Sudan’s Bashir accuses ICC of facilitating colonisation in Africa

Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir has accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) of being a politicised colonisation tool geared to undermine the African continent.

In his speech to the first Conference of the Chiefs Justice and Heads of the Supreme Courts in Africa, Al-Bashir said Sunday when the African nations realised that the ICC was an unjust colonial tool, the African Union decided to collectively withdraw from the ICC, Anadolu agency reported.

“This requires the formation of an African court of justice to achieve justice based on evidence and not on fabrication and political considerations,” the Sudanese president said; adding that the international tribunal has dealt with Africa with double standards.

Meanwhile, Al Bashir stressed that Sudan stands firm in combating human trafficking and money laundering and is concerned with human rights issues. He renounced the use of violence and said he advocated democracy, peaceful transfer of power and achieving good governance.

Read: Sudan’s opposition leader vows to contain leadership differences

In 2009, the ICC, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and for committing genocide in the Darfur region of the country.

The ICC, which is affiliated to the UN, has demanded signatories to the court to arrest Al-Bashir to face trial. On Thursday 7th April 2017, South Africa will appear before the Pre-Trial chamber of the ICC to explain why they failed to arrest Al-Bashir when he attended an African Union Summit in South Africa in June 2015.

Details of the court summons were announced by the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), “the ICC has invited South Africa to make written and oral submissions at that hearing, to decide; whether South Africa failed to comply with its obligation under the Rome Statute by not arresting and surrendering President Omar Al-Bashir to the ICC while he was on South African territory despite having received a request by the Court for his arrest and surrender,” the SALC said in a statement.

The SALC believes that its submissions will show that various government departments colluded to facilitate Al-Bashir’s departure from the country.

Last week, the Sudanese President attended the Arab League Head of States’ meeting in Amman Jordan but was not apprehended despite Jordan being a signatory of the Rome Statute of the ICC.