‘President Al Bashir misinformed about Darfur case’: ICC

The spokesman for the International Criminal Court (ICC) affirmed that the suspension of further investigations on the Darfur file does not mean that the cases against President Omar Al Bashir, other prominent government officials and a militia leader have been withdrawn. According to a Sudanese jurist, Al Bashir should have been better informed. ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah reacted to Al Bashir’s announcement of “victory over the ICC”. The president claimed that the cases were dropped because they were based on “false propaganda”. The spokesman explained to the international TV channel France 24 on Saturday that suspension of criminal investigations means that the ICC prosecutor will not continue to collect additional evidences to be added to what has been gathered in the last nine years, since the UN Security Council referred the case of Darfur to the ICC.He stressed that Omar Al Bashir and the other defendants will remain wanted, and that the arrest warrants issued against them will remain valid. The warrants can only be withdrawn by a decision by the Judges of the Court, and based on new evidence, or the death of the indicted individual. Pressure Sudanese jurist and fellow at the Institute for African Development of Cornell University in New York, Ahmed Hussein Adam, commented to Radio Dabanga that President Al Bashir was misinformed. “The ICC still has jurisdiction on Darfur. The case was referred to the ICC by a UN Security Council resolution under Chapter 7. No one, including the ICC prosecutor, can change this.” The jurist said that the ICC prosecutor’s suspension of the investigations aims to pressure the UN to take urgent action, and the Security Council to “enforce its resolutions”. He assured “the victims and affected in Darfur” that their case is “not over”. “They should not get frustrated by listening to speeches of government officials who are lying to themselves.” Abdel Wahid El Nur, jurist, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement, and co-vice president of the Sudan Revolutionary Front rebel alliance, also mocked the speech of Al Bashir and “his victory over the ICC”. “The case of Al Bashir, his Defense Minister Abdelrahim Hussein, North Kordofan governor Ahmed Haroun, and militia leader Ali Kosheib will remain valid, and will not be subject to limitations. They will stand trial at the Court sooner or later,” he told Radio Dabanga. He appealed to the displaced and refugees in Sudan to “go to the streets, and demonstrate in support of the ICC, demand the continuation of the investigations, and pressure the UN Security Council to take action, so that these war criminals will be arrested”. File photo Related:‘Sudan does not accept new peace accords’: Al Bashir (14 December 2014) ICC prosecutor shelves Darfur case for lack of UN support (12 December 2014)