Rights groups slam Sudanese president’s upcoming visit to Nigeria
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July 12, 2013 (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan
al-Bashir is scheduled to fly to Nigeria on Sunday to attend a summit
on HIV/AIDS that is set to start on Monday, an official in Khartoum
announced.
JPEG - 32.6 kb
Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir (ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images)
Qatar news agency (QNA) reported that the Sudanese ambassador Taj
El-Sir Mahjoub told the state Sudan radio that Bashir will also meet a
number of African leaders on the sidelines of the summit to discuss
bilateral cooperation and ways to further boost coordination in
regional and international issues.
The Sudanese president will also brief his counterparts on the
developments regarding the peace process between Khartoum and Juba, he
added.
The al-Youm al-Tali newspaper reported in its Friday edition that
Bashir will be accompanied by the ministers of health, foreign affairs
and presidential affairs.
The visit will be the newest venture of defiance by the Sudanese
leader who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on
charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity allegedly
committed in Darfur.
Nigeria as a state party to the founding treaty of the ICC has a
theoretical obligation to apprehend Bashir should he set foot on its
territories.
Since the issuance of the warrant in 2009, several ICC members in
Africa allowed Bashir to visit including Chad, Kenya, Malawi and
Djibouti.
These states assert that they are simply adhering to African Union
(AU) resolutions instructing them not to comply with the warrants
against Bashir.
But some states in Africa such as South Africa, Uganda and Botswana
have warned Bashir not to visit so as not to risk arrest.
Even countries such as Kenya and Malawi, which have received Bashir
once, declined to do so again following domestic and international
pressure.
In late 2011, a Kenyan judge issues an arrest warrant ordering the
government to arrest him if he flies into the country again. Nairobi
has appealed the ruling which has yet to be decided.
The Sudanese leader has snubbed an African Union Peace and Security
Council (AUPSC) meeting in Abuja that was called for in order to
discuss a report of the AU Panel on Darfur led by former South African
president Thabo Mbeki.
At the time the Nigerian government made it clear that it has no
intention of arresting him despite the outstanding warrant.
“Hand him over to who when he is invited by the AU?” an anonymous
government source in Nigeria told Agence France Presse (AFP).
But later some sources suggested that despite the invite, Abuja
quietly asked Khartoum to send another official in Bashir’s place.
‘SIDE WITH VICTIMS’
Reports of Bashir’s planned trip to Nigeria drew rebuke from Human
Rights Watch (HRW) and the Coalition for the International Criminal
Court (CICC).
"Al-Bashir is a fugitive charged with heinous crimes committed in
Darfur and he belongs in custody. Many other African states have made
clear he will not be welcomed or avoided his visits, including South
Africa, Malawi, Zambia, and Uganda. Nigeria should side with victims
and arrest or bar entry to al-Bashir" said Elise Keppler, a senior
justice counsel at HRW in a statement sent to Sudan Tribune.
"Nigeria should not welcome ICC fugitive Sudanese president al-Bashir.
It should stand with victims and arrest al-Bashir or bar him entry to
Nigeria," she added.
CICC also echoed the same position by that of HRW.
“Permitting President Al-Bashir to visit its territory without
arresting him would constitute a failure of Nigeria to meet its
obligations under the Rome Statute of the ICC,” said Stephen Lamony,
senior adviser for the Coalition for the ICC.
“If Nigeria and other members of the ICC are committed to ending
impunity, they must not allow ICC arrest warrants to go unenforced,
and at the very least must not accept visits from suspects like
Al-Bashir,” he added.
Nigerian officials said they expect more
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