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At UN, Freezing Indictment of Al Bashir
Discussed by France, Sharing Evidence with ICC Dodged
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
September 17 -- As judges in The
Hague consider whether to grant an arrest warrant against Sudanese
President
Omar Al Bashir, information has emerged about secret negotiations to
forestall
the requested indictment. On September 17, Inner City Press asked
France's
Permanent Representative to the UN Jean-Maurice Ripert if his country
is
engaged in discussions with Sudan about conditions to invoke Article 16
of the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which would freeze
proceedings against Al Bashir. Video here, from Minute 11:58.
Ambassador
Ripert listed a series of conditions, ranging from "stopping the
killing
to Darfur" to improving Sudan's relations with Chad to starting
in-country
trials of the two current Sudanese ICC indictees. Asked if France would
then support
invoking Article 16, Ambassador Ripert said, "Why not?" Video here,
from Minute 16.
Earlier on
September 17, Gareth Evans of the non-profit International Crisis Group
told
Inner City Press that not only France, but also the UK have made such
outreach
to Sudan. He likened it to a "plea bargain" and argued that
"there are no absolutes in this business [of] conflict prevention."
It is
understood that Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has told friends of the
ICC that
the information he recently used to seek Al Bashir's arrest, he had
back in
December 2007, and he showed it to Sudan saying that if they met
certain conditions,
no arrest warrant would be sought. The difficulty here is that the
indictment
is for past acts, not future actions. But both Moreno-Ocampo and, at
least,
France and the UK appear to be blurring the difference.
Amb. Ripert and others in ZamZam camp
in Darfur in June, Article 16 not shown
Moreno-Ocampo's work also came up as an issue at the
new UN Department
of Peacekeeping Operations chief Alain Le Roy's press conference later
on
September 17. Inner City Press asked Le Roy for his position on DPKO
sharing
information with Moreno-Ocampo and the ICC, in the wake of the
suspension of
the case against Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga on the grounds
that complying
with DPKO's confidentiality agreements would deny Lubanga a fair trial.
Also
implicated is whether the UN in Sudan gave evidence to the ICC against
Al
Bashir.
"That is a difficult
question," Le
Roy said, adding that he would have to check with the UN's Office of
Legal
Affairs. When Inner City Press asked the last head of OLA, Nicolas
Michel, for
his position on ICC defendants' rights to see such information, Michel
referred
to an offer he had made, to let defense counsel see but not take notes
on the
documents. That was rejected by the Court. On September 17 it was
announced
that Michel is resurfacing as the UN's envoy to the Gabor - Equatorial
Guinea
border dispute. Inner City Press asked if the post is part-time, if it
is at
the Assistant Secretary General Level and paid "When Actually
Employed."
"He is
a USG," the UN Deputy Spokesperson said, adding that is is part-time
and
paid When Actually Employed -- at the USG rate. Once a USG, always a USG?
Footnote: for more
on the Lubanga case, click here
for Inner City Press' story yesterday, which has been supplemented to
add that
Liechtenstein's Ambassador Christian Waneser's statement that
"I
don't personally exclude that the judges will throw out the genocide
charge"
apparently referred to the possibility of the ICC judges not granting
Moreno-Ocampo's request for an arrest warrant against Al Bashir on
grounds of
genocide. The warrant could issue on some charges and not others. We
note for
the record that Moreno-Ocampo did not
indict the DR Congo's Thomas Lubango for genocide -- although Lubanga
was
so-charged in the DR Congo, click here
for a document on the ICC's website to the
effect.
Watch this site, and this (UN) debate.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
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earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available
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