Al-Bashir’s controversial visit

[SunNews]

Nigerian authorities courted needless controversy and umbrage recently with the hosting of Sudanese president, Omar Al-Bashir, at the just concluded African Union (AU) Special Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Abuja. Besides allowing Al-Bashir, who had been indicted and declared wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the country, he was also received on behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan by the Minister of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade.

That blunder has attracted condemnation from human rights groups and the international community that had expected Nigeria to arrest and hand over the fugitive to the ICC. United Kingdom (UK) has expressed disappointment over Nigeria's hosting of Al-Bashir in view of its strong and abiding bilateral relationship with Nigeria. Human Rights groups including the Nigerian Coalition for the International Criminal Court and Legal Defence and Assistant Project (LEDAP) observed that Nigeria has a legal obligation under Article 89 of the Rome Statute of the ICC and Article 26 of Vienna Convention on the Laws of Treaties to arrest and hand Al-Bashir to the ICC.

The ICC had on March 4, 2009 and July 12, 2010 issued arrest warrants on Al-Bashir after indicting him for crimes against humanity in the Darfur crisis. With the visit, Nigeria became the first big country in Africa to welcome the ICC fugitive. Apart from being received in Chad and Djibouti, Bashir had been denied entry into Uganda, South Africa, Malawi and Zambia.

However, the Federal Government had stoutly defended its position on the matter. According to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olugbenga Ashiru, the Sudanese president was in Nigeria at the invitation of the AU. Other government functionaries have also posited that Nigeria acted in accord with AU's 2009 resolution that it will not cooperate with the ICC on the indictment of Al-Bashir.

Despite government's spirited defence, Al-Bashir's visit to Nigeria is a diplomatic bungle. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not convincing in its defence of the hosting of this indicted African leader in Nigeria when our country is a signatory to the ICC and Vienna Conventions. Nigeria, by the resolution of the criminal court, ordinarily, ought to have arrested Al-Bashir on entry into Nigeria. But the nation's authorities would have handled the matter much better simply by not allowing the visit at all. We see no gains at all from this faux pas and our leaders should act in the best interest of the country at all times instead of pandering to the dark lobby to host Al- Bashir. While we recognise the need for Nigeria to play a strong leadership role in Africa, and the fact that ICC has indicted mostly African leaders, this is not enough to ignore the seriousness of the crime for which the Sudanese leader was indicted, and welcome him with open arms to Abuja.   The AU summit is not a good excuse to host this man who has been indicted for superintending the genocide in Darfur.

To make matters worse, Al-Bashir did not attend any of the AU summit programmes. If he could not attend the AU summit, why the visit? What did Nigeria gain from the visit apart from odium and opprobrium from within and outside?  We should not appear as providing cover for discredited leaders.  Rulers such as Al-Bashir who have been indicted for serious war crimes and crimes against humanity should be allowed to face justice. They should not be treated with kid gloves and given red carpet reception in Nigeria just because they are Africans, and Nigeria is a leader in Africa. Nigeria should not act as a shield for discredited leaders. There should have been other diplomatic ways to deny him entry into the country so that we would not be seen to be endorsing crimes against humanity. We did not have   to toe the line of Chad and Djibouti, when we could follow the exemplary footsteps of South Africa and others that earlier refused him entry into their countries.

Those in charge of our foreign affairs should be mindful of the sensitive nature of some of their actions. The Al-Bashir visit was not clearly thought-out before execution. Our foreign policy should always be guarded by our overall national interest. While not discountenancing our pre-eminent position in African affairs and the "big brother" role we are saddled with due to our size and perhaps pocket, our national interest should always be paramount and overriding. Since ICC is an agency of the United Nations (UN) and Nigeria is bidding to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council, our action on Al-Bashir is a big minus to our quest. This particular issue should bother those handling our foreign affairs. We must avoid making a similar mistake in future. Person indicted for crimes against humanity should not be allowed into the country under any guise.

Via: Sun News Online