WORLD> Africa
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WORLD> Africa
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Sudan warns ICC indictment could ruin Darfur peace
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-15 22:39 ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Monday requested the court at The Hague issue an arrest warrant for President al-Bashir, citing evidence linking the leader to acts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. "The decision will have a destructive effect on the humanitarian, political and security situation in Darfur. It encourages the rebel movements to continue and intensify their military operations against the government," Guangdong said. The envoy's remarks came as pro-government rally was due to take place in Khartoum soon and the UN is to begin removing some staff from Darfur. The United Nations said the decision to pull back some nonessential staff came after recent violence and as a precaution after the genocide accusation. Guangdong said the ICC prosecutor has become a "political tool rather than an independent and professional legal person who does not respect legal customs and professionalism". "International justice is directed only against African and third world countries while big powers are protected by their veto rights," he said. Sudan is not a party to the 1998 Rome Statute that established the ICC and is not bound to its legal process. More than 100 countries have signed the statute and most of them have ratified the convention that governs the court at Hague. The United States is also not a party of the ICC. The ICC is considered independent of the United Nations because it was not created and funded by it. But the UN Security Council can refer cases of serious crimes to the ICC and has done so for the ethnic killing in Darfur. |
