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Darfur Mission Is Extended as U.S. Abstains,
Indictment of Bashir Denounced by China and "Majority"
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
July 31/August 1 -- The joint
African Union - UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur UNAMID had its
mandate
extended with
less than two hours remaining, after the voting was delayed for
more than six hours by demands for changes by the U.S., which ended up
abstaining. At issue was a paragraph "taking note of the African Union
communique" which called for suspension of the International Criminal
Court indictment of Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir. The U.S. wanted
the
reference removed, saying it would send the wrong message to Bashir.
But even
the UK and France, even Croatia and Costa Rica, voted for the
resolution with
the paragraph in. Does this mean that the U.S. is more committed that
these
other countries to the cause of international criminal justice, even to
the ICC?
As the
vote kept being put off, questions mounted about why the U.S. had let
things
get this far, to a finalized draft, hours before the mandate expired,
without
having even one other country supporting its position. Ironically, some
compared it to the vote
earlier in the month on imposing sanctions on Robert
Mugabe's Zimbabwe, in which the U.S. among others thought,
particularly after
Russia's seemingly pro-sanctions statement at the G-8 meeting in Japan,
that China
would be left standing alone as the only veto-wielding member with
Mugabe, and
thus might abstain. On that vote, Russia joined China in a rare
double veto,
three others voted no, and one abstained. Here, it was the U.S. which
stood alone,
isolated as it were, with no other country with it.
While the
explanations of vote were still ongoing in the Council chamber, Inner
City
Press asked Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangwa if and when China will move
in the
Council for a resolution seeking to suspend prosecution against Al
Bashir under
Article 16 of the ICC's Rome Statute. "We do hope that in the next
couple
weeks all the interested parties should get together," Amb. Wang said.
Inner City
Press asked, since the U.S. abstained even from mentioning suspension,
whether
it was possible they would vote to suspend. "Differing members have
different interpretations," Amb. Wang said, but "in the Security
council all council member, particularly the permanent members, we must
take up
our political responsibility." Some thought he meant that the public
position
of U.S. -- and others that will ultimate vote with it -- amounts to
grandstanding that makes achieving a peace deal in Sudan more difficult.
Another few
is that since Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has not yet succeed in
convicting
through the ICC a single defendant, he was arrogant to indict Sudan's
president
at this time. Supporters of the ICC won't say it, because that would be
viewed
as undermining the ICC. But perhaps it is Moreno-Ocampo himself who is,
in this
instance, undermining the ICC.
Inner City
Press asked Amb. John Sawers of the UK what he thought of Russia's and
China's
argument that two thirds of the member states of the UN support the
position
that the indictment should be suspended. Amb. Sawers responded, in
essence,
that on other issues he doesn't see them citing to the views of the
majority of
states.
UNAMID vehicle, mandate extension rift not shown
While the
French mission did not speak to the press at the stakeout on Thursday
evening
-- France's explanation after the vote was delivered in the Chamber by
the
mission's political counsellor Nicolas de Riviere -- a statement was
issued
attributed to Deputy Permanent Representative Jean-Pierre Lacroix, that
"on
the AU request regarding the ICC prosecutor's recommendations, we do
not think
that the current situation regarding Khartoum's cooperation on all
these issues
warrants taking action at the Council at this stage."
This echoed a statement made earlier in the
month by Permanent Representative Jean-Maurice Ripert, that if
President Bashir
were to turn over the indictee Ali Kushayb and Ahmad Harun, it might be
helpful
in terms of his own indictment. It must
be noted, however, that Moreno-Ocampo has charged Bashir with far more
than
non-cooperation. Absent a Council resolution, it is hard to see how the
ICC
process would stop.
Inner City
Press asked U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative Alejandro Wolff to
explain his
statement that the construction of infrastructure for peacekeepers in
Darfur
must speed up, in light of the UN report that the no-bid contractor
Lockheed
Martin, a U.S.-based firm, has under-performed in Darfur. We are all to
blame,
Amb. Wolff said, listing the UN, the international community and
"especially" Sudan. He did not list Lockheed Martin, although the
UN's report did. Will Lockheed be returning some of the money? We will
continue
to follow these stories.
Watch this site.
And
this --
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