African Union, ICC Differ on Sudanese President’s Charges

African Union, North Africa  |  02.05.10   By PoliticsAfrica Staff

The African Union said Friday a decision by the International Criminal Court to consider adding genocide charges to an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir harms the peace process in Sudan.

“The AU reiterates that the search for justice should be pursued in a manner not detrimental to the search for peace. The latest decision by the ICC runs in the opposite direction,” the pan-African body said in a statement.

An appeals chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday ordered a review of al-Bashir’s arrest warrant for alleged atrocities in the western Sudanese province of Darfur.

It directed judges to reconsider their decision omitting genocide from the warrant issued in March last year, saying they had made “an error in law.”

The African Union said the ICC’s decision comes at a sensitive time for Sudan — with elections due to be held in April and a referendum on independence for Southern Sudan set for January 2011.

“For the African continent, the successful completion of these processes and, more generally, the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) are of utmost importance,” the AU added.

The AU has asked the United Nations Security Council to defer proceedings against al-Bashir, but it has yet to do so.

On Tuesday the AU 53-member bloc sought an amendment to the Rome Statute, which says the ICC can allow the UN General Assembly to defer cases when the Security Council fails to decide on them.

The Sudanese embassy in Addis Ababa on Friday also denounced ICC’s latest ruling.

“It is quite obvious that the ICC decision is a more political rather than legal and it is propagated by known circles to Sudan to destabilise the country,” a statement said.

The ICC issued the arrest warrant for al-Bashir on five counts of crimes against humanity and two of war crimescommitted in Sudan’s war-torn western Darfur region — its first ever warrant for a sitting head of state

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