Juan Gasparini/HRT

The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno Ocampo, was in New York for four days where he was trying to convince heads of states and governments, meeting at the UN General Assembly, of why his request for the arrest of the Sudanese President, Omar al-Bachir is well founded.

The prosector asked judges at the Court in July to deliver an arrest warrent for the President for crimes committed in Darfur. He came up against the African Union who were maneuvering for the UN Security Council to suspend the inquiry for 12 months under chapter 7 of the UN charter that calls for world peace to be upheld. Article 16 of the Statute of Rome, which set up the International Criminal Court in 1998, allows this possibility, but only once the arrest warrant requested by Moreno Ocampo for Omar al-Bachir has been accepted by "a preliminary court" of three judges, which up to now has not been the case. A decision by this preliminary court is imminent. The court is made up of three women who must first of all deal with a previous case concerning the Democratic Republic of Congo, which was due to be heard on Friday 26th September.

According to the Criminal Court’s website, Moreno Ocampo, confirmed in New York that, "We have been entrusted a judicial mandate and we have fullfilled it. We have presented solid arguments based on evidence that the crimes are still being committed today against the inhabitants of Darfur. Mr Al-Bashir exercises absolute control over those forces that rape women, puts in place the conditions that destroy whole communities and continue to bombard schools. The decision is up to the judges. World leaders face a massive challenge. They must protect the victims and guarantee that the Court’s decisions are respected. The people sought by the Court must be brought to court to face justice. Between these criminals and 2.5 million victims, they have to make the right choice".

Translated from French by C.D.