The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, on Monday briefed the Senegalese president about the ICC investigation in Darfur as part of an effort to urge African leaders to help end crimes there, the prosecutor said.
“I think we have to keep explaining to African leaders the case, what we are doing and then they can fulfil their own responsibilities,” Moreno-Ocampo said after the meeting with President Abdoulaye Wade.
“I was providing him with some details as to why I am pursuing these cases in Sudan,” he added.
In July Moreno-Ocampo asked ICC judges to issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The ICC accuses al-Bashir of personally instructing his forces to annihilate three non-Arab ethnic groups in Darfur, masterminding murder, torture, pillaging and the use of rape to commit genocide.
“I believe these massive crimes [in Darfur] cannot be committed without political support so if the African leaders are clear about the crimes they will be very important in stopping the crimes, because at the end of the day the victims are African women who are being raped and killed in the camps, the victims are African children exposed to conditions that mean they will die,” the prosecutor explained.
“I believe we have a common goal to stop the crimes,” he said, adding that he would continue to regularly brief African and Arab leaders on the situation in Darfur.
The judges have not yet ruled on the request and Moreno-Ocampo said he is expecting their decision “two to three months after the end of August”.
Senegal was the first country to ratify the treaty creating the ICC, the world’s first permanent war-crimes court, and sees itself as an African champion of human rights.
Recently Wade, who has good relations with the Sudanese government, called on the ICC to freeze the investigation into al-Bashir, arguing the probe could plunge Darfur into chaos.
Despite Wade’s friendship with al-Bashir, the ICC prosecutor said the Senegalese president again pledged his commitment to the ICC on Monday.
“You can be friends but the law is the law,” Moreno-Ocampo said, recalling that Wade had called several times for the violence in Darfur to stop.
Wade even warned al-Bashir that he would be arrested if he came to Senegal after judges approved an ICC arrest warrant. — AFP