New York - The ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said
Thursday he will seek to prosecute rebel groups in Sudan's Darfur
region just as he is prosecuting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir
for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur's
ethnic conflict.
Moreno-Ocampo said the International Criminal Court (ICC) based at
The Hague represents the 'new legal framework' for the world in
addition to national judicial systems even though scores of them,
including Sudan, have yet to recognize the ICC.
He informed the United Nations that he plans to seek the arrest of
rebel leaders responsible for the killing and rape of civilians in
Darfur, the same crimes he had charged Khartoum officials with,
including al-Bashir. Moreno-Ocampo on Monday asked a three-judge
panel of the ICC to issue a warrant for al-Bashir's arrest.
'Conflict managers have to respect the new legal framework,' he
said. 'Judges' decisions cannot be ignored, no negotiators may
overturn judges' decisions. Once the (ICC) judges have issued another
warrant (for al-Bashir), the issue is not if an indictee should be
arrested, but how and when.'
He had requested the arrest of Khartoum's minister of humanitarian
affairs Ahmad Muhammed Harun and Janjaweed militia leader Ali
Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman. Moreno-Ocampo has accused the pair of war
crimes and crimes against humanity.
'The biggest challenge has yet to come,' Moreno-Ocampo said. He
said once an warrant is issued to arrest al-Bashir, he will ask
Khartoum to execute.
'If it (Khartoum) refuses, regional organizations will have a big
responsibility in finding solutions,' he said, speaking publicly for
the first time since he requested on Monday an arrest warrant for
al-Bashir.
He proclaimed the ICC's and his own independence in legally
pursuing the charges against the Sudanese leader.
'I am the prosecutor and I have to do my judicial part of the work
for the court, and it will be up to the state parties to decide,' he
told a press conference at UN headquarters in New York.
'I kept my independence and I cannot be a political factor (in the
peace process in Darfur),' he said when asked whether arresting
al-Bashir would harm peace negotiations. 'I had informed the
political actors of my work.'
The ICC was established by the Rome Statute signed in 1998 by
more than 130 countries, of which 106 have ratified the convention
setting up the court. Moreno-Ocampo and other officials of the court
based at The Hague were at UN headquarters to celebrate the 10th
anniversary of the adoption of the statute.
The United States, Sudan, China, Russia and Israel have not signed
the statute and rejected the ICC's jurisdiction over genocide, crimes
against humanity and war crimes.
The UN Security Council in 2005 asked the ICC to investigate the
ethnic killing in Darfur with the support of the US, China and Russia
- three of the five UN Security Council permanent members with veto
power - despite their rejection of the court. The other two permanent
members - France and Britain - have ratified the convention.
Moreno-Ocampo declined to discuss openly the charges he made
against al-Bashir, which he gave to a three-judge panel at The Hague
when he requested the arrest warrant on Monday. He said there was no
deadline for the panel to reply to his request.
The charges against the Sudanese president had provoked strong and
adverse reactions from Khartoum, and concerns from UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon, that they might interfere with UN efforts to end
the conflict through negotiations involving al-Bashir.
Diplomats at UN headquarters said some council members, including
from China and a few African nations, may request the Security
Council to ask the ICC to defer the legal process against al-Bashir
for one year.
The ICC said postponing the case is a legal and permissible step
allowed by the ICC convention. But the 15-nation council will have to
adopt a resolution requesting the postponement, because it referred
Darfur to the ICC also by a resolution.
Moreno-Ocampo asked the council last December to call on al-Bashir
for the surrender of Ahmad Muhammad Harun, who was promoted as
minister for humanitarian affairs after the ICC charged him with war
crimes in Darfur in his capacity as the minister of the interior.
The prosecutor also asked for the surrender of Ali Muhammad Ali
Abd-al-Rahman, a leader of the Arab militia known as Janjaweed, who
had been fighting African rebel groups in Darfur. The Janjaweed were
accused of the worst atrocities against Darfur's civilian population.
The UN said the ethnic conflict in Darfur since 2003 had killed
more than 300,000 people and made 2.5 million refugees. Most of the Darfur population have been receiving humanitarian assistance from
international relief organizations.
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