Judge bars Sudan's Bashir from leaving South Africa
| Johannesburg
A South African judge barred聽Sudan's indicted president from leaving the country on Sunday, in a deepening rift between聽Africa聽and the West over what聽Pretoria聽called anti-poor country bias in the International Criminal Court (ICC).
President聽Omar al-Bashir, visiting聽South Africa聽for an聽African Union聽summit, stands accused in an ICC arrest warrant of war crimes and crimes against humanity over atrocities committed in the聽Darfur聽conflict. He was first indicted in 2009.
A judge is expected on Monday to hear an application calling for Bashir's arrest, though this appears unlikely as South聽Africa's government has granted legal immunity to all African Union delegates.
South African President聽Jacob Zuma's ruling African National Congress (ANC) responded furiously to Sunday's court order, accusing聽the Hague-based ICC of seeking to impose selective Western justice by singling out Africans.
"The ANC holds the view that the International Criminal Court is no longer useful for the purposes for which it was intended," the ANC said in a statement.
"Countries, mainly in聽Africa聽and聽Eastern Europe聽... continue to unjustifiably bear the brunt of the decisions of the ICC, with聽Sudan聽being the latest example."
A human rights group, the Southern African Litigation Center, earlier petitioned the聽Pretoria High Court聽to force the government to issue an arrest warrant for Bashir.
Judge聽Hans Fabricius聽postponed the hearing until 0930 GMT on Monday to allow the government time to prepare its case, urging South African authorities to "take all necessary steps" to prevent Bashir leaving the country.
Sudan's government聽defended the South African visit of Bashir, who was sworn in this month in聽Khartoum聽for another five-year term, and said the court order had "no value."
"We contacted聽South Africa聽in advance and informed them that the president would participate and they highly welcomed his participation,"聽Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs,聽Kamal Ismail, told reporters in聽Khartoum.
"What is being mentioned in the media is a propaganda campaign against聽Sudan," Ismail added.
Guarantees
The conflict in聽Darfur聽has killed as many as 300,000 people and displaced 2 million, the聽United Nations聽says.
"He (Bashir) would be a fool if he had not sought guarantees that he would not be transferred before leaving for South聽Africa," one ICC official told Reuters, asking not to be named.
The ICC issued a statement asking聽Pretoria聽"to spare no effort in ensuring the execution of the arrest warrants."
It said the court's members had "deep concern" about the negative consequences if any signatory state failed to assist in detaining Bashir.
A foreign ministry spokesman in聽South Africa, which is an ICC signatory and therefore obliged to implement arrest warrants, did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday.
The ANC called for a review of ICC statutes to make them apply to all聽United Nations聽members to ensure a "fair and independent court for universal and equitable justice."
The聽United States' decision not to sign the ICC's聽Rome聽Statute has caused resentment among African states. (Additional reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Thomas Escritt in Amsterdam and Yara Bayoumy in Dubai; Writing byJoe Brock; Editing by Gareth Jones)
