Uganda’s Museveni invites Sudanese president to his swearing-in ceremony
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May 9, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir
today received an invitation from his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri
Museveni to attend his inauguration ceremony on May 12th where he will
be sworn in for a fourth term.
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Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni (Reuters)
The state minister for the Office of the Vice President in Uganda
James Baba delivered the invitation personally to Bashir on Monday,
Sudan official news agency (SUNA) reported.
The report did not say whether Bashir would attend the ceremony. The
Kampala-based New Vision newspaper said that 13 presidents confirmed
attendance so far including South Sudan leader Salva Kiir who is also
Bashir’s VP.
Relations between Sudan and Uganda are already strained over Kampala’s
support of South Sudan’s independence and harboring Darfur rebel
figures recently. The ICC issue is also one of the reasons for the
tension.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) charged Bashir with war crimes,
crimes against humanity and genocide he allegedly orchestrated in the
war-torn Darfur region where the United Nations estimates a
humanitarian crisis has claimed 300,000 lives since a 2003 revolt by
rebels demanding more wealth and power.
Uganda is a signatory to the ICC’s statute and is therefore
theoretically obligated to apprehend Bashir once he sets foot on its
territory. The Sudanese leader has so far managed to visit three ICC
members namely Chad, Kenya and most recently to Djibouti without
issues.
Sudan’s president has snubbed two conferences in Uganda including an
African Union summit since the issuance of the warrant. Kampala has
given subtle warnings to Bashir not to visit in the past to avoid a
"diplomatic incident".
The AU issued two decisions since 2009 instructing its members not to
cooperate with the ICC with regards to the arrest warrants even if
they are members of the court. Some African countries including Uganda
have refused to comply with the resolution.
In a related issue Amnesty International today issued a statement
expressing regret over Djibouti’s refusal to arrest Bashir this
weekend where he attended the inauguration ceremony of president
Ismail Omar Guelleh.
"As Djibouti has been a state party to the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court since 2003, the national authorities are
obliged to cooperate with the Court, including arresting persons it
has charged" the London-based group said.
"It is also troubling that senior government members from both France
and the United States of America reportedly attended the inauguration
alongside President Al-Bashir, as the Security Council, in its
referral of the situation in Sudan to the International Criminal Court
in 2005, explicitly urged all states to cooperate fully with the
Court,".
"Amnesty International is also calling on the International Criminal
Court to make a finding of non-cooperation by Djibouti and to transmit
that finding to the Security Council, as provided by article 87(7) of
the Rome Statute".
(ST)
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