UN
Draft Tells
Ban &
Gambari Not to
Undermine
ICC, But GA
Will Strip
Out?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
February
27,updated --
The UN in
Sudan has
twice flown International
Criminal Court
indictee Ahmed
Haroun into
Abyei, and
envoy
Ibrahim
Gambari
recently took
photos with
ICC indictee
Omar al Bashir
at a
wedding
reception
for Idriss
Deby and the
daughter of
Janjaweed
leader Musa
Hilal.
Now,
pending
at the UN is a
General
Assembly
resolution
which would
direct
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon to
"refrain
from...
undermin[ing]"
the ICC.
This
is
in Paragraph
5bis of the
draft GA
resolution on
the ICC agreed
by
all 120 ICC
state parties
and obtained
by Inner City
Press. The
languages,
sources tell
Inner City
Press, was put
forward by
Switzerland;
the draft
resolution is
being
facilitated by
Japan. It
is expected,
however, to be
stripped out
before any
vote in the
GA,
and not only
by Sudan.
The
paragraph
currently
reads:
"5bis.
Requests
the
Secretary-General
to ensure,
consistent
with the
existing UN
policies and
pursuant to
the
Relationship
Agreement,
that
United Nations
field
presences and
representatives,
especially
peacekeeping
operations,
special
political
missions,
special
envoys,
special
representatives
and mediators,
refrain from
any action,
including the
use of
resources,
that could
undermine the
efforts of
the
International
Criminal
Court, and
requests the
Secretary-General
to submit a
report on the
application of
such policies
for the
consideration
of the General
Assembly at
its
sixty-seventh
session;"
Inner
City
Press first
heard of the
paragraph
weeks ago, and
has
interviewed
representatives
of several ICC
state parties
about it.
Each of them
has predicted
that the
language will
disappear;
some say
that its mere
circulation
will "send a
message."
But
when
Inner City
Press for
a week asked
about Gambari's
photographs
with Bashir,
and Ban's
spokesman
belatedly said
that Gambari
had been
told to avoid
such contacts
in the future,
Gambari's
response was
that he would
do it again.
Inner
City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesman
about that,
and was simply
told that
the message
was conveyed.
But it seems
Ban's message
was not heard,
or perhaps was
meant to be
misunderstood.
How about this
paragraph?
Watch this
site.
Update:
as
Japan convenes
closed door
consultations
in this
afternoon in
Conference
Room 6, a
participant
tells Inner
City Press
that while
Paragraph
5bis, above,
is being
discussed, so
is Paragraph
10bis,
which we'll
now publish
below:
"10bis.
Invites
all States
that wish to
do so to
contribute
voluntarily to
the bearing of
expenses
related to
investigations
or
prosecutions
in
connection
with
situations
referred to
the Court by
the Security
Council, in
accordance
with agreed
modalities for
such
contributions
[FN6 See
resolution
ICC-ASP/Res.11
of the
Assembly of
States Parties
to the Rome
Statute of the
International
Criminal
Court.], and
requests the
Secretary-General
to include the
matter of
article 115
(b) of the
Rome Statute
and article
13, paragraph
1, of the
Relationship
Agreement in
its
institutional
dialogue with
the
International
Criminal Court
and to include
such
information in
its
report to the
General
Assembly
pursuant to
paragraph 10
of the
present
resolution."
This
too
"is a
problem," the
participant
said. Watch
this site.
, 
