By Wasil Ali
June 5, 2008 (NEW YORK) – The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) pointed fingers at the Sudanese government and accused it of mobilizing “the whole state apparatus” to commit crimes in Darfur.
Luis Moreno Ocampo, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) during a press conference in the Hague February 27, 2007 (AP)
Luis Moreno-Ocampo delivered his semi-annual report to the UN Security Council (UNSC) today in which he provided his current investigations into the ongoing attacks against civilians in the war ravaged region.
The Argentinean born lawyer also informed the UNSC of his intention to file charges against unidentified Sudanese officials a in a few weeks time. The ICC conducted its investigation without going on the ground in Darfur because of the security situation and the inability to protect witnesses and their families there.
But Ocampo told Sudan Tribune in an interview that he has enough evidence to proceed before the judges next month.
“We have strong evidence. We never move without overwhelming evidence” he said.
The low-key prosecutor stressed that he collected evidence from different sources including the Sudanese government which has refused to cooperate with his office since the issuance of arrest warrants in May 2007 against Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs, and militia commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb.
“I have a duty to do an impartial investigation so I got information from a number of sources including the government of Sudan, the Attorney general in Khartoum and the suspects. I have all sorts of evidence. I have insiders, witnesses, victims and UN reports. There are tons of documents” Ocampo said.
“You cannot commit these types of crimes in the entire Darfur region and pretend you can hide these crimes” he added.
But the prosecutor acknowledged that arresting the suspects would be a difficult task. The Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir told the visiting UNSC delegation in Khartoum today that he has no intention of cooperating with the ICC. The two suspects Haroun and Kushayb are still at large.
One of the tactics deployed by Ocampo in the cases of Uganda, the Congo and Central African Republic is the issuance of secret arrest warrants which boosts chances that the suspects would be arrested. In late May the ICC managed to nab the former Congolese vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba in Belgium. Bemba’s arrest warrant was not made public until he was actually arrested.
However Ocampo made it clear that he does not intend to mimic the same approach in the coming case next month.
“The second case will be a public application. I think it is important to be transparent and clear in what happened. The Judges will decide the merits of this case” he said.
The ICC is also working on a fourth case against Darfur rebels attacking peacekeepers and aid workers. However he said the case is not complete yet.
Last September armed raiders overran the African Union (AU) base in the southern Darfur town of Haskanita killing 10 AU peacekeepers and injuring many others.
“We are still working on the Haskanita case and getting information about the rebel commanders involved so we can confirm the information. I don’t have enough evidence to go to the judges but I am collecting information” he said.
“I am also considering other crimes against aid workers and peacekeepers and maybe I can add other incidents. We are still doing the investigation and not ready to go to trial” Ocampo added.
HAROUN’S CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
The first suspect named in the Darfur case Ahmed Haroun seemed to be the main focus of Ocampo when talking to world officials.
Haroun has been promoted by the Sudanese government and was given more responsibilities, particularly handling the relationship with the Southern ex-rebels. The Sudanese TV has also tended to focus the cameras on Haroun in any public event he attends.
Even today the Sudanese minister was supposed to attend meeting between President Al-Bashir and the UNSC delegation but was a no-show.
“From the beginning I focused on those who are most responsible. In first case evidence showed Haroun as the most responsible because he was the head of the ‘Darfur Security Desk’ He coordinated the activities of Ali Kushayb and others” Ocampo said.
Haroun, who was also the state minister for interior, denied any wrongdoings and dismissed the case against him as ‘political’ and that he had a clear conscience. He also said that he is prepared to stand before the world court if his government asked him to.
Ocampo took Haroun’s remarks at face value and called on him to surrender himself to the ICC and guaranteed him a fair trial.
Haroun is wanted by the ICC for 42 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes. The judges they found ‘reasonable evidence to believe’ that he was responsible for persecuting, raping, attacking and killing civilians in four western Darfur villages in 2003 and 2004.
It was also reported that his family was shocked when his name came out as a war crimes suspect and that friends and relatives flocked to his home in Khartoum to offer what almost appeared to be condolences.
No extra security measures have been placed on Haroun since the ICC arrest warrants. Last year Haroun’s cell phone was stolen during a wedding he was attending in Khartoum.
HAROUN’S ESCAPE ATTEMPT
The ICC prosecutor also made the breathtaking disclosure that his office was close to arresting Haroun last December.
Earlier this year a well placed source in Khartoum told Sudan Tribune that Haroun, wanted to fly to Saudi Arabia on a forged passport.
Haroun ended up cancelling his travel plans after the Sudanese government found out, the source added.
Ocampo confirmed this piece of information and revealed more details on the Haroun’s travel plans.
“We were getting ready to divert his plane” he said.
Asked whether he had received help from other states in his attempt to arrest the Sudanese minister, Ocampo said “Absolutely. This is a UNSC resolution so all countries have a duty to support”. However he declined to name these countries.
“Some countries were willing to support and provide information on Haroun [travel] plans. We organized the logistics. Everything was settled” he said.
Ocampo said the Saudi Arabian government was aware of the plans to divert Haroun’s plane.
“The Saudis were informed. We respect states so the information was clear to them. They knew about this” he said.
“As soon as Haroun leaves Sudan he will be arrested. He is a fugitive. Inside Sudan he could have freedom. Outside Sudan he will be in jail” the ICC Prosecutor said.
Ocampo said he is receiving help from countries in tracing the Haroun and Kushayb as to “when they are moving and where are they moving”.
The prosecutor did not rule out the possibility that Haroun might make further attempts to travel abroad.
“He [Haroun] has medical problems so he could attempt. He sometimes he needs to go outside using different passports” he said.
The Sudanese official was in Jordan, the only Arab country who is party to the ICC, for medical treatment when the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo publicly announced charges against him in February 2007. The Sudanese minister returned immediately to Khartoum that day.
Last September Haroun told daily Al-Rayaam newspaper that he is not concerned about the International Police (INTERPOL) red notices distributed worldwide asking for his arrest and he will travel if needed.
ICC INVESTIGATION DANGER TO PEACE IN DARFUR?
Sudan’s U.N. ambassador Abdel-Mahmood Mohamad today lashed out at the ICC prosecutor and accused him of being a threat to peace in Darfur.
“Ocampo is destroying the peace process and we demand that this man be held accountable for what he is doing to the peace process in Sudan," Mohamad said.
The Sudanese diplomat has been one of the most outspoken critics of Ocampo and one point called for him to be tried in a court of law.
"This is very serious and we hold him accountable and responsible for destroying the peace process in our country," Mohamad said. "It revealed his professional bankruptcy, he deserves no respect, not to say cooperation, because we are not going to cooperate with him in any form," he said.
But Ocampo rejected Mohamad’s claims saying that the crimes committed are the obstacle to peace.
“The main obstacle for peace in Darfur today is the crimes that are being committed and also the criminals who committed crimes in positions like Haroun. They are the main obstacle” he said.
“While it is important to provide aid and peacekeepers, we have to be sure that people like Haroun are arrested. If we don’t get rid of the arsonists there will never be enough number of firefighters. The arsonists today are in charge of the fire so we try to arrest them” he added.
COVER-UP AND RESPONSIBILITY OF SUDAN GOVERNMENT
In his report to the UNSC, Ocampo made his harshest condemnation of Khartoum saying that he collected evidence of a “criminal plan based on the mobilization of the whole state apparatus, including the armed forces, the intelligence services, the diplomatic and public information bureaucracies, and the justice system”.
The ICC official also said that his office is investigating who “is maintaining Haroun in a position to commit crimes; who is instructing him and others”.
The statements by Ocampo were taken to suggest that he is going after senior Sudanese officials.
“When you use the state apparatus to commit crimes you are giving instructions to public servants. They have to be sure they will protect them because they are asking them to do something illegal. The state apparatus requires protection. In this sense protection could be used to establish legal responsibility” Ocampo said.
The prosecutor went on to explain the concept of cover up in the case of Darfur by giving an example of an incident that happened in Argentina during the 70’s to two French nuns who disappeared during the rule of the military Junta.
“The navy officers abducted the nuns and they took pictures of them with a sign of the guerilla behind them and they took statements from the guerilla leaders saying they abducted the nuns. This lie was not a mistake. It is a cover up [by government]” he said.
“For example last January when a UN convoy was shot at in Darfur, the Sudanese UN ambassador said that it was the rebels. In Khartoum they said no it was the government. All the state is part of the cover-up. They are minimizing the numbers of rapes and pretend that peacekeepers deployment is moving smoothly. This is all not correct” he added.
But while Ocampo recognized that he can’t charge the whole system and that he is focusing on “few people who are most responsible”.
“The rest will take many years. We start with the most responsible” he stressed.
UN & INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT TO THE ICC
Last October Ocampo criticized the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon for neglecting the issue of justice in his monthly reports on Sudan.
“Justice was not mentioned in the UNSG subsequent reports on Darfur where the UN secretariat developed a three prong approach with a humanitarian, political and security components only” Ocampo said in prepared remarks to the 11th diplomatic briefing at the ICC headquarters in the Hague.
But today Ocampo hailed the efforts of the UN chief on the issue of extraditing the war crimes suspects.
“The Secretary General was very active on this issue and as you know he raised it with President Al-Bashir personally. I think he made great effort.”
The prosecutor also hailed the encouraging remarks made by UNSC during his briefing today.
“At least 9 of the UNSC members were very open and strong about the need to send a clear message that Sudan has to cooperate with the court”.
Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statue, but the UN Security Council (UNSC) invoked the provisions under the Statue that enables it to refer situations in non-State parties to the world court if it deems that it is a threat to international peace and security.
(ST)
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?page=imprimable&id_article=27428
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
ICC Prosecutor : Darfur is a huge crime scene
The Hague, 5 June 2008
Today in New York, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo informed the United Nations Security Council that he will present in July a second Darfur case before the ICC judges.
“The entire Darfur region is a crime scene. For 5 years, civilians have been attacked relentlessly. In their villages. Then into the camps. They cannot return. Their land has been usurped. To plan and commit such crimes, on such a scale, over such a period of time, the criminals had to mobilize and coordinate the whole state apparatus, from the security services to the public information bureaucracies and the judiciary. Cover up of crimes by Sudanese officials, pretending that all is well in Darfur, blaming crimes on others, is a characteristic of the criminal system at work. We have seen it before, in Rwanda, in the former Yugoslavia, in my own country Argentina during the military dictatorship’.
“The victims are being attacked by the Sudanese officials who have to protect them. If the international community is persuaded to look away and fails to recognize the situation for what it is - the execution of a massive criminal plan to destroy entire communities in Darfur - it would be a final blow to the victims.” The Prosecutor said, asking the UNSC to issue a statement requesting full cooperation of the Sudanese with the Court.
He also mentioned that one year after the first arrest warrants were issued by the ICC, the Government of Sudan has not complied with Resolution 1593, has not arrested Ahmed Harun and Ali Kushayb, a militia Janjaweed leader. They remain free and involved in criminal acts against civilians in Darfur.
“They are fugitives from the ICC” the Prosecutor said. ‘Ahmed Harun is still Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs; he is a member of the committee overseeing the deployment of UNAMID peacekeepers. Impunity is not an empty word. Ahmed Harun is attacking civilians; he is hindering the delivery of aid and the protective functions of the peacekeepers. The international community is sending firefighters and the Government of the Sudan is promoting the arsonist’ added Luis Moreno Ocampo.
“As long as Harun and Kushayb remain free in Sudan, the criminal system will remain at work. Girls will continue to be raped. Schools will be attacked. Land will be usurped. Entire groups will disintegrate. Impunity emboldens the criminals.”
The International Criminal Court is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes if national authorities with jurisdiction are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely. The Office of the Prosecutor is currently investigating in four situations: The Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Uganda, the Darfur region of Sudan, and the Central African Republic, all still engulfed in various degrees of conflict with victims in urgent need of protection.
http://www.icc-cpi.int/press/pressreleases/375.html
Today in New York, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo informed the United Nations Security Council that he will present in July a second Darfur case before the ICC judges.
“The entire Darfur region is a crime scene. For 5 years, civilians have been attacked relentlessly. In their villages. Then into the camps. They cannot return. Their land has been usurped. To plan and commit such crimes, on such a scale, over such a period of time, the criminals had to mobilize and coordinate the whole state apparatus, from the security services to the public information bureaucracies and the judiciary. Cover up of crimes by Sudanese officials, pretending that all is well in Darfur, blaming crimes on others, is a characteristic of the criminal system at work. We have seen it before, in Rwanda, in the former Yugoslavia, in my own country Argentina during the military dictatorship’.
“The victims are being attacked by the Sudanese officials who have to protect them. If the international community is persuaded to look away and fails to recognize the situation for what it is - the execution of a massive criminal plan to destroy entire communities in Darfur - it would be a final blow to the victims.” The Prosecutor said, asking the UNSC to issue a statement requesting full cooperation of the Sudanese with the Court.
He also mentioned that one year after the first arrest warrants were issued by the ICC, the Government of Sudan has not complied with Resolution 1593, has not arrested Ahmed Harun and Ali Kushayb, a militia Janjaweed leader. They remain free and involved in criminal acts against civilians in Darfur.
“They are fugitives from the ICC” the Prosecutor said. ‘Ahmed Harun is still Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs; he is a member of the committee overseeing the deployment of UNAMID peacekeepers. Impunity is not an empty word. Ahmed Harun is attacking civilians; he is hindering the delivery of aid and the protective functions of the peacekeepers. The international community is sending firefighters and the Government of the Sudan is promoting the arsonist’ added Luis Moreno Ocampo.
“As long as Harun and Kushayb remain free in Sudan, the criminal system will remain at work. Girls will continue to be raped. Schools will be attacked. Land will be usurped. Entire groups will disintegrate. Impunity emboldens the criminals.”
The International Criminal Court is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes if national authorities with jurisdiction are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely. The Office of the Prosecutor is currently investigating in four situations: The Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Uganda, the Darfur region of Sudan, and the Central African Republic, all still engulfed in various degrees of conflict with victims in urgent need of protection.
http://www.icc-cpi.int/press/pressreleases/375.html
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Displacement in Abyei is a remake of Darfur – rebel chief
Wednesday 4 June 2008.
June 3, 2008 (PARIS) — Speaking about the massive displacement of civilians from the disputed Abyei, a Darfur rebel leader said what has been done in Abyei is a remake of what Khartoum did in western Sudan.
Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur
The International Organisation for Migration said 50,000 to 60,000 people had fled to Agok, 25 km south of Abyei, and neighbouring villages, while another 10,000 were believed to have walked south toward the town of Turalei.
Abdel-Wahid al-Nur the leader of Sudan Liberation Movement condemned the displacement of Abyei population saying “world have to think twice about dealing with the government of the National Congress Party.”
Al-Nur accused Khartoum of deliberately igniting violence in the disputed Abyei in order to change the demographic composition of the region and the settle Arab tribes to ensure its control over oil fields in the contested area.
The rebel leader further said what Khartoum did in Darfur with regard to the displacement of civilians and the settlement of Arab new comers from neighboring countries is now implemented in Abyei.
He said that this "Islamist government" extrapolated this policy to other parts of Sudan in order to ensure its hegemony on the country. He cited the forcible relocation of Kajabar population and the projected settlement of Egyptian farmers in central Sudan stated of White Nile.
Al-Nur added that the Sudanese government proves again through the non implementation of Abyei Protocol that it has no consideration to the signed deal and do not recognise the authority of the international institutions. "They just know the language of violence and not admit democracy because it will exclude them." He said.
The rebel leader also said the US envoy Richard Williamson had a very instructive stay in Sudan where he had the occasion to verify the true nature of the ruling National Congress Party.
He further exhorted the US administration particularly and the international community generally should learn from this experience that their current approach with Sudanese government has failed.
The U.S. has suspended talks to normalize relations with Sudan, U.S. and Sudanese officials said Tuesday.
(ST)
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?page=imprimable&id_article=27405
June 3, 2008 (PARIS) — Speaking about the massive displacement of civilians from the disputed Abyei, a Darfur rebel leader said what has been done in Abyei is a remake of what Khartoum did in western Sudan.
Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur
The International Organisation for Migration said 50,000 to 60,000 people had fled to Agok, 25 km south of Abyei, and neighbouring villages, while another 10,000 were believed to have walked south toward the town of Turalei.
Abdel-Wahid al-Nur the leader of Sudan Liberation Movement condemned the displacement of Abyei population saying “world have to think twice about dealing with the government of the National Congress Party.”
Al-Nur accused Khartoum of deliberately igniting violence in the disputed Abyei in order to change the demographic composition of the region and the settle Arab tribes to ensure its control over oil fields in the contested area.
The rebel leader further said what Khartoum did in Darfur with regard to the displacement of civilians and the settlement of Arab new comers from neighboring countries is now implemented in Abyei.
He said that this "Islamist government" extrapolated this policy to other parts of Sudan in order to ensure its hegemony on the country. He cited the forcible relocation of Kajabar population and the projected settlement of Egyptian farmers in central Sudan stated of White Nile.
Al-Nur added that the Sudanese government proves again through the non implementation of Abyei Protocol that it has no consideration to the signed deal and do not recognise the authority of the international institutions. "They just know the language of violence and not admit democracy because it will exclude them." He said.
The rebel leader also said the US envoy Richard Williamson had a very instructive stay in Sudan where he had the occasion to verify the true nature of the ruling National Congress Party.
He further exhorted the US administration particularly and the international community generally should learn from this experience that their current approach with Sudanese government has failed.
The U.S. has suspended talks to normalize relations with Sudan, U.S. and Sudanese officials said Tuesday.
(ST)
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?page=imprimable&id_article=27405
Europe is willing to consider sanctions against Sudan over ICC
Thursday 5 June 2008.
June 4, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — The European Union is willing to consider penalties against Sudan should Khartoum continue to harbor suspected Darfur war criminals charged by the world court, a top diplomat said Wednesday.
French ambassador to the United Nations, Jean-Maurice Ripert, whose country assumes the rotating E.U. presidency next month, criticized Sudan’s refusal to surrender two alleged war criminals to the International Criminal Court.
Ripert was speaking after a meeting with presidential advisor Nafie Ali Nafie. He was traveling in a U.N. Security Council mission, which held talks Wednesday with the Sudanese government during a 10-day tour of African troublespots.
"France and the European Union are ready to consider additional measures against the government of Sudan if it continues to refuse to cooperate," Ripert told reporters in Khartoum.
"All the Europeans present supported me. It’s the first time that six European countries (those in the U.N. Security Council) state clearly that this U.N. resolution must be respected," he added.
Three years ago, the Security Council referred Darfur justice to the ICC, and human rights watchdogs used the U.N. visit to Khartoum Wednesday to again urge the delegation to persuade Sudan to hand over suspects facing arrest warrants.
Sudan has consistently ignored ICC arrest warrants for secretary of state for humanitarian affairs Ahmed Haroun and Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kosheib, and says it has established its own court to try Darfur cases.
"It is time to respond to Khartoum’s flagrant obstruction with a clear resolution reminding Sudan of its obligations to the court and to the victims," said Niemat Ahmadi from the faith-based Save Darfur Coalition.
Thursday, the U.N. Security Council mission is to travel to Darfur - the same day that ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will unveil details of a second case against senior figures in the five-year Darfur war.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Haroun and Kosheib April 27, 2007. They are charged with 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including acts of murder, persecution, torture, rape and forcible displacement.
The 15 U.N. ambassadors Wednesday met Foreign Minister Deng Alor and Vice President Ali Osman Taha as well as Nafie.
Alor, who belongs to the southern former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement that has shared power with the National Congress of President Omar al-Beshir since the end of a 21-year civil war, said his party favored cooperation.
"I am not talking as a minister of foreign affairs. In this particular issue I’m speaking as SPLM and SPLM calls for cooperation. That’s what I said in my briefing with the ambassadors," Alor said.
But Sudan’s ambassador to the U.N., Abdalmahmood Mohamad, said Khartoum would never extradite any Sudanese to The Hague and launched a stinging attack on ICC prosecutor Ocampo.
"We are not a member of the ICC. They have no jurisdiction over us. We will never submit any Sudanese citizen to The Hague," he said.
In July 2007, Sudan told the U.N. Human Rights Committee that it was handling cases against soldiers and police officers accused of crimes in Darfur.
"He (Ocampo) is one of the major destroyers of the peace process in Sudan. It reveals his professional bankruptcy because he is dealing with an activist not a jurist," the U.N. ambassador told reporters.
"He is serving certain agendas to keep this country in an intensive care unit," he added.
Last year, Sudan highlighted more than a dozen cases against soldiers or "senior officers" in Darfur which resulted in the death penalty, jail sentences and damages paid to victims’ families for murder, torture and rape.
The U.S. has called on the European Union to match U.S. financial sanctions against Sudan in order to force Khartoum to accept the deployment of a U.N.-led peacekeeping force in Darfur.
The U.N. says that up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million fled their homes since the Darfur conflict broke out in February 2003. Sudan says 10,000 have been killed.
The conflict began when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated regime and state-backed Arab militias, fighting for resources and power in one of the most remote and deprived places on earth.
(AFP)
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?page=imprimable&id_article=27412
June 4, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — The European Union is willing to consider penalties against Sudan should Khartoum continue to harbor suspected Darfur war criminals charged by the world court, a top diplomat said Wednesday.
French ambassador to the United Nations, Jean-Maurice Ripert, whose country assumes the rotating E.U. presidency next month, criticized Sudan’s refusal to surrender two alleged war criminals to the International Criminal Court.
Ripert was speaking after a meeting with presidential advisor Nafie Ali Nafie. He was traveling in a U.N. Security Council mission, which held talks Wednesday with the Sudanese government during a 10-day tour of African troublespots.
"France and the European Union are ready to consider additional measures against the government of Sudan if it continues to refuse to cooperate," Ripert told reporters in Khartoum.
"All the Europeans present supported me. It’s the first time that six European countries (those in the U.N. Security Council) state clearly that this U.N. resolution must be respected," he added.
Three years ago, the Security Council referred Darfur justice to the ICC, and human rights watchdogs used the U.N. visit to Khartoum Wednesday to again urge the delegation to persuade Sudan to hand over suspects facing arrest warrants.
Sudan has consistently ignored ICC arrest warrants for secretary of state for humanitarian affairs Ahmed Haroun and Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kosheib, and says it has established its own court to try Darfur cases.
"It is time to respond to Khartoum’s flagrant obstruction with a clear resolution reminding Sudan of its obligations to the court and to the victims," said Niemat Ahmadi from the faith-based Save Darfur Coalition.
Thursday, the U.N. Security Council mission is to travel to Darfur - the same day that ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will unveil details of a second case against senior figures in the five-year Darfur war.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Haroun and Kosheib April 27, 2007. They are charged with 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including acts of murder, persecution, torture, rape and forcible displacement.
The 15 U.N. ambassadors Wednesday met Foreign Minister Deng Alor and Vice President Ali Osman Taha as well as Nafie.
Alor, who belongs to the southern former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement that has shared power with the National Congress of President Omar al-Beshir since the end of a 21-year civil war, said his party favored cooperation.
"I am not talking as a minister of foreign affairs. In this particular issue I’m speaking as SPLM and SPLM calls for cooperation. That’s what I said in my briefing with the ambassadors," Alor said.
But Sudan’s ambassador to the U.N., Abdalmahmood Mohamad, said Khartoum would never extradite any Sudanese to The Hague and launched a stinging attack on ICC prosecutor Ocampo.
"We are not a member of the ICC. They have no jurisdiction over us. We will never submit any Sudanese citizen to The Hague," he said.
In July 2007, Sudan told the U.N. Human Rights Committee that it was handling cases against soldiers and police officers accused of crimes in Darfur.
"He (Ocampo) is one of the major destroyers of the peace process in Sudan. It reveals his professional bankruptcy because he is dealing with an activist not a jurist," the U.N. ambassador told reporters.
"He is serving certain agendas to keep this country in an intensive care unit," he added.
Last year, Sudan highlighted more than a dozen cases against soldiers or "senior officers" in Darfur which resulted in the death penalty, jail sentences and damages paid to victims’ families for murder, torture and rape.
The U.S. has called on the European Union to match U.S. financial sanctions against Sudan in order to force Khartoum to accept the deployment of a U.N.-led peacekeeping force in Darfur.
The U.N. says that up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million fled their homes since the Darfur conflict broke out in February 2003. Sudan says 10,000 have been killed.
The conflict began when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated regime and state-backed Arab militias, fighting for resources and power in one of the most remote and deprived places on earth.
(AFP)
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?page=imprimable&id_article=27412
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
'Whole state' behind Darfur crime
The "whole state apparatus" of Sudan is implicated in crimes against humanity in Darfur, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor has said.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo's report into the crisis in western Sudan, due on Thursday, coincides with a visit to the region by the UN Security Council.
Sudan's ambassador to the UN said the comments were "fictitious and vicious" and harmful to the prospects of peace.
The UN ambassadors are in the country to try to end the conflict.
In the report on the situation in Sudan, to be delivered to the UN Security Council, Mr Moreno-Ocampo repeats his earlier call for the council to demand that Sudan hand over two men who face charges of crimes against humanity.
Time for sanctions
The treaty that created the International Criminal Court (ICC) was intended to hold individuals, not entire states, responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
By accusing Sudan's "whole state apparatus" of helping shield criminals, correspondents say, the prosecutor is implicating some of the highest officials of the government.
The Sudanese ambassador to the UN responded angrily that his country will not bend to the will of the ICC.
"We will never submit any of our citizens to be tried in The Hague," Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed said.
"Ocampo is destroying the peace process and we demand that this man be held accountable for what he is doing to the peace process in Sudan."
Mr Moreno-Ocampo's report comes as the Aegis Trust campaign group released a 17-minute film featuring harrowing eyewitness accounts of the war crimes allegedly committed by the two men whom the ICC accuses the Sudanese government of harbouring.
During the five-year conflict, pro-government Arab militias stand accused of committing atrocities against black Africans.
It is a conflict that has claimed an estimated 200,000 lives and caused 2.5m people to flee their homes.
Ali Kushayb, a leader of the Janjaweed militia, and Ahmad Harun, Sudan's current Humanitarian Affairs Minister, are both charged with 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including acts of murder, persecution, torture, rape and forcible displacement.
Dr James Smith, Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust, said the time had come for the Security Council to increase the pressure.
"It is time the Security Council placed targeted sanctions - travel bans at least - on those in Sudan who harbour those wanted for war crimes."
France's ambassador to the UN, Jean-Maurice Ripert, who is taking part in the visit to Africa's trouble spots, said Europe would be willing to penalise Sudan if it did not cooperate with the ICC.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/7436472.stm
Published: 2008/06/04 22:33:41 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Luis Moreno-Ocampo's report into the crisis in western Sudan, due on Thursday, coincides with a visit to the region by the UN Security Council.
Sudan's ambassador to the UN said the comments were "fictitious and vicious" and harmful to the prospects of peace.
The UN ambassadors are in the country to try to end the conflict.
In the report on the situation in Sudan, to be delivered to the UN Security Council, Mr Moreno-Ocampo repeats his earlier call for the council to demand that Sudan hand over two men who face charges of crimes against humanity.
Time for sanctions
The treaty that created the International Criminal Court (ICC) was intended to hold individuals, not entire states, responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
By accusing Sudan's "whole state apparatus" of helping shield criminals, correspondents say, the prosecutor is implicating some of the highest officials of the government.
The Sudanese ambassador to the UN responded angrily that his country will not bend to the will of the ICC.
"We will never submit any of our citizens to be tried in The Hague," Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed said.
"Ocampo is destroying the peace process and we demand that this man be held accountable for what he is doing to the peace process in Sudan."
Mr Moreno-Ocampo's report comes as the Aegis Trust campaign group released a 17-minute film featuring harrowing eyewitness accounts of the war crimes allegedly committed by the two men whom the ICC accuses the Sudanese government of harbouring.
During the five-year conflict, pro-government Arab militias stand accused of committing atrocities against black Africans.
It is a conflict that has claimed an estimated 200,000 lives and caused 2.5m people to flee their homes.
Ali Kushayb, a leader of the Janjaweed militia, and Ahmad Harun, Sudan's current Humanitarian Affairs Minister, are both charged with 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including acts of murder, persecution, torture, rape and forcible displacement.
Dr James Smith, Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust, said the time had come for the Security Council to increase the pressure.
"It is time the Security Council placed targeted sanctions - travel bans at least - on those in Sudan who harbour those wanted for war crimes."
France's ambassador to the UN, Jean-Maurice Ripert, who is taking part in the visit to Africa's trouble spots, said Europe would be willing to penalise Sudan if it did not cooperate with the ICC.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/7436472.stm
Published: 2008/06/04 22:33:41 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
An Up-close View of Brutality in Darfur
Christian Science Monitor, May 12, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008 - 12:17 AM
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0512/p09s02-coop.html
By Eric Reeves
NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS - The brutality of the Khartoum regime's military actions in the Darfur region of western Sudan continually forces a question that seems to have no morally intelligible answer: Is there no act of civilian destruction so cruel, so savage, that the international community will finally respond vigorously and unambiguously?
On May 4, at about 4 p.m., a school was bombed in the village of Shegeg Karo in North Darfur; one classroom was destroyed, killing six students and injuring others. The village marketplace was also bombed, killing several people and destroying most of the shops in this vestige of a shattered agricultural economy.
The plane that dropped the bombs was an Antonov. It's not a bomber by design, but a retrofitted Russian cargo plane from which crude, shrapnel-loaded barrel bombs are simply rolled out the back cargo bay. There is no bombing guidance system, so Antonovs are useless as true military weapons. But they are exquisitely suited for their real purpose in Darfur: civilian terror.
Khartoum refuses to acknowledge or accept responsibility for the attacks, even as it refused to allow UN personnel to evacuate badly wounded children. But only Khartoum flies military aircraft in Darfur, so there can be very little doubt that the attacks were authorized by the military command of the National Islamic Front. As Human Rights Watch has conclusively demonstrated, Khartoum's chain of command – both military and civilian – is powerfully hierarchical. This was not the action of a rogue commander, but almost certainly an act of deliberate civilian destruction countenanced by senior officials.
Highly reliable sources report that the Antonov hovered over Shegeg Karo for a while before finally dropping its bomb load. There could have been no mistaking the civilian nature of the target.
This is hardly surprising. We have countless reports of similar bombing attacks in Darfur as well as during Sudan's earlier north/south conflict. Indeed, in southern Sudan, Khartoum repeatedly and deliberately attacked the sites of humanitarian operations.
This bombing attack, on a conspicuously civilian target, violates not only international law but a ban on all military flights in Darfur, nominally imposed by UN Security Council Resolution 1591 in March 2005. Khartoum has shown nothing but contempt for both, and the international community has watched with nothing but idle words and unctuous hand-wringing – a fact not lost on the regime's génocidaires as they calculate the costs of their continuing campaign of civilian destruction.
Who are the victims of this international cowardice? Who suffers when the world refuses to demand justice of those who would deliberately kill children? Let's at least grant the dignity of names to the victims of this most recent barbarism:
•Fatima Suleiman Adam Omar, 3rd grade, 10 years old
•Fatima Ahmad Bashir, 2nd grade, 8 years old
•Mubarak Mohammed Ahmad, 3rd grade, 10 years old
•Yusuf Adam Hamid, kindergarten, 5 years old
•Munira Suleiman Adam, 2nd grade, 7 years old
•Adam Ahmad Yusuf, 4th grade, 11 years old
How would Americans respond if terrorists acting on behalf of another country deliberately killed, with complete military impunity, six young children in one of our nation's schools? Outrage would bring the country to a halt. It would change the very nature of the presidential campaign. News coverage would be unending. Washington's response against the offending nation would be swift and destructive.
And yet in Darfur, an act all too analogous barely registers here. Darfur's victims are people whose lives have long since endured a ghastly moral discounting. These are not "our children," these are not "our problems," this is not "our responsibility."
The whole world should respond vigorously to a nation that barbarously bombs kindergartners such as Yusuf Adam Hamid. Instead, we lamely bow in deference to Sudan's "national sovereignty." Do we have the courage to accept the stark implications of our refusal to hold accountable those responsible for his death? The answer is painfully, disgracefully obvious.
[Eric Reeves, a professor of English language and literature at Smith College, is the author of "A Long Day's Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide"]
CORRECTION:
May 13, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
UPDATE ON SHEGEG KARO BOMBING
Shegeg Karo village in North Darfur was bombed repeatedly by an Antonov aircraft on Sunday, May 4th. The bombing happened between 2-3pm, not at 4pm as reported in the May 5 press release from “Darfur Diaries”.
The Shegeg Karo market was hit directly and was completely burned, as confirmed by a UNAMID press release on May 10th. The school facilities, which had been reported as hit in the May 5 press release, we are now informed were unaffected. We have since been told that the six school children who were killed had already left the school and were in the adjacent market when the bombs dropped.
On Tuesday afternoon, May 6th, after waiting for 48 hours for medical help from UNAMID or a humanitarian organization the villagers drove cars with the most severely wounded in search of medical treatment. The four most severely injured civilians were reportedly taken to Bir Maza, a four hour drive away, including an unconscious eight year old girl they believed had a broken back and a fourteen year old boy they believed had a broken arm and leg and who had lost a lot of blood. A further eight more moderately injured civilians were driven by the villagers to Bahai, Chad to seek medical treatment.
Shegeg Karo received no help from UNAMID or humanitarian organizations until Wednesday, May 7th, when the ICRC came by land to treat the wounded.
A UNAMIS assessment team did not arrive to the village until Thursday, May 8, four days after the bombing, although the World Health Organization and the UN Department of Safety and Security had been notified just hours after the attack and UNICEF health division notified the following morning.
The Shegeg Karo school is funded by the Darfur Diaries project in cooperation with the Darfur Peace and Development Organization (www.darfurdiaries.org)
For more information, please contact:
Jen Marlowe, Darfur Diaries, or 1.202.375.3492
jenmarlowe@hotmail.com
www.darfurdiaries.org
http://www.sudanreeves.org/Article214.html
Monday, May 12, 2008 - 12:17 AM
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0512/p09s02-coop.html
By Eric Reeves
NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS - The brutality of the Khartoum regime's military actions in the Darfur region of western Sudan continually forces a question that seems to have no morally intelligible answer: Is there no act of civilian destruction so cruel, so savage, that the international community will finally respond vigorously and unambiguously?
On May 4, at about 4 p.m., a school was bombed in the village of Shegeg Karo in North Darfur; one classroom was destroyed, killing six students and injuring others. The village marketplace was also bombed, killing several people and destroying most of the shops in this vestige of a shattered agricultural economy.
The plane that dropped the bombs was an Antonov. It's not a bomber by design, but a retrofitted Russian cargo plane from which crude, shrapnel-loaded barrel bombs are simply rolled out the back cargo bay. There is no bombing guidance system, so Antonovs are useless as true military weapons. But they are exquisitely suited for their real purpose in Darfur: civilian terror.
Khartoum refuses to acknowledge or accept responsibility for the attacks, even as it refused to allow UN personnel to evacuate badly wounded children. But only Khartoum flies military aircraft in Darfur, so there can be very little doubt that the attacks were authorized by the military command of the National Islamic Front. As Human Rights Watch has conclusively demonstrated, Khartoum's chain of command – both military and civilian – is powerfully hierarchical. This was not the action of a rogue commander, but almost certainly an act of deliberate civilian destruction countenanced by senior officials.
Highly reliable sources report that the Antonov hovered over Shegeg Karo for a while before finally dropping its bomb load. There could have been no mistaking the civilian nature of the target.
This is hardly surprising. We have countless reports of similar bombing attacks in Darfur as well as during Sudan's earlier north/south conflict. Indeed, in southern Sudan, Khartoum repeatedly and deliberately attacked the sites of humanitarian operations.
This bombing attack, on a conspicuously civilian target, violates not only international law but a ban on all military flights in Darfur, nominally imposed by UN Security Council Resolution 1591 in March 2005. Khartoum has shown nothing but contempt for both, and the international community has watched with nothing but idle words and unctuous hand-wringing – a fact not lost on the regime's génocidaires as they calculate the costs of their continuing campaign of civilian destruction.
Who are the victims of this international cowardice? Who suffers when the world refuses to demand justice of those who would deliberately kill children? Let's at least grant the dignity of names to the victims of this most recent barbarism:
•Fatima Suleiman Adam Omar, 3rd grade, 10 years old
•Fatima Ahmad Bashir, 2nd grade, 8 years old
•Mubarak Mohammed Ahmad, 3rd grade, 10 years old
•Yusuf Adam Hamid, kindergarten, 5 years old
•Munira Suleiman Adam, 2nd grade, 7 years old
•Adam Ahmad Yusuf, 4th grade, 11 years old
How would Americans respond if terrorists acting on behalf of another country deliberately killed, with complete military impunity, six young children in one of our nation's schools? Outrage would bring the country to a halt. It would change the very nature of the presidential campaign. News coverage would be unending. Washington's response against the offending nation would be swift and destructive.
And yet in Darfur, an act all too analogous barely registers here. Darfur's victims are people whose lives have long since endured a ghastly moral discounting. These are not "our children," these are not "our problems," this is not "our responsibility."
The whole world should respond vigorously to a nation that barbarously bombs kindergartners such as Yusuf Adam Hamid. Instead, we lamely bow in deference to Sudan's "national sovereignty." Do we have the courage to accept the stark implications of our refusal to hold accountable those responsible for his death? The answer is painfully, disgracefully obvious.
[Eric Reeves, a professor of English language and literature at Smith College, is the author of "A Long Day's Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide"]
CORRECTION:
May 13, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
UPDATE ON SHEGEG KARO BOMBING
Shegeg Karo village in North Darfur was bombed repeatedly by an Antonov aircraft on Sunday, May 4th. The bombing happened between 2-3pm, not at 4pm as reported in the May 5 press release from “Darfur Diaries”.
The Shegeg Karo market was hit directly and was completely burned, as confirmed by a UNAMID press release on May 10th. The school facilities, which had been reported as hit in the May 5 press release, we are now informed were unaffected. We have since been told that the six school children who were killed had already left the school and were in the adjacent market when the bombs dropped.
On Tuesday afternoon, May 6th, after waiting for 48 hours for medical help from UNAMID or a humanitarian organization the villagers drove cars with the most severely wounded in search of medical treatment. The four most severely injured civilians were reportedly taken to Bir Maza, a four hour drive away, including an unconscious eight year old girl they believed had a broken back and a fourteen year old boy they believed had a broken arm and leg and who had lost a lot of blood. A further eight more moderately injured civilians were driven by the villagers to Bahai, Chad to seek medical treatment.
Shegeg Karo received no help from UNAMID or humanitarian organizations until Wednesday, May 7th, when the ICRC came by land to treat the wounded.
A UNAMIS assessment team did not arrive to the village until Thursday, May 8, four days after the bombing, although the World Health Organization and the UN Department of Safety and Security had been notified just hours after the attack and UNICEF health division notified the following morning.
The Shegeg Karo school is funded by the Darfur Diaries project in cooperation with the Darfur Peace and Development Organization (www.darfurdiaries.org)
For more information, please contact:
Jen Marlowe, Darfur Diaries, or 1.202.375.3492
jenmarlowe@hotmail.com
www.darfurdiaries.org
http://www.sudanreeves.org/Article214.html
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