The chief prosecutor for Darfur at the International Criminal Court has urged the U.N. secretary-general to press Sudanese officials to comply with arrest warrants issued by the ICC. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor, urged the U.N. chief, Ban Ki-moon, to make the case for Sudanese compliance with the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. The U.N. secretary-general was in the troubled African region in late August to oversee peace negotiations and see that a 26,000 strong African Union peacekeeping operation is deployed quickly.
Analysts estimate that 200,000 people have died and over 2.5 million were forcibly displaced in Darfur since ethnic Africans launched an uprising against the Arab-dominated central government in 2003. The non-Arab Sudanese accused the central government of backing the Janjaweed paramilitary group in response to the ethnic uprising. In 2005, the U.N. Security Council requested that the ICC handle investigations into violations of humanitarian law and other war crimes committed in Darfur. Arrest warrants were issued in February, and in July, the Security Council adopted a resolution authorizing a hybrid peacekeeping force to assist African Union forces already in place.
The arrest warrants were issued against the Sudanese humanitarian affairs minister, Ahmed Muhammed Harun, and Ali Kushayb, a Janjaweed commander. Both were allegedly involved in murder, rape, and torture of civilians in Darfur. Sudanese officials have refused to ratify the treaty that created the ICC tribunal, citing a lack of jurisdiction in the case. “Our position is very, very clear – the ICC cannot assume any jurisdiction to judge any Sudanese outside the country”, the Sudanese justice minister said.
The U.N. is largely handicapped for pushing the Sudanese to cooperate, however, it could impose sanctions against the government. Moreno-Ocampo is hoping to emphasize the issue at a conference on Darfur to be held this month in New York.
