Britain, France and the US are up against a united front of African and Muslim countries, backed by China and Russia, over the imminent indictment of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Darfur.
Diplomatic sources said on Monday that a pre-trial panel of three judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague was expected to authorize an arrest warrant within the next two weeks. Bashir will be the first head of state to be charged by the ICC since it was founded in 2002.
The African Union, the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and an influential UN bloc of developing nations known as the Group of 77 and China have all backed Sudan’s calls for the ICC prosecution to be dropped, with some officials arguing that it smacks of “white man’s justice.”
They say an attempt to arrest Bashir could destabilize Sudan and endanger international aid and peacekeeping missions. An estimated 200,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been displaced since fighting erupted in Darfur in 2003.
The UN has more than 20,000 personnel in Sudan, including two peacekeeping missions, while hundreds of NGOs and aid agencies operate there.
Sudanese officials say they cannot be held responsible if the UN or foreign organizations become the focus of “public outrage” over an indictment.
Western diplomats say any decision to freeze or drop the case could destroy the credibility of the ICC and force the resignation of chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
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