Sunday, December 18, 2011

ICC prosecutor: Sudanese president’s ‘destiny’ is to face justice for alleged war crimes

UNITED NATIONS — The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said Thursday that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s “destiny” is clear: he will face justice for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Luis Moreno Ocampo said it took 18 years to arrest all 161 people indicated by the U.N. tribunal prosecuting war crimes in former Yugoslavia, and al-Bashir will eventually be arrested and handed over to the ICC.

“International justice is here to stay,” he told a news conference after briefing the U.N. Security Council. “It will take time but the destiny is clear. He will face justice.”

Moreno Ocampo said all countries — including Sudan — have a legal obligation under the Security Council resolution that referred the Darfur conflict to the court in 2005 to arrest al-Bashir and two other Sudanese indicted by the ICC.

Sudan’s U.N. Ambassador Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman disputed Moreno Ocampo’s allegations of war crimes against Sudanese officials, stressing that Sudan is not a party to the Rome statute that established the court “and we do not recognize the ICC.”

Moreno Ocampo said that at the closed Security Council meeting there was “full support for arrest warrants issued” by the court.Read more >>>>>>>>

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