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African Union panel recommends cooperating with ICC Bashir arrest warrant

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] An African Union (AU) panel led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki recommended Friday that the AU cooperate with International Criminal Court (ICC) efforts to arrest Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The recommendation comes in stark contrast to a vote by the full AU last week not to cooperate with the ICC on the arrest. Mbeki said the panel made its recommendation on the principle that those sought by international courts should be required to face the charges against them. Leaders who have opposed the warrant for Bashir's arrest argue that it poses a threat to Sudan's peace process. Al-Bashir is accused of leading the systematic harassment and murder of members of the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups under the pretext of counter-insurgency since 2003. A controversial warrant for his arrest had long been sought by ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who in July 2008 filed preliminary charges against al-Bashir alleging genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed in the Darfur region in violation of Articles 6, 7, and 8 of the Rome Statute. The court had originally refused to charge Bashir with genocide, but prosecutors appealed that decision earlier this week.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on July 10, 2009 (boomark / email).