OMAR al-BASHIR SLIPS THROUGH THE NET
07/13/15, Rafael Phongolo

The 25th African Union Summit clearly shows the continent's opposition to ICC's arrest warrant for the Sudanese president and Africa's lack of trust in the criminal court.

Africa's leaders gathered at the Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg for the 25th African Union Summit to try to prevent a rash of conflicts and crises derailing the continent's potential. Key to the discussions was the Tripartite Free Trade area (TFTA) spanning 26 countries of Southern and Eastern Africa and creating a market of 625-million people with a gross domestic product of more than $1-trillion.

It will combine the free trade areas of the Southern African Development Community, the East African Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

The creation of the TFTA - which is envisaged as a stepping stone to an Africa-wide free trade zone by 2017 - comes after more than a decade of plus-five percent a year growth on average in African economies.

But interestingly it was Sudan's 71 year old president, Omar Al-Bashir, who grabbed all the headlines, albeit for the wrong reasons. The drama was sparked after he left Waterkloof airbase on Monday 15 June despite a court order preventing him from leaving South Africa.

The court order came about when the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) had applied for South Africa to enforce two warrants for al-Bashir's arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2009 and 2010 relating to alleged war crimes and genocide.

The war led to the deaths of an estimated 300 000 people and the displacement of 2.5 million. Khartoum, however, disputes the figures, estimating the death toll at no more than 10 000.

Since his indictment in 2009 al-Bashir has mostly travelled to countries that have not joined the ICC. South Africa is a signatory of the ICC.

Media reports state that on Saturday June 13, 2015, the ICC ruled that diplomatic immunity did not apply to heads of state wanted for trial and issued a plea to South Africa to arrest him to stand trial.

The court's president Sidiki Kaba, in a statement, called "on South Africa, which has always contributed to the strengthening of the Court, to spare no effort in ensuring the execution of the arrest warrants."

He was deeply concerned "about the negative consequences for the Court in case of non-execution of the warrants," the statement added.

The High Court in Pretoria eventually heard an application on the morning of Monday June 15, 2015 on whether South African authorities should arrest Al-Bashir.

On Sunday June 14, 2015, Judge Hans Fabricius ordered that the Department of Home Affairs ensure that all points of entry and exit be informed that al-Bashir was not allowed to leave until the SALC application that South Africa should arrest him, was concluded.

But al-Bashir managed to dodge his arrest by sneaking past the ICC net to return to his country. Dressed in his traditional white robes, a triumphant Al-Bashir waved his trademark cane in the air as he stepped off the plane in Dakar and shouted: "God is greatest!"

Walking down a red carpet leading from the aircraft, he was greeted by his ministers on the tarmac as well as a crowd of journalists and photographers.

The local KZN-based Mercury newspaper reported that it understood that Al-Bashir left South Africa under a heavy police escort.

"He was escorted by all the security detail, including the Saps VIP Protection Unit, metro police and intelligence officials," the paper quoted a highly-placed source familiar with the developments.

The South African government came under severe scrutiny from the high court for approving Al-Bashir's departure. "Having heard council and having read the documents, it is declared by the court, that the government's failure to arrest Bashir is inconsistent with the Constitution. It is of concern to this court that it issues orders, and things just happen," held Judge President Dunstan Mlambo.

Addressing delegates at the AU summit, AU and SADC chairman and Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe urged Africans to wake up and realise they are being set against each other by powerful nations that cause wars on the continent and loot resources as citizens fight. Mugabe said it was time for Africans to be united and principled.

President Mugabe said in the Middle East, the West, led by the US and Britain, deliberately created a lie to kill former Iraq President Saddam Hussein and their companies were busy looting that country's oil as citizens killed each other.

"There are those who wish our oil was theirs. They wish all we have, all that wealth is theirs. When they look at their little island, the British - naked with nothing to offer except coal which they're burning every day - and America which has a vast territory, they say the oil we have isn't enough to sustain us," he said.

"There's a lot in Africa where they don't know what to do with it. They get it by hook or crook. Suddenly, they start a war. 'Saddam is a cruel man. He's preparing to slaughter others. He has weapons of mass destruction.' Poor Saddam has no media and can't answer convincingly," Mugabe added.

The African Union has dismissed the ICC as a kangaroo court targeting only developing world leaders.

Political analysts have also come out guns blazing arguing that something could have been done to apprehend the wanted leader.

"The release by the African Union Peace and Security Council of its report on the crimes committed in South Sudan would be a vital step towards the ultimate goal of stabilising the situation there, and African Union member states must press for this.

"The African Union must also demonstrate, in tangible deeds as well as in words, its support for the establishment of accountability mechanisms in South Sudan as a key step in ensuring justice for the victims of horrendous crimes, including murder, torture, and rape, performed by armed groups still operating in this country. Transparent legal proceedings will send a clear signal that such atrocities will no longer be tolerated," said Jacob van Garderen, director of Lawyers for Human Rights.

Van Garderen added that if the African Union is serious about transforming the continent into a place where good governance, democracy, and respect for human rights are the rule, rather than the exception, then it must ensure that those responsible for human rights violations and international crimes are held accountable and that victims obtain justice and reparation.

For those curious to find out why al-Bashir's name has been floating around the news headlines, a look the list of his alleged crimes against the Sudanese population since his incumbency as president in 1989 tells the story:

Bashir is the only sitting president with an outstanding arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (7 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes in 2009)
Over 300 000 deaths of men, women and children in Darfur
In 1990, he ordered the execution of over 30 army and police officers implicated in a coup attempt
In 2004, Bashir did nothing about Janjaweed militia accused of murdering and raping people in Darfur
Over 3 million displaced Darfuris
On July 12, 2010 the ICC issued an additional warrant adding 3 counts of genocide for the ethnic cleansing of the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa tribes.
It has been 2,295 days since Bashir's international warrant of arrest was issued

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