ICC questions Malawi's failure to arrest Sudanese President al-Bashir during visit

ICC questions Malawi's failure to arrest Sudanese President al-Bashir during visit

2011-10-20 20:21:43 GMT+7 (ICT)

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (BNO NEWS) -- The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday questioned the government of Malawi after it failed to arrest Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is wanted on charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, during a visit to the country.

According to the ICC, reports indicate that al-Bashir visited Malawi last Friday. As a result, the ICC sent a diplomatic letter to the Embassy of the Republic of Malawi in Brussels, requesting the government to respond by November 11 with any observations with regard to the alleged failure by the Republic of Malawi to comply with the cooperation requests issued by the Court for the arrest and surrender of al-Bashir.

An arrest warrant was issued against al-Bashir on March 4, 2009, considering that there are reasonable grounds to believe that he was criminally responsible for five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region. On July 12, 2010, a second warrant of arrest was issued against him for three counts of genocide.

The ICC also noted that under the Rome Statute, "[w]here a State Party fails to comply with a request to cooperate by the Court contrary to the provisions of this Statute [...] the Court may make a finding to that effect and refer the matter to the Assembly of States Parties or, where the Security Council referred the matter to the Court, to the Security Council."

Previously, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I had issued three decisions informing the Security Council of the United Nations and the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute about al-Bashir's visits to the Republic of Kenya, the Republic of Chad and to Djibouti, "in order for them to take any measure they may deem appropriate." They were issued on August 27, 2010 and on May 12.

On October 25, 2010 and on December 1, 2010, the Judges had also issued two decisions requesting the Republic of Kenya and the Central African Republic to inform the Chamber about any problem which would impede or prevent the arrest and surrender of al-Bashir in the event that he visits these countries.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-10-20