restore peace in the Sudan and the issuance of this arrest warrant would compromise several milestones in Sudan,” Mumuni said.
A draft document on Africa’s position on the ICC states that African leaders should question the authority of the court to try state officials who enjoy immunity from prosecutions and question the conduct of the court’s prosecutor.
“We are a little unhappy about the way this matter has come up. We have asked for a deferment but ignoring that request was a slap in the back. African leaders have an interest in the security of the people in Darfur,” the Ghanaian minister said.
African leaders attending the 13th session of the AU heads of state and assembly meeting here Thursday said the arrest of the Sudanese leader would leave a “power vacuum” in the Sudan, which could further compromise peace there.
Sudanese authorities allowed the deployment of the joint African Union and the United Nations Hybrid force in Darfur (UNAMID) after a series of high-profile engagements with the UN and the African Union.
African leaders said the ICC should withhold its arrest warrant until the peace process in the Sudan is effectively concluded.
Mumuni said Ghana, as well as 29 other African states, considered the issuance of the arrest warrant against the Sudanese leader as “inopportune and ill-timed” and would recommend its lifting to allow the peace process to advance there.
They asserted that the setting up of ICC was in itself a subject that they believed in as a measure aimed at ending the impunity of state officials.
Sirte - 02/07/2009
Pana
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