Security Council deliberates on arrest warrant against Sudanese President Al Bashir must be brought to justice for the crimes in Darfur

If the international community really wants to bring to justice those responsible for the genocide in Darfur, then the Security Council must give the green light for the issue of a warrant for the arrest of the Sudanese President, Omar Hassan al Bashir. This is the demand made by the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) in its new human rights report on Sudan published on Wednesday. "If the warrant is blocked, it is not only the credibility of the chief prosecutor of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, which is in danger, but also the binding character of international law and the existence of the ICJ”, said the GfbV Africa consultant, Ulrich Delius, on Wednesday in Göttingen. Moreno-Campo is reporting today at the Security Council on the progress of the investigations against the Sudanese President.

In its 27-page report the GfbV documents the attempts of the international community to secure justice for the victims of the genocide in Darfur in the past four years. A chronicle shows how the Sudanese government has been systematically preventing any credible legal processing of the crimes committed in Darfur. "At the same time Khartoum has been defaming and criminalising Moreno-Ocampo and the ICJ to such an extent that this can no longer be taken lying down by the international community”, said Delius. Moreno-Ocampo is neither an illusionist nor someone lacking in diplomatic tact. If people like the Arab League now accuse him of endangering peace in the region then they must be prepared to face the question as to why they have taken no action in the past six years to stop the genocide. In contrast to the international community the chief prosecutor has just taken his task seriously and been investigating without any prejudice to the suspected persons.

A warrant for the arrest of Bashir could have been avoided if Sudan had cooperated with the ICJ in time, says the GfbV report. However for 18 months the Sudanese government has systematically ignored the warrants of the ICJ for the present Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Ahmed Haroun, and a senior officer of the Janjaweed militia, Ali Kushayb. Both are accused of committing serious crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Russia, China, the African Union (AU), the Arab League and the Movement of Block-free States are pressing for a moratorium on the investigations of the ICJ for one year in accordance with Article 16 of the Statute of the Court of Justice. The official reason for this move given by these states, which have many political and economic ties with Sudan, is their concern for peace in the region.

Download the Report (German Language)