INTERNATIONAL Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has blamed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for rising crimes against humanity in Darfur.
The Argentine prosecutor's spokesperson, Olara Florence, yesterday informed The Guardian that the Sudanese leader "has continued to commit genocide, halt dissemination of information about displaced victims, and threaten the international community with retaliation."
She also quoted Ocampo as urging cooperation from the international community to uphold the mandate of the court to end impunity in the country and prevent future crimes.
In his report to the United Nations Security Council, Ocampo said: "We share this mission with the UN Security Council, the African Union (AU) and the Government of the Sudan. The efficacy of our common efforts will depend greatly on how we share information with each other and learn from it. The Prosecution is trying to improve its practice in this area, linking the information collected with the current behaviour of the suspects."
Ocampo also asked the UN Security Council, with the assistance of The Hague, to use information gathered by the ICC to "stop the crimes in Darfur."
He said that two Sudanese military commanders who had already surrendered to charges demanded that Al-Bashir appear at The Hague before ICC judges. Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain (Banda) and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus (Jerbo) filed a joint motion with the ICC Prosecutors Office in October agreeing to the facts laid out in the prosecution's description of charges.
Several countries have been reported for failing to arrest al-Bashir while he has been present inside their borders.
In May, the ICC urged Djibouti to arrest Al-Bashir. Also, in October, the ICC requested that Kenya arrest Al-Bashir while he visited that year for a second time. Previously, Al-Bashir had visited Kenya for the signing of the country's new constitution.
Following his visit, the ICC reported Kenya to the UN Security Council and the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute for the violation in not arresting Al-Bashir.
Also following his August visit, former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, urged Kenya to reaffirm its cooperation with the ICC by arresting Al-Bashir. In July, the ICC called for Al-Bashir's arrest during his visit to Chad, marking the first visit to an ICC member state since the warrants were issued.
The ICC also reported Chad to the Security Council and Assembly of States Parties.
Source: The Guardian.