ICC warrant

S Africa court bans Sudan president from leaving

AFP, JOHANNESBURG: A South African court yesterday issued a temporary ban on Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir leaving the country after the International Criminal Court called for him to be arrested at a summit in Johannesburg. Bashir, who is wanted over alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Darfur conflict, mostly travels to countries that have not joined the ICC, but South Africa is a signatory of the court's statutes.
The Pretoria High Court said in a statement it was compelling respondents to prevent President Omar Al-Bashir from the leaving the country until an order is made in this Court.­ The hearing is set to take place later Sunday, the opening day of African Union summit.
The ruling came after the Southern African Litigation Centre, a legal rights group, launched an urgent court application to force the authorities to arrest Bashir.
South Africa has an obligation to arrest him, Johannesburg-based rights lawyer Gabriel Shumba told AFP.
Failure to do so puts them in the same bracket as other African regimes who have no respect for human rights. It's actually a test for South Africa.
A South African government official at the summit confirmed media reports that Bashir was at the meeting, but declined to give further details.
There's no point denying it now, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The summit is chaired by Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who has urged African leaders to pull out of the ICC, which critics accuse of targeting Africa.
The ICC said in a statement from its headquarters in The Hague that it calls on South Africa... to spare no effort in ensuring the execution of the arrest warrants against Bashir.
It said South Africa diplomats had been pressed last month to arrest Bashir if he attended the summit, but that they replied they faced competing obligations over the issue.
Darfur erupted into conflict in 2003 when insurgents mounted a campaign against Bashir's government,
complaining their region was politically and economically marginalised.

 

ICC warrant

S Africa court bans Sudan president from leaving

AFP, JOHANNESBURG: A South African court yesterday issued a temporary ban on Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir leaving the country after the International Criminal Court called for him to be arrested at a summit in Johannesburg. Bashir, who is wanted over alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Darfur conflict, mostly travels to countries that have not joined the ICC, but South Africa is a signatory of the courts statutes. The Pretoria High Court said in a statement it was compelling respondents to prevent President Omar Al-Bashir from the leaving the country until an order is made in this Court. The hearing is set to take place later Sunday, the opening day of African Union summit. The ruling came after the Southern African Litigation Centre, a legal rights group, launched an urgent court application to force the authorities to arrest Bashir. South Africa has an obligation to arrest him, Johannesburg-based rights lawyer Gabriel Shumba told AFP. Failure to do so puts them in the same bracket as other African regimes who have no respect for human rights. Its actually a test for South Africa. A South African government official at the summit confirmed media reports that Bashir was at the meeting, but declined to give further details. Theres no point denying it now, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The summit is chaired by Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe, who has urged African leaders to pull out of the ICC, which critics accuse of targeting Africa. The ICC said in a statement from its headquarters in The Hague that it calls on South Africa... to spare no effort in ensuring the execution of the arrest warrants against Bashir. It said South Africa diplomats had been pressed last month to arrest Bashir if he attended the summit, but that they replied they faced competing obligations over the issue. Darfur erupted into conflict in 2003 when insurgents mounted a campaign against Bashirs government, complaining their region was politically and economically marginalised.