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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Sep 23 2010 - 16:04:03 EDT
African Union: Sudan leader case undermines peace
Thu Sep 23, 2010 6:14pm GMT
* Malawi says Africa consensus against charges
* Advocacy groups say more pressure on Sudan needed
By Missy Ryan
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - The African Union urged the United
Nations on Thursday to put war crime charges against Sudan's leader on hold,
warning they could destabilize Africa's biggest nation and endanger an
upcoming referendum on southern independence.
Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika urged the annual U.N. General Assembly
to back a one-year deferral of the case against President Omar Hassan
al-Bashir, charged with genocide and war crimes in Sudan's western Darfur
region.
"While efforts to secure lasting peace in Sudan are ongoing, the
International Criminal Court seems to push for a 'pound of flesh'," said wa
Mutharika, who chairs the AU.
"There is a general consensus in Africa that this will negatively polarize
the different positions of stakeholders, thereby driving them away from a
peaceful settlement."
The U.N. Security Council has the power to suspend ICC prosecutions under
Article 16 of its statute but is deadlocked on whether to do so. Wa
Mutharika urged the 192-nation General Assembly to amend the Rome Statute to
give it the power to defer Bashir's case to avoid disrupting peace talks.
Renewed African backing for Bashir, who rejects the ICC charges that made
him the world's only sitting leader wanted for war crimes, comes only a few
months ahead of the Jan. 9 plebiscite that could bring independence for
southern Sudan.
Foreign powers are stepping up pressure on Khartoum to hold the vote on time
and follow through with a key point in the 2005 peace deal that ended
decades of north-south civil war.
There are growing concerns about whether poor Sudan can pull together the
complex referendum on time and whether the high-stakes vote can be held
without sparking new conflict.
MANY CARROTS, NOT ENOUGH STICKS?
Bashir's government has pledged it will respect the results of the vote but
there are many unanswered questions, such as what the referendum will mean
for oil-rich areas that lie in disputed areas along the north-south border.
U.S. President Barack Obama will take part in a high-level meeting on the
sidelines of the General Assembly on Friday, a sign of renewed U.S. efforts
to broker lasting peace in Sudan.
Washington is offering Sudan, under international sanctions since the
mid-1990s, the possibility of improved U.S. ties if the referendum goes
smoothly.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named Tanzania's former President
Benjamin Mkapa to head a new U.N. panel set up to monitor the north-south
referendum and another vote to determine the fate of the oil-rich region of
Abyei.
But some advocacy groups worry about future conflict in Sudan, not only if
southerners vote to secede as expected but as tensions persist in the
troubled Darfur region.
U.N. officials say as many as 300,000 people have died and over 2.7 million
have been driven from their homes in seven years of ethnic and politically
motivated violence in Darfur. Khartoum says 10,000 people have died.
John Prendergrast, head of advocacy group Enough, applauded the Obama
administration for correcting what he called 'drift' in its Sudan policy,
but said officials were dangling carrots to Bashir's government without
enough stick.
U.S. officials "need to be clear there are consequences," Prendergast said,
such as sanctions targeted against senior Sudanese officials and moves to
tighten the arms embargo. (Additional reporting by Andrew Heavens in
Khartoum; Editing by Jerry Norton)
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