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ICC denies reports that Bashir arrest warrant issued

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Officials from the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced Thursday that the ICC has not issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, refuting Wednesday reports that the warrant had been issued. The Wednesday reports, allegedly based on statements by an anonymous UN diplomat, said that the ICC had reached a decision on the July 2008 request by chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to issue an arrest warrant against Bashir. The ICC stressed that any announcement of a decision to issue an arrest warrant would come in "the normal way of a press release and publication on the Court's website." On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon made statements emphasizing the independent nature of the ICC as a judiciary organization, and stressing that Bashir should "fully cooperate with whatever decisions the ICC makes." Sudan and the African Union have both asked the UN Security Council delay war crime charges against Bashir for one year by invoking Article 16 of the Rome Statute, citing fears that an arrest warrant would disrupt the Sudanese peace process.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 12, 2009 (boomark / email).