More groups urge Al-Bashir's arrest
From Oghogho Obayuwana (Abuja) and Felix Kuye (Lagos)
PLAN by the Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir to attend a meeting of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) scheduled for Abuja later this week is still generating controversies at the Presidency and in the diplomatic circles.
It was learnt that the embattled Al-Bashir intends to make Abuja another stop in the series of places he has been to in spite of the warrant of arrest served on him in March this year by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Last week, Amnesty International berated President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua for extending an invitation to Al-Bashir. The London-based group urged the Nigerian government to arrest the embattled president during the visit and hand him over to the ICJ.
But the Sudanese Embassy in Abuja could not confirm whether Al-Bashir would turn up. Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected to present a report on the situation in Darfur at the Abuja meeting.
Meanwhile, four civil society organisations in Nigeria, including the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), have joined the Amnesty International to call for arrest of Al-Bashir if he attends the Abuja meeting. They threatened to canvass sanctions against Nigeria if Al-Bashir is not arrested and handed over to the ICJ.
Since the issuance of the arrest warrant, Al-Bashir has visited seven states (Eritrea, Egypt, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe), none of which is a party to ICC treaty. But he reportedly stayed away from honouring last week's invitation by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to an African Union (AU) summit on refugees, returnees and internally-displaced persons in Kampala following protests by Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and human rights groups.
Diplomatic sources in Abuja however maintained that it is up to Nigeria to decide how to handle the impending visit, either to give a clearance or hold it off by the usual refusal to guarantee security. By the close of last week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not responded to The Guardian's enquiry on the matter.
The other civil society organisations craving the arrest of Al-Bashir are the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) and the Partnership for Justice (PFJ). They asked President Yar'Adua to use his position and leadership to ensure the immediate arrest of Al-Bashir.
The groups threatened that "in case your (Yar'Adua) government does not act as requested, we will be compelled to file necessary applications before the United Nations (UN) Security Council for appropriate measures and sanctions in the circumstances."
Under Article 87 (7) of the Rome Statute of ICC, the Court can refer the case of non-compliance back to the Security Council which may decide to take further measures.
In an open letter to President Yar'Adua and signed by SERAP Executive Director Adetokunbo Mumuni; CDHR President Olasupo Ojo; WARDC Executive Director Abiola Afolabi-Akiyode, and PFJ Managing Partner, Itoro Eze-Anaba, the groups expressed concerns that "despite Nigeria's international legal obligations, including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), your government has invited President Al-Bashir who is wanted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Your government also has reportedly given assurances that he will not be arrested. This is a clear violation of the arrest warrant issued by the ICC on March 4, 2009 for President Al-Bashir.
"Nigeria must arrest and surrender President Al-Bashir to the ICC to avoid complicity in the crimes against humanity and war crimes he is alleged to have committed in Darfur.
"Given its important leadership role in the African Union, its recent election to the UN Security Council, and its leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as the current Chairman of that sub-regional institution, Nigeria has a legal responsibility to deny a safe haven to the Sudanese President who is wanted by the ICC under warrant following the Security Council referral of the situation in Darfur to the ICC," the groups further argued.
According to them, "under the principle aut dedere aut judicare, (extradite or prosecute), Nigeria has a legal obligation to extradite a suspect of crimes against humanity and war crimes and surrender same to the ICC for prosecution or to submit the case to its competent authorities for the same purpose. Nigeria has also ratified the 1984 Convention Against Torture, which requires it to extradite or submit cases of persons found in territory subject to their jurisdiction suspected of torture."
Sudan, like the United States (U.S.), is not a member of the ICC. Al-Bashir's government holds the ICC decision in contempt, insisting that it had been politically motivated. It was on this basis that the Sudanese envoy to the AU, Mohieldin Ahmed Salim, constantly urged the 53-member AU bloc yesterday to withdraw from the international tribunal.
The Federal Government's seeming aloofness to the anxiety that the Al-Bashir's impending visit is generating may have everything to do with the fact that the invitation to the Sudanese president is from the continental body; a fact which the vocal human rights groups are seemingly yet to come to terms with. Thus it is a matter of posturing for Nigeria, whichever way it decides.
The Sudanese embassy in Abuja declined official comments on the matter but when asked about preparations to receive Al-Bashir in Abuja, a high level source at the embassy said "this cannot be made known to you. The president chooses to visit any country without media haunt. The press will have to wait and if he is here, you will see..."
In an earlier response to The Guardian's inquiry, the Sudanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Awad Mursi Taha, had warned that the ICC ruling would hinder Darfur peace efforts, alleging that the ICC decision was illegal since "it is a flagrant violation of the international law and the Vienna Convention which obliges member states to only adhere to agreements ratified by those countries."
He said: "Since Sudan is not a member of the ICC, the ICC decision is not binding on Sudan. The ICC's jurisdiction is confined to its member states and consequently Sudan does not recognise any verdict from the ICC. The decision has dealt a severe blow to justice... the government of Sudan will never hand over president Al- Bashir or any other Sudanese citizen to the ICC. President Al- Bashir is the symbol of Sudan's sovereignty, its territorial integrity and unity. This position is not negotiable. Sudan's sovereignty is not, never was and never will be negotiable."
But Kolawole Olaniyan, Amnesty International's Africa Legal Adviser, said last week that Al-Bashir " is an international fugitive from justice, charged with responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes against Africans. It would be shameful of Nigeria to offer him safe haven." He stressed further that "the Nigerian government has an unconditional legal obligation to arrest President Omar Al-Bashir and hand him over to the ICC should he enter Nigerian territory. Any failure to do this is a failure to fulfil obligations under international law and may amount to obstruction of justice."
