|
News
Page
In This Issue...Links to the News:
March 11, 2016
ACP Heads call for ICC suspension of indictment of
President Bashir
Accra, Oct. 3, Ghanadot/GNA – ACP Heads of State have called
for the suspension of the International Criminal Court’s
(ICC) action against the Sudanese head of State to allow for
political and diplomatic efforts to address the situation in
Darfur.
In a declaration, the Heads of State condemned what they
described as the use of unilateral coercive measures such as
illegal sanction against certain countries with a view to
preventing these countries from the exercise of their right
to determine their own political, economic and social
system.
The Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir was
indicted
mid-July this year by the International Criminal Court (ICC)
for allegedly leading a campaign of murder, rape and mass
deportation against the people of Darfur.
However, African Union leaders have intervened and asked the
United Nations to defer possible proceedings for the alleged
war crimes against him.
In a strongly worded address at the opening session of the
ACP
conference on Thursday, President al-Bashir said the
unprecedented move by the ICC prosecutor's to have him
arrested on war crime charges was undermining the ongoing
comprehensive peace process.
The move, he said, was also sending wrong signals to Darfur
Rebel
Movements to move away from the negotiation table.
President al-Bashir described the move by the ICC prosecutor
as
'politically motivated action in a legal and humanitarian
cloak," adding that, "International legal institutions
should not be used as weapons to score political
objectives." he added.
President Bashir's concerns might have found favour with
other
colleague Heads of State at the meeting but fell short of a
blanket request for withdrawal.
Asked whether the call for suspension did not give the ICC
room to
pursue the arrest of al-Bashir in future, President Kufuor
who addressed journalists said that was not the idea behind
the call for suspension of the indictment.
The declaration which cuts across politics, development and
trade, urged development partners to mobilise and provide
adequate resources in support of the efforts of ACP states
to effectively manage tropical forests and river basins,
which represented considerable economic, environmental and
social benefits for the life and development of citizens.
There was also a call on the international community to
agree on a global strategy to stabilise oil prices at
affordable levels in order to protect the growth prospects
of the developing countries and urged the UN to convene an
international Summit to address the problems and propose
solutions to high oil prices and its impact on the
livelihoods of people.
GNA
|
