President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan.

In issuing the order, the three judges brushed aside diplomatic requests for more time for peace talks and fears of a violent backlash in the country. They had taken more than seven months to examine the evidence.

It is the first time the court, which opened in 2002, has sought the arrest of a sitting head of state, though other international war crimes courts have issued warrants for Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia and Charles Taylor of Liberia while they were sitting presidents.

The judges charged Mr. Bashir with five counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape. The two counts of war crimes were for attacks against a civilian population and for pillaging.

In their statement, they said the court did not recognize immunity for a head of state and called on all countries, including those who were members of the court and of the United Nations to cooperate with the court.

Thousands of Sudanese gathered in central Khartoum within minutes of the court’s announcement, waving Sudanese flags and posters showing the President’s face to demonstrate their support for him and denounce the court’s decision. The government in Khartoum vowed to ignore the court’s ruling.

"The court is only one mechanism of neo-colonialist policy used by the West against free and independent countries," said Sudanese presidential advisor Mustafa Osman Ismail, according to Reuters.

The question of genocide in Darfur has been divisive, and was so among the judges, who said two to one that the prosecutor had not provided sufficient evidence of the government’s intent, the key issue in determining genocide.

Proving genocide in court is a high hurdle because it is not about the magnitude of the atrocities. Genocide requires proof that an accused had ”specific intent” to ”destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such” on the basis of their identity. The prosecutor had argued that the government specifically tried to exterminate three ethnic groups ? the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa African tribes in Darfur ? and that even after driving them of their lands and killing many people, armed militia continued their genocidal campaign by raping and impregnating the women in the refugee camps, thereby further subverting the tribes.

The registrar for the court, Silvana Arbia, said in a news conference that the crimes took place during a five-year campaign against rebel organizations in Darfur which opposed the government in Khartoum that began in 2003. The campaign, the court said, was the result of a plan agreed upon at the highest level of the government in Khartoum, and lasted at least until July 14, 2008, the date of the arrest warrant.

The arrest warrant is likely to complicate the international debate over how to solve the crisis in Darfur. It came despite concerns voiced by United Nations diplomats, the African Union, the Arab League, and some humanitarian organizations that it could provoke renewed violence in the country and put at risk the peace process in southern Sudan.

Even if Mr. Bashir will not be brought to the court in the near future, analysts said the warrant will weaken Mr. Bashir’s position internationally, making it possible that he could fall from power more rapidly than he might have otherwise.

Sudan is legally obliged to arrest Mr. Bashir, but that is not expected to happen any time soon.. The Hague court has no police force or military of its own, and the 24,000 or so United Nations peacekeepers stationed in Sudan have no mandate to detain war crimes suspects.

If Mr. Bashir travels to any of the 108 nations that are members of the court, he risks arrest, because court members will be obliged to detain him. The 80 or so countries that are not court members, including China, Russia and the United States, have no such obligation. But lawyers say those nations can arrest Mr. Bashir because several treaties state that heads of state enjoy no immunity if they are charged with genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

Even if Mr. Bashir remains free, analysts who favored his arrest say the warrant is likely to have a worldwide effect.

“This means he will be a fugitive, a man on a wanted poster held to be most responsible for the atrocities of Darfur,” said Richard Dicker, a director of Human Rights Watch.

Some analysts and activists argued that the warrant could undermine his political position at home. Nick Grono, deputy president of the International Crisis Group, wrote recently that “although Mr. Bashir and his security apparatus are still entrenched in power, the indictment is likely to weaken their hold. It may even cause the army and intelligence agencies, the ultimate wielders of power, to contemplate a future without Bashir.”

Others fear, however, that weakening Mr. Bashir could result in more violence in the region, at least in the near term.

“I am sure there will be some crowd movements, there will be some violence here and there,” said Alain Le Roy, the United Nations undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations.

Some figures in the government have threatened bloodshed in response to an indictment. Salah Gosh, the head of Sudanese intelligence, was quoted in Sudanese press reports as calling for the “amputation of the hands and the slitting of the throats of any person who dares badmouth al-Bashir or support the International Criminal Court’s allegations against him.”

Another worry, Mr. Le Roy said, was that any of the groups involved in the conflict, including the governments of Sudan and Chad as well as the rebels, might take advantage of any uproar surrounding the court’s decision to foment violence. And the delays in deploying United Nations peacekeeping troops to Darfur, with only about 64 percent of the force there, will likely worsen because of possible new tension in the region.

Mr. Le Roy also said, however, Sudan had reassured the United Nations officials that the government would respect its commitment to protect United Nations peacekeeping missions and other agencies. There were no immediate plans to scale back patrols or otherwise retreat from the prescribed mission he said.

The court issued warrants for two Sudanese citizens in 2007 in connection with the bloodshed and humanitarian disaster of Darfur. The two men are Ahmad Muhammad Harun, a former security official, now a government minister, and Ali Kushayb, a former militia leader. Judges said that there were reasonable grounds to conclude that they were responsible for torture, mass rape and the forced displacement of entire villages in Darfur in 2003 and 2004. Neither has been arrested.

The Security Council can postpone action against Mr. Bashir and even stop a trial. But on the eve of the ruling, the council remained largely divided over how to react. Sudan’s supporters, including the African Union and Arab League, called again Tuesday for the council to invoke Article 16 of the statute creating the court which allows it to suspend any indictment. But France, Britain or the United States would likely use its veto to block such a move.

Sudanese and other African officials have criticized the court as a neo-colonial tool that so far has singled out Africa. But court officials point out at three of the four criminal investigations under way at the court, involving Congo, Central African Republic and Uganda, were all brought by the governments of those countries themselves, while the case of Sudan was referred to the prosecutor by the United Nations Security Council.

Neil MacFarquhar and Sharon Otterman contributed reporting from New York, and Waleed Arafat from Khartoum, Sudan

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/world/africa/05court.html?_r=1



ICC, 수단 대통령 체포영장 발부(종합)

"증거 불충분" 대량학살 혐의 불인정

(브뤼셀=연합뉴스) 김영묵 특파원 = 국제형사재판소(ICC)는 4일 대량학살과 전쟁범죄 혐의 등으로 청구된 오마르 알-바시르 수단 대통령에 대한 체포영장을 발부했다.

   ICC 설치근거인 '로마정관'이 2002년 7월1일 발효된 이래 현직 국가원수에 대한 체포영장이 발부되기는 이번이 처음이다.

 로런스 블레이런 ICC 대변인은 이날 기자회견을 통해 "바시르는 수단 다르푸르지역의 민간인을 겨냥해 의도적으로 공격을 지휘한, 범죄에 책임이 있는 용의자"라며 "그는 많은 민간인을 살해하고 몰살, 강간, 고문했으며 강제로 이주시키고 재산을 약탈한 혐의를 받고 있다"라고 말했다.

   블레이런 대변인의 설명에 따르면 3명의 판사로 구성된 영장심사 재판부는 작년 7월 루이스 모레노-오캄포 수석검사가 청구한 체포영장에 적시된 혐의 가운데 대량학살만 제외한 모든 혐의를 인정했다.

   대량학살 혐의가 인정되지 않은 점과 관련, 블레이런 대변인은 "대량학살 혐의가 인정되려면 특정 (인종이나 부족) 집단 전체 또는 일부를 파괴하려는 '분명한' 의도가 입증돼야 하는데 바시르 사건에서 영장심사 재판부는 이를 입증할 만한 합리적인 근거를 발견하지 못했다"라고 설명했다.

   비록 대량학살 혐의가 인정되지 않았지만 바시르가 체포돼 재판을 받게 되면 법정 최고형인 종신형을 선고받을 것으로 예상된다.

   그러나 ICC가 바시르 대통령에 대해 체포영장을 발부했음에도 불구하고 실질적 효력을 갖지는 못해 '상징적' 의미를 갖는데 그칠 전망이다.

   ICC는 체포영장을 수단 정부에 발송, 바시르 대통령을 체포하도록 요구할 예정이지만 수단 정부는 '로마정관' 체결국도 아닐뿐더러 ICC가 체포영장을 발부하더라도 이를 집행할 가능성은 거의 없기 때문이다.

   ICC는 수단 정부에 의한 체포영장 집행이 이뤄지지 않으면 유엔 안전보장이사회에 이를 회부할 수 있지만, 여기에서도 바시르의 신병을 확보할 만한 조치가 나오기는 쉽지 않아 보인다.

   한편, 바시르 대통령은 2003년 정의평등운동(JEM) 등 기독교계 반군조직들이 아랍계 정부에 반기를 들자 정부군과 친정부 민병대인 잔자위드를 동원, 반군 소탕작전을 벌이면서 민간인 30만명을 숨지게 한 혐의를 받고 있다.

   오캄포 ICC 수석검사는 작년 7월 체포영장을 청구하면서 "바시르는 정부군과 민병대를 동원해 최소 3만5천명의 민간인을 살해했고 이 과정에서 난민으로 전락한 250만명 중 최대 26만5천명이 굶주림과 질병으로 숨졌다"라고 주장했었다.

   economan@yna.co.kr
(끝)

2009/03/04 23:21 송고

ICC issues arrest warrant for Sudanese President for war crimes in Darfur

President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan

4 March 2009 ? The International Criminal Court (ICC) today issued an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the strife-torn Darfur region by Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, the first sitting Head of State to be indicted by the Court.

In an early reaction, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pledged that the United Nations’ extensive humanitarian and peacekeeping operations in Sudan will continue, stressing the ICC’s status as an “independent judicial institution,” in a statement issued by his spokesperson.

Mr. Al-Bashir was indicted on two counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity. However, the Hague-based ICC’s pre-trial chamber found there was insufficient evidence to charge him with genocide, but stressed that if the prosecution presents additional evidence the warrant could be amended at a later date.

“He is suspected of being criminally responsible, as an indirect (co-)perpetrator, for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property,” according to a press release issued by the Court.

An estimated 300,000 people have died in Darfur, either through direct combat or because of disease, malnutrition or reduced life expectancy, over the past five years in Darfur, where rebels have been fighting Government forces and allied Arab militiamen, known as the Janjaweed, since 2003.

Last July, Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo presented evidence to the Court against Mr. Al-Bashir for alleged crimes in Darfur, some three years after the Security Council requested him to investigate atrocities committed in the region.

These crimes, the chamber said, were allegedly committed during the Sudanese Government’s 2003-2008 counter-insurgency campaign waged against armed groups including the Sudan Liberation Movement Army (SLM-A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

It said that a key element of this campaign was the “unlawful attack” on civilians ? belonging mostly to the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups seen to be allied to the groups opposing the Government in Darfur ? by Sudanese forces, including the Janjaweed.

As the President of Sudan and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Mr. Al-Bashir allegedly directed the campaign and put it into place, the ICC found.

“Omar Al-Bashir’s official capacity as a sitting Head of State does not exclude his criminal responsibility, nor does it grant him immunity against prosecution before the ICC,” the press release said.

Today’s warrant issued for Mr. Al-Bashir marks the third to arise from the situation in Darfur. In May 2008, the pre-trial chamber issued arrest warrants for Ahmad Harun, former Sudanese Minister of State for the Interior and now the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs, and Ali Kushayb, a Janjaweed leader.

Mr. Ban, in the statement issued by his spokesperson, called on the Sudanese Government to continue cooperating fully with all of the world body’s entities, “while fulfilling its obligation to ensure the safety and security of the civilian population, UN personnel and property, and that of its implementing partners.”

Earlier this week, the top UN peacekeeping official said that regardless of the ICC’s decision, the hybrid UN-African Union (AU) mission in Darfur (UNAMID) will continue protecting the local population.

“The Government would assume its full duty of protecting UN missions in Sudan against any negative impact that may result from ICC possible decision against the Sudanese political leadership,” Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy told journalists in New York on Monday.

One year on from transferring the task of suppressing the violence to UNAMID from the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS), just over 60 per cent of the 19,555 military personnel authorized by the Security Council are now in place across Darfur.

News Tracker: past stories on this issue

Peacekeepers will stay in Darfur even if Sudanese President indicted ? UN official

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30081&Cr=darfur&Cr1=icc