The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is
expected Monday to inquire about the detention of Sudan’s president for suspected
genocide and crimes against humanity.
According to BBC, the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is
prepared to propose the charge of president Omar al-Bashir in a report
addressed to the judges at The Hague regarding
an analysis of war crimes in the Darfur
province. Furthermore, this is the first time the court’s prosecutor is
attempting to accuse a sitting head of state, in spite of the fact that the
Sudanese government has forewarned that the action will subvert peace in Darfur. A three-judge board will examine for at least six
weeks the evidence and will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant.
Sudan
does not acknowledge the International Criminal Court and has declined to entrust
two suspects who Luis Moreno-Ocampo accused last year, Humanitarian Affairs
Minister Ahmad Harun and militia leader Ali Kushayb. On Sunday, hundreds of people protested in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in favor of president Omar al-Bashir,
who seized power in a 1989 takeover. Others carried signs deriding the ICC and
its prosecutor. According to the International Herald Tribune, one of the
banners read: “Ocampo is a plotter against Sudan's people.”
However, Luis Moreno-Ocampo din not accept to respond to his
accusers, stating only that he would submit the proof to judges on Monday and
seek to charge an individual or more individuals, without giving further
information.
The International Criminal Court was founded six years ago
as the world’s first permanent war crimes court.
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