ICC calls on DR Congo to arrest Sudanese President in Kinshasa

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has called on the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to arrest Sudan’s President Omar Alk Bashir.An ICC-ASP press release, issued on Wednesday, states: “In light of the information that the President of Sudan, Mr Omar Hassan Ahmed Al Bashir, arrived in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to attend a sub-regional meeting, the President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Ambassador Tiina Intelmann, recalls that two warrants of arrest issued by the Court against Mr Omar Al Bashir are outstanding.”The President of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute, ICC, called upon the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to respect its obligations under the Rome Statute. “The President of the Assembly has written to H.E. Mr Raymond Tshibanda N’tungamulongo, Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Francophonie of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, reminding the Government of the DRC of its obligation as a State Party to the Rome Statute to cooperate with the Court.” “The Assembly has repeatedly expressed concerns regarding the negative consequences that failure to comply with decisions of the Court has on the Court’s capability to carry out its mandate. Therefore, the President of the Assembly deplores the visits of persons subject to ICC arrest warrants to any State Party.” “The President appealed to States Parties and others in a position to do so to join efforts to prevent instances of non-cooperation. Further, she reminded States Parties that, as provided by Assembly Resolution ICC-ASP/12/Res.3, “contacts with persons in respect of whom an arrest warrant issued by the Court is outstanding should be avoided when such contacts undermine the objectives of the Rome Statute.”” In July 2008 the prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno Ocampo, accused Al Bashir of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur. The court issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese President on 4 March 2009 on counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. On 12 July 2010, the Court issued a second arrest warrant containing three separate counts of genocide committed against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups. File photo: President Omar Al Bashir Related: ICC berates UN for ‘inaction and paralysis’ on Sudan’s President Al Bashir (12 December 2014)