United Nations – Fatou Bensouda, International Criminal Court Prosecutor, on Tuesday challenged the United Nations Security Council, to take action to ensure justice “for the long-suffering victims of atrocity in Darfur.
The prosecutor said in New York that it was long overdue for the council to listen to the cries of the victims of rape and sexual abuse, torture, mass displacement and other sufferings the people of Darfur had continued to endure.
She made references to the complaint by the U.S., Britain and France, that the suffering in Darfur was at its worst level in a decade.
Bensouda lamented that the innocent civilians continued to bear the brunt of insecurity and instability, as a result of an ongoing government campaign to target them.
The prosecutor noted that the people alleged to be responsible for the ongoing atrocities, were the same people against whom warrants of arrest had already been issued.
Bensouda disclosed that the court had made ten referrals to the Security Council for non-compliance, to which the council had not responded to any.
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She said these include Sudan, Chad, Kenya, Djibouti, Malawi and Democratic Republic of Congo.
The prosecutor said the court also issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was accused of crimes, including alleged genocide in the country’s western Darfur province, in March 2009.
She said Bashir, who rejected the court’s authority, traveled within Africa, but was never arrested.
The prosecutor said Sudanese Defense Minister, Abdel-Raheem Hussein, former Interior Minister ,Ahmed Haroun and Janjaweed militia leader ,Ali Kushayb ,had also been charged by the court, but remained at large.
Observers said UN Security Council action was seen as unlikely, because China, the veto wielding member, traditionally acted as Khartoum’s protector.
They said China abstained on the council vote in 2005 that authorized the ICC to investigate Darfur, and has said it has “serious reservations” about the charges against Bashir.
Meanwhile, Hassan Hamid-Hassan, Sudanese Deputy UN Ambassador, told the Security Council that ICC has become a mere device to target African leaders, and not others. (Reuters/NAN)