DIRCO cannot hide behind sub judice on Al-Bashir any longer
The Parliamentary Legal Services has confirmed that the sub judice rule would not be breached if International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO) Minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane was called to brief the International Relations Committee on how Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir was allowed to flee South Africa, despite a High Court order that he should be arrested during a visit to SA for the African Union’s 25th Summit in June this year.
Given this, the DA will write to the Chairperson of the Committee, Moses Masango, to request that he urgently summon the Minister to account, in detail, to the committee how the decision came about to let Al-Bashir go. It is vital that the committee be allowed to conduct effective oversight of DIRCO, as it is empowered to do.
In August, after DIRCO Deputy Minister, Luwellyn Landers, told the Portfolio Committee that the circumstances surrounding Al-Bashir departure were sub judice, owing to the government’s appeal of the North Gauteng High Court judgement, the DA asked the Chairperson get a legal opinion on whether the matter was in fact sub judice.
The legal opinion states that: “Whilst the proposed briefing, on the face of it, may substantially affect the matters that are raised in the aforementioned appeal, we are of the view that inviting DIRCO to come and brief the Committee on this matter will not necessarily, in itself be a breach of rule 67 of the Assembly rules nor would it in itself be a breach of the legal principle of sub judice.”
An account of how this decision came about would not prejudice the appeal by DIRCO and other government departments against the High Court judgement that the departure of Al-Bashir, before the finalisation of the court proceedings to access whether he should be arrested, demonstrated non-compliance with that order.
The ANC government took the decision to allow Al-Bashir, a wanted criminal, to leave South Africa in breach of two warrants of his arrest issued by the International Criminal Court, in 2009 and 2010.
This decision was also in direct contravention of our own domestic laws and a High Court order not to let Al-Bashir leave. Furthermore the decision also marked a departure from a foreign policy based on upholding human rights as Al-Bashir is wanted for war crimes, and genocide against 300 000 of his own people and our fellow Africans.
It is high time that DIRCO account for this decision and the DA will continue to fight for those who are responsible for this travesty of justice to be held accountable.
Issued by Stevens Mokgalapa, DA Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, 10 September 2015
