Hours after the International Criminal Court ordered the arrest of Sudanese president Al- Bashir on war crimes last 4 March 2009, Abdelbagy H. Abushanab, a Darfuri activist for more than three decades and founding member of the non-governmental organization Darfur Rehabilitation Project, discussed his reaction to the warrant with the CICC Secretariat in New York. Here are some excerpts of that conversation:
“…This is a day Darfur victims have been waiting for; this is also a great victory for the advocates for justice…I think it is a victory for the international community. I feel very pleased of the extensive efforts in making sure that this crisis in Darfur stopped. This can serve as one of the pillars of actually securing and sustainable peace in Sudan in general, and in Darfur particularly….”
“…[Y]ou cannot believe the level of excitement and energy that the Darfurians felt and this is reflective of the failure of the judicial system of Sudan to address the issue of Darfur from the beginning…through the 6 years they continue to deny that there aren’t any problems in Darfur because they refer to it as a minor tribal issue, but then the question that should be asked is where has the government been? I think that al-Bashir’s first and foremost duty is to protect the civilians as a priority regardless where they are in a country, they are people who are formed under his jurisdiction and need to be protected but instead of doing that, he actually empowered a group against the other….”
“Sudan is known historically as a very peaceful country with very diverse groups who are very unique in their way of life. Today, we stand against each other even in such a distant nation. But I think for people of Darfur, those in the Diaspora, in the camps, and in the IDP camps, it is as if they are reborn and will see the justice coming and my call now is for the Sudanese people to see that I think the most noble thing we could do as Sudanese and Darfurians…is our calls for peace and justice to be taken very seriously with the ICC. Bashir stands as an accused person; he has the privilege of going to the ICC to defend himself in the most carefully designed way of justice to prove his innocence or to be proven guilty….”
“If you look at Sudan, it borders 9 countries; none of them are democratic with the exception of Kenya, which has a newly born very fragile democratic system which failed the test when those eruptions happened as a result of the recent elections. We can go on and on, on this issue. And I think it’s that time, for the people collectively and for the people of Darfur to take the lead in helping themselves to be helped, to make sure that there is peace and justice, that the process is now more likely to take it’s right course rather than the predictions we used to abide ourselves by and for them to know the wait is over so let that independent judicial system continue to help us to identify the criminals and put them away so that we can rebuild our lives. But, it is a lot to be done.”
African leaders who call the indictment of Sudanese President Al Bashir a scandal and argue that international criminal justice is being politicized (and even refer it to as neocolonialism) should first start to realize that they are incapable of organizing a trial against Hissène Habré. Considering this failure, they should remain silent and let other people take care of things. They have not had a trial that could be used as an example for the prosecution of those who commit international crimes. Isn’t the failure in the Habre case due first and foremost to the African Union? In addition, when the Senegalese President A. Wade claimed that he “feels that the ICC was only created to try Africans”, he forgets about the sad reality surrounding the Habré case, a case that involves particularly his country. On one hand, African leaders demonstrate their incapacity to organize trials in Africa, on the other hand, they talk about neocolonialism when the ICC takes over (based on the complementarity principle). In the end, what is the future of international criminal justice in the political agendas of all African leaders?
According to a report by Sudan Tribune (see URL), on 12 March the Prosecutor has made public that he has filed an appeal to the PTCI (Pre-Trial Chamber I) on the grounds that in its decision the Chamber “imposes an evidentiary burden that is inappropriate for this early procedural stage” and that the Rome Statute only requires the judges to affirm that there is “reasonable evidence” that an individual committed a certain crime for the issuance if an arrest warrant.
What is the Coalition’s position on the Prosecutor’s contention and the ground that the judges in the Chamber has argued, that is, “why the crime of genocide was not pressed by the prosecutor in the 2007 cases against Ahmed Haroun and against Ali Kushayb”?. In his response under the appeal document the Prosecutor contended that “Haroun’s statements acquire genocidal significance in the context of Al Bashir’s use of the entire state apparatus to commit the crimes, including, but not limited, the key role assigned to Haroun”. What are your opinions on these contetions? Thanks.
Takahiro Katsumi
Secretary-General
JNICC, Japan
The Coalition Secretariat does not take a position on what crimes the prosecutor should investigate and prosecute. As a membership organization of more than 2,500 organizations in 150 countries, we cannot speak for the views of all our members on these very complicated issues. However, we strongly support the prosecutor’s right to appeal pre-trial chamber’s decision and cite this as proof positive of international justice at work: the ICC’s appeals procedures ensure that the decisions rendered by the Court reflect a fair and independent approach to the prosecution of the gravest crimes.
-CICC Secretariat
Hello to all and thanks for this opportunity to share my thoughts on the recent blog posting “A Victory for the International Community” which could also be titled perhaps more aptly, a “Victory for weakened Darfuris.” Listen, the international community is working to resolve the Darfur crisis on behalf of the oppressed have-nots, so to say that the international community has won a victory suggests that the Darfuris have won the battle against their oppressor which is far from the truth of the matter.
I too identify with the joy Darfuris in the diaspora expressed in response to the 4 March arrest warrant against Al-Bashir and share the author’s sentiment exactly. I only wish this joy were felt more widely throughout Africa. I understand that some African leaders are rising up against the ICC, but nevertheless we must not fear the sanctions they threaten to impose. While African leaders certainly have their reasons for supporting fellow leaders and dictators, the ICC mustn’t become a kind of medicine given after the patient’s death to use one analogy. The ICC must do more to exercise its power of prevention whether it concerns genocide or war crimes.
-Mitsoko Jean Bruno Mitsoko, Secrétaire Général du Mouvement national pour les Elections Transparentes (MOUVET), Congo Brazzaville