ICC Judges call on USA to arrest Sudan’s Al Bashir

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has called on US authorities to arrest Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir if he travels to the USA. In a statement on Wednesday, the ICC says that “the Pre-Trial Chamber II, informed by the Office of the Prosecutor of Omar Al Bashir’s potential travel to the USA, invited the competent US authorities to arrest Omar Al Bashir and surrender him to the Court, in the event he enters their territory”. The Chamber also reminded the US of the two outstanding warrants of arrest issued on 4 March 2009 and 12 July 2010 against Omar Al Bashir for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. “Subsequently, on 6 March 2009 and 21 July 2010, the ICC Registry transmitted requests for the suspect’s arrest and surrender to all United Nations Security Council members that are not States Parties to the Rome Statue, including the United States.” The Chamber recalled that non-States Parties may decide to cooperate with the Court on an ad hoc basis. “The USA, as a non-State Party to the Statute, has no obligations vis-à-vis the Court arising from the Statute.”The Chamber noted, however, that the situation in Darfur was referred to the Court by the UNSC and that UNSC Resolution 1593 (2005), while recognising that States not party to the Rome Statute have no obligation under the Statute, “urge all States and concerned regional and other international organizations to cooperate fully” with the Court. Read the entire document (PDF) Related: Sudan’s President applies for visa to visit UN (17 September 2013)