Pre-Trial Chamber I informs the Security Council and the Assembly of States Parties about Omar Al Bashir’s visits to Kenya and Chad
ICC-CPI-20100827-PR568
Case: The Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir Situation: Darfur, Sudan
Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued two decisions informing the Security Council of the United Nations and the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute about Omar Al Bashir’s visits to the Republic of Kenya and the Republic of Chad, “in order for them to take any measure they may deem appropriate”.
The Chamber had learnt that Al Bashir was invited by the Government of Kenya to attend today’s celebrations for the promulgation of the new Kenyan Constitution and was in Chad from 21 to 23 July. The Republic of Kenya and the Republic of Chad have an “obligation to cooperate with the Court” to enforce the warrants of arrest issued against Al Bashir by the ICC, according to the Chamber.
The ICC Registrar was ordered to immediately transmit these decisions to the Security Council and to the Assembly of States Parties. Previously, pursuant to the Pre-Trial Chamber decisions issuing two warrants of arrest against Omar Al Bashir, the ICC Registrar had issued and transmitted requests for arrest and surrender of Mr. Al Bashir to all States Parties to the Rome Statute, including the Republic of Kenya and the Republic of Chad.
On 4 March, 2009, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC issued a first warrant of arrest against Mr. Al Bashir considering that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspect is criminally responsible for five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts for war crimes. A second warrant of arrest was issued against Mr. Al Bashir, on 12 July, 2010, for three counts of genocide.
The situation in Darfur was referred to the International Criminal Court by the United Nations Security Council’s resolution 1593, on 31 March, 2005. In this situation, four cases are being heard: The Prosecutor v. Ahmad Muhammad Harun (“Ahmad Harun”) and Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (“Ali Kushayb”); The Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir; The Prosecutor v. Bahar Idriss Abu Garda and The Prosecutor v. Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus.
For further information please contact Sonia Robla, Chief of Public Information and Documentation Section, at +31 (0)70 515-8089 or +31 (0) 6 46 44 87 26 or at sonia.robla@icc-cpi.int
As International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo arrives in Kenya, a group of African States plans to petition the United Nations Security Council to defer the investigations until after the next General Election.
The 60 African lobbyists — who include academics, politicians and lawyers — plan a parallel meeting to an ICC Review Meeting scheduled for May 31 to June 11 in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.
The push to stop Moreno-Ocampo from pursuing post-election violence suspects has been met with stinging criticism from local human rights groups, who read desperate attempts by forces culpable in the violence that consumed the country in the aftermath of the highly disputed 2007 presidential elections.
African Union that has in the past two years been critical of Moreno-Ocampo since he slapped a warrant of arrest on Sudanese President Omar Hassan el Bashir, are pushing for a revision of Article 15 of the Rome Statute that bestows unlimited powers on the chief prosecutor to pursue leaders accused of genocide and crimes against humanity.
The anti-Moreno Ocampo campaign is being spearheaded by Sudan, which has rallied support from among others Kenya, Libya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Uganda, South Africa, DR Congo, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Liberia Mozambique and Chad.
In Europe, former USSR and Czechoslovakia satellite states are rallying behind the lobby group.
Apart from the African World Media (AWM), a leading British lobby group, and American-based Witness Africa, are some of the organisations lining up to tell Ocampo to "give Kenya breathing space".
Further, the group has drafted a petition it hopes to present to the UN Security Council on Wednesday to press for the deferment of the ICC investigations pending the conclusion of Agenda Item IV of the National Peace Accord signed under international pressure by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga that ended post-election chaos in 2008.
Moreno-Ocampo arrives at a time when the referendum debate has elicited strong reactions from the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ camps, stoking fears of ethnic and political polarisation reminiscent of post-2007 General Election.
The leader of the group that convenes under the aegis AWM, Dr David Nyekorach-Matsanga, says ICC investigations of crimes against humanity carries with it a disruptive effect and has the potential to polarise the country further.
"We are wary of deadline politics in Africa. Crimes were committed in Kenya but this is not the time to engage in investigations that can rekindle the ethnic hostilities the resulted in post-election chaos. It is also important that the investigations be deferred pending the conclusion of constitutional, judicial, police and civil service reforms, which are on course," Dr Matsanga told The Standard on Saturday.
However, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Vice-Chairman Hassan Omar says the push to scuttle the ICC activities in Kenya would be resisted.
"There is obviously panic in Government because it is dominated by key suspects. ICC operations will move in any direction, including the Executive. The attempt to criticise the ICC or reduce the mandate of chief prosecutor is myopic as it cannot deflate the wheels of justice as they are catching up with people who planned and committed the crimes," Omar, who will participate in ICC General Assembly meeting in Uganda, says.
This is not the first time that Matsanga wants Moreno-Ocampo tamed in the hunt for post-election suspects.
Perceived impunity
In February, a 12-page application was filed at the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II seeking the nullification of the international court’s effort to rein in perceived impunity in Kenya.
More significantly, the application filed soon after that of two Americans — Prof Max Hilaire and William A Cohn — failed to convince the international court to scupper investigations.
In the application, Matsanga argued: "Flawed application of Article 15 of the Rome Statute of 1998 is likely to lead to flawed justice for both the victims and the alleged key perpetrators of the post-election violence of 2007-2008 as well as lead to a cataclysmic politico-socio falling out across the country, with a dire consequences for Kenya."
Moreno-Ocampo’s five-day visit to Kenya has apparently rekindled fears that the hunt for bearers of the greatest responsibility for alleged crimes against humanity would rope in the Executive, which a local commission of inquiry has blamed for occasioning post-election violence.
International Centre for Transitional Justice senior researcher and lawyer, Njonjo Mue, agrees the search for justice for post-election violence faces threats of being messed by politics.
But he says: "The victims of post-election violence have waited too long. The rules of procedure are such that the process cannot stall until the investigations are through. Ocampo is aware of this. The indictments can be open or sealed, so there should be no fear that investigations will affect constitutional reforms as ICC is not a political court," says Mue.
University of Nairobi political science lecturer, Adams Oloo, shares the sentiments. But he cautioned: "Although the timelines of the referendum and ICC investigations are far apart, key suspects could use them as an excuse to mess up the democratic process. Ideally Moreno-Ocampo’s investigations could influence the 2012 elections."
An ICC statement early in the week that Moreno-Ocampo’s investigations would, when necessary, be taken to the highest office on the land has intensified panic that had been on a lull since his departure in November.
The planned meeting is part of the pressure that is piling again from within and outside Kenya against ICC to frustrate the investigations pending the determination of Africa’s demand for the reduction of the chief prosecutor’s powers.
Agenda IV, an outcome of national reconciliation and peace talks, envisages constitutional, electoral and judicial reforms whose deadlines are defined by the timeframe provided in the National Accord.
Moreno-Ocampo touched off panic in the high echelons of the Government when he declared early in the week that his imminent investigations would not spare anybody irrespective of position in the Government.
Photo (Associated Press): The International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands
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Report from: Aljazeera.net Date: Thursday, November 26, 2009 16:33 MECCA Time, 13:33 GMT
Title: Prosecutor requests Kenya inquiry
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has asked judges to allow him to launch a formal investigation into post-election in Kenya.
The ICC said on November 6 it would consider a prosecution request to investigate suspected crimes against humanity committed during the clashes, which left at least 1,300 people dead.
"There is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity within the jurisdiction of the court were committed," Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in The Hague, Netherlands, on Thursday.
"In particular, crimes of murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, deportation or forcible transfer of population and other inhuman acts."
The violence broke out after Raila Odinga, now prime minister in a power-sharing government, accused his rival for the presidency, Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent president, of winning the December 27, 2007 poll through widespread fraud.
Hundreds of thousands of people were forced from their homes as the violence raged.
Investigation
Moreno-Ocampo has been conducting a preliminary investigation into the clashes since February last year and said during a visit to Kenya last month that he wished to pursue "those responsible".
This is the first time that the ICC prosecutor has sought to open an official investigation on his own initiative, one of three ways in which a case can come before the international court.
Other cases before the court had either been referred by countries that have signed up to the court's founding Rome Statute or by the UN Security Council, as in the case of the conflict in Darfur, Sudan.
Elizabeth Evenson, counsel in the international justice programme of Human Rights Watch, said: "The ICC is a court of last resort, and when national authorities are unwilling to act, it is supposed to step in.
"Today's announcement shows that the ICC prosecutor can and will act on his own in situations of serious crimes."
The Kenyan government has yet to act on the recommendation of its own inquiry that a special tribunal be set up to investigate the violence.
Moses Wetangula, the Kenyan foreign minister, said earlier this month that Nairobi would assist any ICC to investigation, but was committed to a "local solution".
In July, Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general who helped broker the power-sharing deal between Kenya's leaders, sent the ICC a list of names of key suspects that is believed to include senior government officials.
Click here for photo - Moreno-Ocampo, left, has been carrying out his own investigation since February last year [AFP] - with thanks to Aljazeera.net - - -
Luis Moreno Ocampo, a graduate of the University of Buenos Aires Law School, is currently in private practice in Buenos Aires, where he specializes in corruption control programs for large organizations. He also serves as an adjunct professor of Penal Law at his alma mater.
Mr. Moreno Ocampo played a key role in the trials related to Argentina's democratic transition.
He was the assistant prosecutor in the trials against the military junta (1985), and in the trials against the chief of the Buenos Aires Police (1986).
When he served as District Attorney for the Federal Circuit of the City of Buenos Aires from 1987 to 1992, he was in charge of the trials against the military responsible for the Falklands [Malvinas] war (1988), those who headed the military rebellions in 1988, and prosecuted many large public corruption cases.
He has worked with both the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations, aiding governments to establish systems to control corruption.
He was the co-founder of Poder Ciudadano, a non-governmental organization which promotes citizen responsibility and participation.
Mr. Moreno Ocampo is a member of the Advisory Committee of Transparency International, a world-wide organization that reduces corruption in international business transactions; in addition he serves as its President for Latin America and the Caribbean.
His publications include In Self Defense, How to Avoid Corruption (1993) and When Power Lost the Trial: How to Explain the Dictatorship to Our Children (1996). He has developed methods to teach law and conflict resolution through a daily television show called Forum.
Click here to see Dr. Moreno Ocampo's books listed on Amazon.co.uk
Here is a snapshot of my search today on Amazon.co.uk
Books › "Luis Moreno Ocampo" Showing 4 Results
1. En Defensa Propia - Como Salir de la Corrupcion by Luis Moreno Ocampo (Paperback - Dec 1993) 2 Used & new from £29.95
2. La Hora De La Transparencia En America Latina: El Manual De Anticorrupcion En La Funcion Publica (Etica y Transparencia) by Valeria Merino, Juan Lozano, and Luis Moreno Ocampo (Paperback - 1 Mar 1998) Buy new: £12.00 18 Used & new from £5.85 Usually dispatched within 3 to 5 weeks Eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery.
3. Brida by Paulo Coelho and Luis Gabriel Moreno Ocampo (Paperback - Jun 1998) 3 Used & new from £43.80
4. Cuando El Poder Perdio El Juicio by Luis Moreno Ocampo (Paperback - Jun 1996) 1 Used & new from £27.59
Front cover of Dr. Moreno Ocampo's book. Source: Amazon.co.uk website, with thanks. - - -
Photo: The Chief Prosecutor Mr. Luis Moreno Ocampo, sworn in on the 16th of June 2003. (Source: ICC / Sudan Watch archives February 27, 2007)
Photo: ICC to name first Darfur suspects - ST/Reuters (Source: Sudan Watch archives February 27, 2007)
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YouTube: ICC's Moreno Ocampo on arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir
Posted to YouTube by EUXTV, March 04, 2009with the following caption and tags under the category of News & Politics:
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, reacts to the court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, the President of Sudan. Al-Bashir is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Category: News & Politics
Tags: Luis Moreno Ocampo war crimes Sudan Darfur Omar al Bashir president Africa Chad EUFOR MINURCAT genocides tubemogul eux eux.tv the hague icc international criminal court tsjaad soedan khartoum al-Bashir goz beida EUX.TV European elections 2009 European Union European Parliament EuropeanUnion EuropeanParliament EUX EUXTV
Kenyan ICC suspect loses US$10 million at airport?
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Comment of the Day
Something’s not right here. $10,000,000 in $100 would weigh 100 kg. He
couldn’t be carrying that in a backpack. I doubt the story
April ...
