South Africa will be defying its Constitution and law if it persists with a decision to refuse to cooperate with an international arrest warrant issued for Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, civil society organisations said on Wednesday.
”The decision by the African Union represents the most serious challenge to the struggle against impunity and lawlessness on the African continent,” the organisations said in a statement, which was signed by, among others, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former International Criminal Tribunal chief prosecutor Richard Goldstone.
The decision to not cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the arrest of al-Bashir was made at a meeting of African heads of state at the Assembly of the AU earlier in July.
Al-Bashir has been indicted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity, allegedly committed in Darfur.
”Neither the president nor the foreign minister is reported to have raised any objections to the decision,” the statement said.
”Should the South African government persist with its support for the decision it will do so in open defiance of its own Constitution and law.”
Others to sign the statement include Dumisa Ntsebeza, the former commissioner on the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, former education minister Kader Asmal, the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, the Centre for Human Rights and the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention.
”The statement is intended to convey to the government the extent of opposition from civil society organisations for South Africa’s decision not to comply with its national and international legal obligations,” said Karthy Govender, commissioner of the South African Human Rights Commission.
”This decision impacts profoundly on the rule of law, both locally and internationally.”
The Democratic Alliance on Tuesday urged International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to follow Botswana and Uganda’s example regarding the Sudanese president.
On Monday, Uganda’s international affairs minister stated that ”it is a legal obligation for Uganda to arrest al-Bashir if he comes to Uganda” and that if al-Bashir arrived in Uganda ”[we would] ensure that he is arrested”. — Sapa