06.06.12 - ICC/SUDAN - OCAMPO SUGGESTS STOPPING ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES HELPING AL-BASHIR

Arusha, June 6, 2012 (FH) – The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is pushing for the arrest of Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, wanted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, through cutting off aids for states that host him.

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Speaking in New York before a crowd gathered by United to End Genocide and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, he declared that it was time to get creative about trying to arrest Bashir.

"Stopping the assistance to those who help Bashir will work,” Reuters quoted the ICC Prosecutor as saying. “Stop all the money to them and they will arrest Bashir”, he added.

Three African countries, including South Africa, Malawi and Zambia have been reported to have promised to arrest the Sudanese President if he were to set foot into their respective territories.

The ICC indicted al-Bashir in 2009 and has also issued some arrest warrants against other authorities, including Sudanese Defense Minister Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, for their role in crimes committed in the western Darfur region.

Bashir's government in Khartoum has dismissed the charges as politically motivated and baseless.

On Tuesday, Ocampo, whose term end this month, told the UN Security Council that governments refusal to arrest Al-Bashir constituted “a direct challenge to the Council’s authority.”

 

FK/GF