Sudan’s Al Bashir honoured for ‘role in prosperity in Africa’

President Omar Al Bashir of Sudan has received an honouring by the African Initiative for Pride and Dignity in recognition of Sudan's efforts for the development of Africa and prosperity for African people, in Ethiopia on Friday.

The President was accompanied by the Minister of Presidency of the Republic, Fadul Abdalla Fadula, and Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

In his speech at the Addis Ababa University, Al Bashir called on all African leaders to adopt practical measures and be committed to the African justice mechanisms, for guaranteeing dignity and human rights in the continent.

He asked his equals to endorse the agreements issued by the African Union in support of human rights and dignity of Africans, and showed his appreciation for the establishment of the African Dignity and Pride Initiative, Sudan's official news agency Suna reported.

Suna learned that the African Initiative for Pride and Dignity includes a group of academics from African countries that established the forum to preserve the freedom and dignity of Africa. The initiative rejects foreign intervention in African Affairs.

In 2009, the International Criminal Court charged President Al Bashir with ten counts on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility as an indirect (co) perpetrator, including five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes under the Rome Statute. The court added three counts of genocide in 2010.

'A criminal who committed a genocide against his own people does not deserve this honour.'

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, a legal expert and activist on human rights mocked the honouring of Al Bashir by the Forum of Dignity, describing it as a provocation and a blow to the face of the war victims in Sudan and to all African people.

Ahmed Hussein Adam, a researcher at Cornell University in the United States said: “Those who deserve dignity, pride and true honour are the victims in Darfur and residents in the camps for displaced people that Al Bashir's regime created. Not a criminal who committed a genocide against his own people in Darfur.”

Regarding the international court's indictment of the Sudanese president, Adam said that he cannot exonerate himself of the facts, not even by “such a false celebration”.

“The Sudanese state media spread rumours about the international tribunal and claim that the charges laid upon the President are mere lies. People believe this. But the ICC has become a nightmare for Al Bashir. The ICC is here to stay,” Adam said.

Arrest

Many times the ICC and international researchers called upon countries that invited Al Bashir for visits to arrest the Sudanese president according to the Rome Statute, and make him stand trial for the crimes against human rights he is charged for.

But some African leaders, including Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, say the ICC has unfairly targeted African heads of state.

This month ICC judges ruled that Rome Statute member states Djibouti and Uganda failed to cooperate with direct requests to arrest and surrender the Sudanese president while on their territories in May this year. Rwanda, not a member state, welcomed Al Bashir on 16 July for the concluding session of the African Union summit.