23 Apr ICC Prosecutor Wants Security Council Action on Sudan
This sounds impressive, but somehow it feels like the ICC Prosecutor is going in circles on Sudan.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The International Criminal Court prosecutor wants judges to report Sudan to the U.N. Security Council for refusing to hand over a government minister and a militia leader accused of atrocities in Darfur.
Luis Moreno Ocampo said in a written request to the court’s judges publicized Thursday that Sudan is refusing to arrest Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Harun and Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kushayb.
Indeed, this whole exercise of continuing to seek the arrest of Sudanese government officials seems completely independent from the continuing efforts to seek a negotiated resolution to the various Sudan conflicts. The ICC Sudan process may not be hampering a long-term peaceful settlement of the Sudan problem, but it is certainly not even a part of the Obama Administration’s policy, or anyone’s, policy toward Sudan, as Nick Kristof seems to admit.
Yeah, and those “continuing efforts” are going so well, as indicated by the profoundly illegitimate election held last week.
Instead of the ICC getting on board with the Obama administration, perhaps the Obama administration should get on board with the ICC. Maybe then the Obama administration wouldn’t put out press releases as deeply confused as this one, which begins by saying that “[t]he elections held recently in Sudan were an essential step in a process laid out by Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement,” and then — in the very next sentence! — says “The United States notes the initial assessment of independent electoral observers that Sudan’s elections did not meet international standards. Political rights and freedoms were circumscribed throughout the electoral process, there were reports of intimidation and threats of violence in South Sudan, ongoing conflict in Darfur did not permit an environment conducive to acceptable elections, and inadequacies in technical preparations for the vote resulted in serious irregularities.”
And the ICC is the problem?
And the ICC is the problem?
This is a Julian Ku post. So, yes.