Saturday, February 28, 2009

Justice is going to Darfur

Friday, February 27, 2009

Pre-Trial Chamber I’s decision concerning President Al Bashir of Sudan to be announced during press conference on 4 March 2009

Press Release: 26.02.2009



Pre-Trial Chamber I’s decision concerning President Al Bashir of Sudan to be announced during press conference on 4 March 2009
ICC-CPI-20090226-MA35


Situation: Darfur, Sudan


The decision of Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court with regard to the Prosecution application of 14 July 2008 for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against President Omar Al Bashir of Sudan will be announced during a press conference which will take place on 4 March 2009 at the seat of the Court. The press conference will start at 2 p.m.

The Registrar, Ms Silvana Arbia, and the ICC Spokesperson, Ms Laurence Blairon, will make statements in English, after which there will be an opportunity for journalists to ask them questions. Interpretation into French and Arabic will be available.

Separate interviews after the press conference with audiovisual media are possible but will need to be arranged in advance. Please note that only a limited number of such requests will be granted. Read more >>>>>>>>>

Monday, February 23, 2009

Decision of Pre-Trial Chamber I concerning President Al Bashir of Sudan to be issued on Wednesday 4 March 2009

Situation: Darfur, Sudan

Today Pre-Trial Chamber I announced that it would issue on Wednesday 4 March 2009 its decision concerning the Prosecution application of 14 July 2008 for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against President Omar Al Bashir of Sudan.

The decision will be made public by the normal way of a press release and publication on the Court’s website. Read more >>>>>>>>>>

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Sisters, Victims, Heroes

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

GOZ BEIDA, Chad

So I’m bunking with George Clooney in a little room in a guest house here in eastern Chad, near Darfur in Sudan. We each have a mattress on the floor, the “shower” is a rubber hose that doesn’t actually produce any water, and George’s side of the room has a big splotch of something that sure looks like blood.

He’s using me to learn more about Darfur, and I’m using him to ease you into a column about genocide. Manipulation all around — and, luckily, neither of us snores. (But stay tuned to this series for salacious gossip if he talks in his sleep.)

The slaughter in Darfur has continued for six years largely because world leaders have been complacent and preoccupied. In the coming weeks, the International Criminal Court is expected to issue an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, for orchestrating the killings — and that will give the world a new opportunity to end the slaughter.

But to seize that opportunity, world leaders will have to summon some of the same moral courage that Darfuris show all the time.

Take Suad Ahmed, who is in the pantheon of my personal heroes. I introduced her to George in her little thatch hut.

Suad, 27, fled from Darfur to a refugee camp in Chad five years ago with her husband and beloved younger sister, Halima, who is now 12 — if she is still alive. Read more >>>>>>>>>

Friday, February 20, 2009

Ex-SPLM official says Sudan’s Bashir must ‘face ICC or commit suicide’


February 19, 2009 (CAIRO) — Edward Lino, a former official with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) which rules the semi-autonomous south urged the Sudanese government to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) if an arrest warrant is issued for president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

Lino who was the former SPLM administrator for Abyei region told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida that Sudan is a member of the United Nations and is therefore obligated to comply with the ICC.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) issued resolution 1593 under chapter VII in March 2005 referring the situation in Darfur to the ICC.

The ICC judges are expected to release a decision before the end of the month in which they agree to issue an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir on an unspecified number of counts. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>

Friday, February 06, 2009

U.N. says 30,000 displaced by South Darfur fighting

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - At least 30,000 people have fled their homes in South Darfur state in western Sudan in recent days because of fighting between rebels and government forces, the United Nations said in a statement received on Friday.

The office of the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Sudan said the people were from the Muhajiriya and Shearia areas. The Sudanese army said on Wednesday it had captured Muhajiriya town from rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement.

In three weeks of clashes around Muhajiriya, 80 km (50 miles) from the South Darfur capital of Nyala, at least 30 people were killed, U.N. officials have said. Read more >>>>>>