A pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has called on Kenya to arrest Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on genocide charges when he visits the country later this week.
The ICC said on Tuesday it had asked Kenya to report, no later than October 29, any issue which would prevent al-Bashir’s arrest should he visit the country on October 30 for an Inter-Governmental Authority for Development summit.
The Hague-based court has issued two warrants for al-Bashir, one dating from March 2009 on five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes, and one issued in July 2010, on three counts of genocide.
The United Nations estimates 300 000 people have died in the humanitarian crisis resulting from a counter-insurgency campaign in Sudan’s Darfur region, led by al-Bashir.
Al-Bashir denies the charges, saying they are part of a Western conspiracy.
Relations between Sudan and Western nations that support the ICC have been strained since the first warrant for al-Bashir was issued. The African Union has told its members not to cooperate with the ICC over al-Bashir.
Al-Bashir’s movements have been restricted to nearby Middle Eastern and African allies and he was forced to cancel a visit to Turkey last year after EU pressure on Ankara.
ICC judges reported Kenya, which is a member of the court, to the UN Security Council because Kenya did not arrest al-Bashir in August when he attended the signing of a new Kenyan constitution.
His visit to Kenya was his second to a full African member of the ICC and a media coup for al-Bashir. He travelled to Chad in July. The ICC has no police force and relies on member states to enforce its arrest warrants. — Reuters