Darfur genocide 'not ruled out'
Thursday, 08 May 2008 08:38
A Darfur refugee camp
Sudan In Focus
Five years have passed since the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region began. Full Story
The international criminal court (ICC) is refusing to dismiss the possibility of genocide in Sudan's wartorn Darfur region, its chief prosecutor has said.
Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo made the claim in a briefing to MPs and peers in parliament 15 months after the ICC named Sudan's humanitarian affairs minister, Ahmed Haroun, and Ali Kosheib, Janjaweed leader, as chief suspects of war crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo said he had established a "clear case" against the two suspects based on crimes against humanity.
"We never dismiss genocide", he explained, adding that a "second investigation" is currently underway considering this "second aspect" of the Darfur crisis.
Neither Mr Haroun nor Mr Kosheib have been surrendered to the ICC by the Sudanese government and Mr Moreno-Ocampo told MPs he believed the international community was partly responsible for this failure.
He said states had been "very weak" in pressing Khartoum on the issue and concluded "the Sudanese government drew its own conclusions" as a result.
"The Haroun case was a great opportunity to stop the crimes. We have lost that opportunity," Mr Moreno-Ocampo continued.
"States must create the right atmosphere to execute [arrest warrants]," he said, explaining "political and economic support" is needed in terms of cutting off supply networks and preventing humanitarian aid funds from being diverted towards providing weapons for those perpetrating the crimes.
Speaking after the event, Mr Moreno-Ocampo's deputy Beatrice le Fraper Du Hellen said she believed the chief prosecutor had spoken in "good cop" terms about the problem.
"We need to press parliaments around the world to make sure governments scrutinise their development budgets much more carefully," she pressed.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo refused to comment on whether British MPs and peers were doing better or worse than other national-level representative institutions.
But he called on parliamentarians to address lack of enforcement, what he called the "real issue".
"I think you can make a real difference here," he finished.