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12389
Sun, 07/13/2008 - 20:37
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http://m.oananews.org//node/12389
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Darfur issue: U.N. officials discussing strategy
Dharam Shourie United Nations, Jul 12 (PTI) U.N. officials and diplomats are discussing a strategy to deal with volatile situation should the chief prosecutor of International Criminal Court seek arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar Hassanal-Bashir holding him responsible for genocide in Darfur.
A senior diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the action would be more of a propaganda valuebut would have little effect on the ground.
Another senior diplomat was of the view that it would be nothing more than a travel ban that the U.N. Security Councilimposes. The warrants could not be executed in the country.
The only problem would be that Bashir would not be able to travel to the countries where he can be arrested but couldgo to other States.
However, diplomats and officials agree that it could have profound effect on the ability of the United Nations to provide humanitarian assistance to millions of vulnerable people who were victims of the conflicts for which the chiefprosecutor Luis Morena-Ocampo plans to charge him.
Sudan is not a signatory to the Rome Statute establishing the court but the court draws its jurisdiction on Sudan from a Security Council resolution which had referred the issue to it. The Untied States, which too does not recognise the court,had supported the resolution.
Asked whether the resolution overrides the Statute itself, a U.N. spokesman explained that it does not override the Rome Statute. But the Statute has the provisions thatallow the Security Council to refer cases.
In other words, cases can be referred by States parties, or by the Security Council. This is the latter case. TheDarfur situation has been referred by the Security Council.
The trouble started in Dafur in February 2003 when mostly non-Arab tribes revolted seeking greater control over the sparse resources and the government, with the help of Janjaweed militias recruited from camel-herding normads,sought to suppress the rebellion.
But in the process, the Janjaweed militias indulged in massacres, rapes, burning of villages and crops. More than 400,000 people are estimated by humanitarian groups to have died in violence and of hunger and disease and 2.5 millionrendered homeless.
The humanitarian as well as human rights groups accuse the Arab-dominated Sudanese government of encouraging and supporting the killing of non-Arabs in Darfur and chargesarise from these accusation.
A senior diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the action would be more of a propaganda valuebut would have little effect on the ground.
Another senior diplomat was of the view that it would be nothing more than a travel ban that the U.N. Security Councilimposes. The warrants could not be executed in the country.
The only problem would be that Bashir would not be able to travel to the countries where he can be arrested but couldgo to other States.
However, diplomats and officials agree that it could have profound effect on the ability of the United Nations to provide humanitarian assistance to millions of vulnerable people who were victims of the conflicts for which the chiefprosecutor Luis Morena-Ocampo plans to charge him.
Sudan is not a signatory to the Rome Statute establishing the court but the court draws its jurisdiction on Sudan from a Security Council resolution which had referred the issue to it. The Untied States, which too does not recognise the court,had supported the resolution.
Asked whether the resolution overrides the Statute itself, a U.N. spokesman explained that it does not override the Rome Statute. But the Statute has the provisions thatallow the Security Council to refer cases.
In other words, cases can be referred by States parties, or by the Security Council. This is the latter case. TheDarfur situation has been referred by the Security Council.
The trouble started in Dafur in February 2003 when mostly non-Arab tribes revolted seeking greater control over the sparse resources and the government, with the help of Janjaweed militias recruited from camel-herding normads,sought to suppress the rebellion.
But in the process, the Janjaweed militias indulged in massacres, rapes, burning of villages and crops. More than 400,000 people are estimated by humanitarian groups to have died in violence and of hunger and disease and 2.5 millionrendered homeless.
The humanitarian as well as human rights groups accuse the Arab-dominated Sudanese government of encouraging and supporting the killing of non-Arabs in Darfur and chargesarise from these accusation.
