DUBAI (Agencies) Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, for whom international arrest warrants have been issued over the Darfur conflict, returned home on Friday after a trip to Kenya, his press spokesman said.
Earlier, the International Criminal Court said that it was reporting indicted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s visit to Kenya to the U.N. Security Council, so that appropriate steps might be taken, as Kenya defended its invitation to Bashir to attend its constitution celebrations.
Bashir attended a ceremony in Nairobi Friday to adopt a new constitution for Kenya despite warrants for his arrest issued by the ICC on charges of genocide and war crimes by the ICC.
Obligation
A statement said the court “informs the Security Council of the United Nations and the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute about Omar al-Bashir’s presence on the territory of the Republic of Kenya, in order for them to take any measure they may deem appropriate.”
“The Republic of Kenya has a clear obligation to cooperate with the Court in relation to the enforcement of such warrants of arrest, it added.”
Kenya, as a signatory to the treaty which set up the ICC, is obliged to arrest Bashir, who was indicted in March 2009 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, and in July 2010 on charges of genocide.
The charges relate to atrocities committed by Khartoum’s forces in Sudan’s western province of Darfur.
Bashir, whose name was not on the list of heads of state expected to attend issued by the Kenyan foreign ministry, arrived at Uhuru Park Friday and was ushered to the main dais.
He appeared relaxed and smiling as he shook hands with other African leaders attending the ceremony.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula was unapologetic, saying Bashir was in Nairobi “because we invited all neighbors and he is a neighbor.”
“There are no apologies to make about anybody we invited to this function because I am sure we are enhancing peace and security and stability of this region more than anything else,” he added.
However, Deputy Defense Minister David Musila said, “Kenya has brought shame to itself by allowing President Bashir to visit the country. If he is still in the country he should be arrested immediately and handed to the ICC.”
Genocide charges
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, meanwhile, urged Kenya to arrest Bashir and hand him over to an international court to face genocide charges.
“The high representative is concerned by the visit of President Omar al-Bashir to Kenya, a State party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC),” Ashton’s office said in a statement.
“She urges Kenya to respect its obligations under international law to arrest and surrender those indicted by the ICC,” it said.
It was Bashir’s second visit to a signatory of the Rome Statute following a trip to Chad last month. At the time, Ashton had also urged Chad to arrest Bashir, but Chad ignored her plea.
The chief EU diplomat said the ICC was a “valuable instrument of the international community to combat impunity for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole.”
She added that “genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes must not go unpunished and their prosecution must be ensured by measures at both domestic and international level.”
Both Chad and Kenya are members of the African Union which has said that the arrest warrants against Bashir are counterproductive for the quest for peace in Darfur.
The ICC has no police and relies on states that support it to carry out arrests.
Source: AlArabiya.net
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