OneWorld.net (U.S.)

ADDIS ABABA, Jan 30 (OneWorld.net) - Executives of the African Union have called for a 12-month suspension of international efforts to arrest President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, claiming his detention would derail the peace process in the conflict-ridden African country.

"The African Union has requested the UN security council to suspend the ICC (International Criminal Court) indictment against the president," said Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, in the opening of the 14th ordinary session of the executive council here Thursday.

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir.This was reiterated by the chairperson of the executive council Bernard K. Membe, who is also Tanzania's minister for foreign affairs. The request made by the chief prosecutor of the ICC for the indictment of Al-Bashir is the greatest challenge facing the peace process in Darfur, he said.

Membe and other African leaders argue that, with tension extremely high in Sudan, the arrest of Al-Bashir could lead to an outbreak of grim violence between supporters of Al-Bashir and those who support the indictment. The African Union (AU) also says Al-Bashir is a necessary player in the peace process mediated by the Arab League, AU, and other groups.

"The case of Darfur is unique," said AU deputy chairperson Erastus Mwencha. "We cannot sacrifice peace in pursuit of justice. We are interested in processes that are complementary to each other, but which do not compromise the search for both," Mwencha reportedly told a reporter for the Panafrican News Agency today.

"Once [the peace process] is done, we shall support the prosecution of anyone cited in the ICC warrants of arrest," Mwencha added.

The international court, which embraces 108 member countries, accuses al-Bashir of masterminding and implementing a plan to destroy in substantial part the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa groups during a campaign of ethnic persecution in the Darfur region that the United Nations estimates has cost 300,000 lives in five years while over 2.7 million people have been displaced.

Three years after the UN Security Council requested the investigation of situations in Darfur, and based on the evidence collected, the prosecutor of the ICC in July 2008 concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe that al-Bashir bears criminal responsibility in relation to 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

For its part, the African Union has requested the UN Peace and Security Council for a 12-month suspension of the ICC arrest warrant. Article 16 of the Rome Statute -- the accord that established the ICC -- allows the UN Security Council to suspend ICC prosecutions for a period of 12 months.

The African Union's call to shield al-Bashir from arrest came on the eve of the African heads of state and government summit that kicks off Feb. 1. Most of Africa's 50-plus leaders are expected to attend the summit along with a host of dignitaries such as president of the World Bank Robert Zoellick.

The theme adopted by this year's summit is "Infrastructure Development in Africa." But at a time when African countries are marred by a host of emerging challenges, the discussions of the heads of state and government will not be limited to the development of infrastructure.

The normally two-day summit agenda will be expanded to three, to include a day-long discussion of a proposal to create a pan-African governmental authority, similar in scope to the European Union. Other issues lined up for discussion include the Coup in Mauritania and Guinea, the unsuccessful peace process in Zimbabwe, and violence in Somalia and the Darfur region of Sudan, which is considered Africa's most urgent crisis.

But attention seems to have mounted on Sudan where leaders are looking cynically at the acts of ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who has requested the arrest warrant for al-Bashir.

According to Africa Action, a Washington, DC-based group that lobbies the U.S. government for pro-Africa policy changes, the situation in Sudan does not seem to be improving.

"This will be a critical year for Sudan's future. The crisis in Darfur has grown and now affects the entire region's stability. The joint UN-African Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping force authorized in July 2007 remains too understaffed and under-equipped to be effective," reads the group's Africa Policy Outlook 2009 report, released this week. "Civilian displacements and killings in Darfur continued throughout 2008 as UNAMID was reduced to bystanders because of acute shortages of troops, road transport, and helicopters."

The African Union is calling for the deployment of the full 26,000 troops in the volatile region of Sudan for stability to come in Darfur. AU Chairperson Ping says so far 60 percent of the total number of troops pledged for the mission have been deployed and 80 percent of the target will have been reached within 3 months.

Despite the requests by the African high level ministers for the indictments to be dropped, Africa Action and other international human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First, are urging the Court follow through with its charges, stating that the prospects for justice could be reversed if the UN Security Council votes to suspend the arrest warrant.

"While some analysts fear that an indictment will derail elections [scheduled for February], Bashir's National Congress Party has given several indications that they will try and derail the elections anyway," said Africa Action. "The ICC indictment should serve as a pressure point to promote peace and justice in the entire Sudan and surrounding region."

Human Rights Watch's Africa director Georgette Gagnon agrees. "The African Union should urge all sides to move forward with the peace agreement, but efforts to secure peace should not come at the expense of justice," she said this week. "No one should be allowed to use the warrants as an excuse to commit further violence, to obstruct peacekeepers and aid workers, or to harass and abuse human rights activists who speak out for justice."

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