ICC state parties committee denies picking ex-WIPO chief as prosecutor candidate
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May 24, 2011 (WASHINGTON) – A search committee tasked with identifying
individuals who can potentially succeed the prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court (ICC) denied reports that they picked the
former head of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as a
candidate for the position.
JPEG - 27.8 kb
FILE - Sudanese presidential candidate Kamil Idris, former head of the
World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), casts his ballot at a
polling station in Khartoum. (AFP, Ashraf Shazly)
The nine-year term of the current prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is due
to expire in mid-2012 and per the Rome Statute, which is the founding
text of the ICC, he is not allowed to renew it.
According to the committee’s terms of reference it is allowed to
receive expressions of interest from individuals, states, regional and
international organizations, civil society, professional associations
and other sources. It will also approach individuals who may satisfy
the applicable criteria for filling the post and who may subsequently
express their interest to be considered.
Following this process, a shortlist of at least three candidates will
be submitted to the Bureau of the ICC Assembly of States Parties. The
prosecutor will ultimately be chosen either by consensus of the member
states or by secret ballot through an absolute majority.
The Khartoum based Al-Ahram Al-Youm newspaper said in its Monday
edition that the search committee picked the ex-WIPO chief Kamil Idris
as one of the candidates to succeed Ocampo. It further said that the
Sudanese figure received backing from European bloc at the Assembly of
State Parties to become the next ICC prosecutor.
Idris told the newspaper that he was approached by regional and
international organizations encouraging him to run for the position.
However, he stressed that he will not accept the position unless a
settlement is reached regarding the outstanding ICC arrest warrant for
president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.
The Hague tribunal charged the Sudanese leader with ten counts of war
crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide he allegedly orchestrated
in the country’s western region of Darfur. The Sudanese government
refuses to recognize the court’s jurisdiction despite a United Nations
Security Council (UNSC) resolution adopted under Chapter VII referring
the Darfur case to the ICC.
In a separate interview with the pro-government Al-Rayaam newspaper
published today, Idris expressed optimism that a "satisfactory"
agreement could be reached that would resolve Bashir’s case.
"We cannot hand over any Sudanese [citizen] to the International
Criminal Court......I cannot accept this position without reaching a
settlement" he said.
But on Tuesday the search committee denied the report that appeared on
Al-Ahram newspaper claiming that it chose Idris as one of the
candidates.
"On instruction from and on behalf of the Coordinator of the Search
Committee, H.R.H. Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, I can state that
the report contained in the article to which you referred is not
true," René Holbach the Secretary of the Search Committee said in an
email response to Sudan tribune.
"The Search Committee has not endorsed any candidate for election as
the next Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court".
Idris was the director general of WIPO during the years 1997-2008 but
came under pressure from Western countries to resign a year before the
end of his second term after an internal audit revealed that he joined
the body claiming his birth date was 1945. In 2006 he changed it to
1954 in a move that could enhance his retirement benefits.
The WIPO internal audit found that Idris’ earlier birth date would
have helped him get his first job at the agency in 1982 and later
promotions until 1997, when he landed the post of director-general.
The audit lists documents, including drivers licenses and identity
cards, some using one birth year and others using the other.
By changing his age to the younger version, Idris could "considerably
benefit" by further building up U.N. pension credits before
retirement, the audit said.
WIPO spokesperson at the time issued a statement describing all
allegations that Idris sought to profit from the error are
“groundless” and “racist.”
The press release stated it was Idris himself who initiated the age
correction in the official records and that he would not benefit from
the change. It further stated that the head of the United Nations’
intellectual property watchdog would actually lose some of his pension
benefits as a result of shedding nine years from his official age.
The audit report also raised other questions. According to the new
birth year, Idris would have been 13 years old when he claimed to have
held his first "part-time and full-time posts at the national level"
in Sudan.
Idris’ 1982 application also said he obtained a master’s degree in
international law from Ohio University in 1978. But Jessica Stark,
spokeswoman for the university, told the Associated Press that Idris
attended from Sept. 12, 1977, to June 10, 1978, when he received a
Master of Arts in African Studies.
The controversy surrounding Idris’ exit from WIPO would likely make it
extremely difficult for him to make it as a candidate for the ICC
prosecutor’s post as in line with the requirements expressed by the
search committee coordinator last March.
“The key to this is reputation,” said Mr. al-Hussein adding that the
committee would examine the case history of candidates — including any
controversies in which they might have been involved.
“We will be very rigorous about this,” he said. “It cannot be the
subject of anything less than an intensive investigation and broad
search".
Idris’ opposition to Bashir’s warrant issued by the ICC judges would
trigger an automatic bar to his nomination. Furthermore, the C.V.
published on his website does not list any time spent in prosecution
or trial of criminal cases as required for this job.
The former WIPO director ran for presidency in Sudan last year but
only managed to secure 0.76% of the votes. During the voting period
Idris slammed the National Elections Commission saying that they
performed poorly in overseeing the process and threatened to withdraw.
However he later attended Bashir’s inauguration along with only two
presidential candidates.
Last February, Idris accused agents from the National Intelligence and
Security Services (NISS) of monitoring his moves and later
interrogating him.
The NISS afterwards issued a statement denying the claim put forward
by Idriss and pointed out that the agency does not need to question
him on his "already known" external links or his history with WIPO and
circumstances surrounding his departure from there.
They described Idris’ account as a "badly directed play".
(ST)
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