African Media Coverage

February 1-15, 2008

Uganda: Daily Monitor
“Can President Bashir be saved from the ICC?”
Published: February 15, 2009

An arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al Bashir could be issued as early as before the end of February despite an aggressive campaign by African and Arab countries to prevent such an eventuality, reports suggest.

If the warrant is issued, which is the first attempt by the International Criminal Court (ICC), to hold under custody a sitting Head of State, will significantly shake things up for especially African strongmen accused of rights violations.

This is uncomfortable news for Uganda, that head the Africa group at the United Nations Security Council, a body that has the power to stop the prosecution of Mr Bashir.

Read the article here.

Kenya: The East Africa
“US-Africa clash looms over ICC’s indictment of al-Bashir”
Published: February 14, 2009

Africa and the Obama administration could soon clash in the UN Security Council over an expected war-crimes indictment of Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir.

The African Union is urging the 15-nation council to approve a one-year deferral of the action against President al-Bashir.

Some opponents of the move to arrest the Sudanese president argue that African leaders are being disproportionately targeted in international efforts to punish instigators of atrocities.

But the primary objection centres on fears that a formal indictment of the Sudanese leader by the International Criminal Court (ICC) will serve to undermine the aim of halting violence in the country’s Darfur region.

The Khartoum government could retaliate for ICC charges against its leader by more forcefully resisting UN peacemaking initiatives in Sudan, African leaders warn.

UN forces are currently deployed in both Darfur and Southern Sudan, which could become another pressure point if Khartoum responds aggressively to the ICC’s indictment of President al-Bashir, which is likely to be handed down soon.

Read the article here.

South Africa: iol
“Sudan begins peace talks with Darfur rebels”
Published: February 10, 2009

A Sudanese government delegation met Darfur rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement in the Qatari capital on Tuesday for their first peace contacts since 2007.

The most heavily armed of the Darfur rebel groups, the JEM boycotted a largely abortive peace deal signed by one other faction in 2006 and in May last year launched an unprecedented assault on the Sudanese capital.

JEM representative Jibril Ibrahim said the new contacts could only pave the way for substantive peace negotiations if the government was prepared to accept the winding up of allied Arab militias in Darfur and allow high-level rebel representation in the central government.

"The appropriate order for our negotiations must be the following - start by adopting confidence-building measures and making a declaration of good intentions and then address the key bones of contention," Ibrahim said.

Read the article here.