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AU leaders agree not to cooperate with Sudan president arrest warrant

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

[JURIST] The African Union (AU) will not cooperate with International Criminal Court (ICC) efforts to extradite Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, the AU announced Friday during an AU summit in Libya. AU members said that by issuing a warrant for al-Bashir's arrest, the ICC jeopardized the peace process in Sudan. As signatories to the Rome Treaty, 30 of the 53 AU countries are bound by the ICC's warrant to arrest al-Bashir if he enters their country. Sudan says that Friday's resolution allows Bashir to travel Reuters report] anywhere in Africa. Prosecutors at the ICC announced Monday that they would pursue genocide charges against Bashir, appealing March's decision by the ICC to charge al-Bashir with war crimes and crimes against humanity but not genocide. The prosecution sought leave of the court in March to appeal the ICC's decision not to indict al-Bashir on three counts of genocide. Some African leaders criticized the warrant at the time, fearing it could stall the peace process. The controversial arrest warrant had been sought by ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who in July filed preliminary charges against al-Bashir alleging genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed in the Darfur region in violation of Articles 6, 7, and 8 of the Rome Statute.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on July 04, 2009 (boomark / email).