Sudan reiterates rejection of AU plan for Darfur hybrid courts
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July 25, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government reaffirmed its
position of opposing the establishment of hybrid courts to try
individuals suspected of committing war crimes in the restive region
of Darfur.
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South African former president Thabo Mbeki (AFP)
The African Union Panel on Darfur (AUPD) chaired by former South
African president Thabo Mbeki has recommended in 2009 that Khartoum
allows participation of foreign judges along with Sudanese ones in
these trials.
This would follow amendments to legislation that would allow legally
qualified non-nationals to serve on the judiciary of Sudan along with
other changes to rules of immunities and the penal code.
The AU has formed the commission following the case brought at the
International Criminal Court (ICC) against president Omer Hassan
al-Bashir. The pan-African body has also instructed its members to
ignore the arrest warrant against the Sudanese leader.
Bashir has dismissed the hybrid court proposal and said that Mbeki is
aware of Sudan’s reservations on the recommendation drawn up by his
panel.
Mbeki has achieved little headway in implementing his recommendations
related to Darfur and has shifted focus to resolving differences
between North and South Sudan.
Qutbi al-Mahdi, head of political bureau at the ruling National
Congress Party (NCP), was cited by the independent Al-Sahafa newspaper
as saying that the peace accord signed in Doha with Liberation and
Justice Movement (LJM) "explicitly" stated Khartoum’s rejection of
Darfur hybrid courts.
He further added that national courts mentioned in the agreement will
be purely local which al-Mahdi said conforms with Article 26 of the
Rome Statute of the ICC.
The NCP official also stressed that they reject any monitoring of
national proceedings by the African Union-United Nations Mission in
Darfur (UNAMID).
A clause in the Doha agreement stated that a team of experts from
UNAMID would monitor the court proceedings to ensure it is functioning
smoothly and in accordance with the rules of justice and equity
enshrined in international law.
Sudan formed several special courts since 2005 which has yet to
produce indictments.
The former state minister for justice Bol Lul Wang said this year that
Khartoum is not serious about prosecuting Darfur war crimes suspects.
Since 2003, when the deadly conflict erupted in Darfur between rebels,
Government forces and allied militiamen, an estimated 300,000 people
have been killed and about 2.7 million others have been displaced.
(ST)
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