Sudan Vision Daily News Paper Official Website - ICC Move Political, Not Legal: Specialists

Al-Rai Jordanian Daily
Jurists and politicians participating in the seminar held for analyzing legal stance of the International Criminal Court versus Sudan have come out with the conclusion that the ICC step is more of a political rather than a legal one, affirming that hearsay testimony is not enough for issuing legal hearings and pointing out that the Court relied for testimony of fact-finding committee only.

The seminar which was staged day before yesterday in the Holiday Inn Hotel by the Jordanian Popular Committee in Support of Sudan was addressed by the National Assembly Deputy Speaker, Badria Al-Sayed, and Jordanian Lawyers Dean, Salih A-A'rmouti and attended by ex-lawmaker, Attorney Zuhair Abu-Zagab, the Sudanese Ambassador to Jordan and a number of jurists and politicians.

Speakers at the seminar called for formation of an Arab board to indict war criminals in the occupied lands, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan before international specialist courts present in some European countries.

Badria in her address pointed out that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Sudanese nationals considering that Sudan is not state member of the Court and has not ratified the Rome Statute, disclosing that Sudan has withdrawn its signature off the Statute following the ICC step.

She further called on the Court to look into the cases filed by aggrieved Iraqi citizens who have suffered over 240 war crimes none of which has been heard under the contention that Iraq had not ratified Rome Statute.

"Even if Sudan had ratified Rome Statute, it would be referred to the ICC only if its judiciary were incompetent or if it were unable to try its nationals for crimes committed," Badria said, pointing out that Sudan has already tried perpetrators of crimes in Darfur. She moreover indicated that Article (60) of the Sudanese Constitution has provided for criminal accountability of the President of the Republic and that if Parliament had considered he had committed any of the crimes stipulated under the Constitution he would have been brought to trial. She illustrated that the ICC does not possess any mechanisms for apprehending accused persons, except a plea to the Court's state members which may in turn comply with or reject that plea, added to the fact that the Court cannot require non-member states to cooperate with it as in the case of Sudan. She stressed that Sudan's membership in the UN does not place it within the jurisdiction of the Court since the Court is not an organ of the UN. By referring Sudan to the ICC, she said, the UN Security Council has overstepped its powers and violated the principle of sovereignty of states and immunity of heads of state.

Badria went on to highlight that Sudan has been targeted since it had started applying the Sharia laws in 1983 along with the emergence of its huge natural resources and its strategic geographical location in the African continent.

On the other hand, Jordanian Lawyers’ Dean, Salih Al-A'rmouti, considered pressures Sudan is being subjected to as an outcome of the ongoing power struggle between France and the United States.

"We are not betting on international legislations and organizations to defend Sudan against the pressures it is subjected to as much as we have confidence in Sudan to remain staunchly united in the face of these political pressures which are wrapped up in legal guise, " he said, indicating that ICC judges have admitted to pressures exerted on them by the US Administration and that the fact-finding report submitted by the Italian judge affirmed absence of genocide in Darfur. He cited that over 800 international missions currently present in Darfur are implementing external agenda under humanitarian pretexts.

He further overruled the viability of any legal dealing with the International Criminal Court because that Court does not wield any jurisdiction over Darfur case.

For his part, the Chairman of the Popular Committee and representative of the Jordanian Agricultural Engineers Association, Abdulhadi Falahat, invited a number of jurists to convene for the purpose of sharing ideas on the Committee's work plan for the coming state in addition to drafting a memorandum that includes all the proposals and recommendations made during the seminar to be able to address Sudan's case at the regional and international levels.