ETHIOPIA: ICC prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo appeals to have genocide count included on Bashir's charge sheet

Record ID: 345619

  • Title: ETHIOPIA: ICC prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo appeals to have genocide count included on Bashir's charge sheet
  • Date: 8th July 2009
  • Summary: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (JULY 07, 2009) (REUTERS) INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTS PROSECUTOR LUIS MORENO-OCAMPO WALKING TO CONFERENCE HALL (SOUNDBITE) (English) ICC PROSECUTOR LUIS MORENO-OCAMPO SAYING: "Yesterday I presented my briefing to the appeals chamber requesting the appeals chamber to include the three charges of genocide in the case against President Omar al- Bashir." JOURNALISTS TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (English) ICC PROSECUTOR, LUIS MORENO-OCAMPO SAYING: "We are requesting the arrest of Bashir the head of the government of Sudan. Arresting a head of state is not a police operation. It is a process. It will take time. And the court can wait to arrest Bashir, President Bashir. It can wait six months or six years even. The victims can not wait. That is why this panel of high level panel is so important. That is why it's so important to stop the crimes today." MORE OF JOURNALISTS TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (English) ICC PROSECUTOR, LUIS MORENO-OCAMPO SAYING: "We are working with African leaders protecting African victims. Could not happen again what happened in Rwanda. You know, you remember when the Rwanda genocide happened, no one paid attention to the victims. That could not happen again." JOURNALISTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) ICC PROSECUTOR, LUIS MORENO-OCAMPO SAYING: "Today president Omar al Bashir has to be arrested for five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of all crimes. If we win this appeal in some months, President Bashir will also have to answer the charges of genocide." WIDE SHOT OF MEDIA CONFERENCE WIDE SHOT OF JOURNALISTS LEAVING CONFERENCE HALL
  • Embargoed: 23rd July 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ethiopia
  • Country: Ethiopia
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8YP0ULWKJFOYX2YOTNQC3BQ3Z
  • Story Text: The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he had lodged an appeal to have Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir charged with genocide in the Darfur conflict.
    The ICC has indicted Bashir on seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and torture, but ruled it had insufficient grounds for a charge of genocide.
    "Yesterday I presented briefing to the appeals chamber requesting the appeals chamber to include the three charges of genocide in the case against President Omar al- Bashir," ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said while visiting Ethiopia, where he was meeting African Union (AU) officials.
    Luis Moreno-Ocampo said on Tuesday (July 07) the African Union's non-cooperation with the indictment of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir cannot be read as a pronouncement of innocence and was requesting the Union members to arrest him.
    "We are requesting the arrest of Bashir the head of the government of Sudan. Arresting a head of state is not a police operation. It is a process. It will take time. And the court can wait to arrest Bashir, President Bashir. It can wait six months or six years even. The victims can not wait. That is why this panel of high level panel is so important. That is why it's so important to stop the crimes today," Ocampo added.
    African heads of state meeting in Libya last week adopted a motion saying they would not comply with the ICC's order to arrest or surrender Bashir on charges of rights abuses in Sudan's western Darfur region.
    "We are working with African leaders protecting African victims. Could not happen again what happened in Rwanda. You know, you remember when the Rwanda genocide happened, no one paid attention to the victims. That could not happen again," Ocampo said.
    Moreno-Ocampo was in Ethiopia to meet AU officials at the continental body's headquarters in Addis Ababa.
    Bashir has dismissed the allegations made by the ICC, the world's first permanent court for prosecuting war crimes, as part of a Western conspiracy.
    The ICC warrant was the first issued against a sitting head of state by the Hague-based court. U.N. officials say the Darfur conflict has killed as many as 300,000 people since 2003.
    Moreno-Ocampo said an AU motion last week saying African nations would not cooperate with the ICC's order to arrest or surrender Bashir was not a setback.
    "Today president Omar al Bashir has to be arrested for five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of all crimes. If we win this appeal in some months, President Bashir will also have to answer the charges of genocide," said Ocampo as he briefed journalists.
    Sudan says the AU vote means its president is free to travel across Africa, even though 30 states in Africa signed up to support the global court. Under its statute, member countries are required to arrest suspects within their territories.
    Bashir has only visited states not bound by the court's rules since the warrant was issued in March.
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