Guinea's minister, ICC prosecutor meet over killing
By Francis Obinor
AMID plans by the European Union (EU) to freeze the assets and slam visa ban on Guinean leaders over the killing of opposition supporters, the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexandre CŽcŽ Loua, has held closed discussions with International Criminal Court (ICC) Deputy Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, over the issue.
The prosecutor's office spokeswoman, Florence Olara, yesterday told The Guardian that the Guinea official met with officials of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) in The Hague.
She said the Loua had closed discussions with Bensouda, who is also the OTP's focal point for issues of sexual violence, and Head of the OTP's Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division, Beatrice Le Fraper du Hellen.
Loua, Olara added, described the events of September 28, in Conakry and set out what measures had been taken by the Guinean authorities to ensure that the crimes allegedly committed would be suitably investigated.
He also stated that the national judiciary was "able and willing" to proceed.
Olara said OTP officials handed Loua a letter requesting written information on the crimes and on modalities put in place for conducting national investigations and prosecutions of those responsible and confirmed that Guinea had the primary responsibility to conduct proceedings.
" Guinea is a state party, the court is your court, working together we will ensure that there will be no impunity for the crimes committed," Olara quoted Bensouda as telling Loua.
ICC is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes if national authorities with jurisdiction are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely.
ICC Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, on October 14, confirmed that the situation in Guinea was under preliminary examination by his office.
Once completed, a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg starting next Monday will impose the sanctions.
In a draft conclusion for Monday's foreign ministers meeting, the EU said the violent crackdown in Guinea "resulted in gross violations of human rights, including many deaths, injuries and rape."
As a result, the draft conclusion said that the member states "have decided to adopt measures targeting the members of the (junta) and individuals associated with them, responsible for the violent crackdown."
Two EU officials said there wouldn't be any changes in the draft before it gets approved by the foreign ministers.
A senior UN official on Wednesday said Guinea's military ruler has promised to cooperate with an international commission to investigate last month's crackdown.
Capt. Moussa "Dadis" Camara seized power hours after longtime dictator Lansana Conte died last December. Camara initially said he would not run in elections scheduled for Jan. 31, 2010, but recently indicated that he may have changed his mind.
The violence in Guinea has drawn widespread condemnation, with U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, calling for Camara to apologise and step down.
West African leaders said Saturday that ECOWAS would impose an arms embargo on Guinea and would try to stop Camara from running in the upcoming election.
