Time for ANC government to account for letting war criminal Al-Bashir go

Today marks the deadline for the ANC Government to explain to the International Criminal Court (ICC) why it failed to arrest Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir when he was in South Africa in June this year, in breach of two warrants for his arrest issued by the ICC and South Africa’s own domestic law.

The DA calls on the Government to respond timeously to the ICC request to show there is still respect for the rule of law and respect for our obligations stemming from our membership of international bodies. 

The decision by President Zuma and his Executive dealt South Africa’s international standing and reputation a severe blow. It is therefore imperative that they respond to the ICC. 

Our own courts have indicated clearly that the decision to allow Al-Bashir to leave was wrong. Before Al-Bashir’s departure, the Gauteng North High Court issued an order prohibiting him from doing so. After it was established that he had been allowed to leave, the High Court ruled that the failure to detain Al-Bashir was inconsistent with the Constitution. The ruling was then appealed but the application was dismissed, with costs, in a damning indictment of the deliberate decision to let Al-Bashir leave our country in the first place.

There have been many attempts to side-step accountability for allowing a person wanted by the ICC to leave our country. These excuses include that Al-Bashir was protected by immunity granted to him by the African Union. This excuse holds no water as the United Nations implicitly revoked Al-Bashir’s immunity as an acting head of State in 2005 under UN Security Council Resolution 1593 due to the seriousness of the charges against him and the need for justice to be served for the people of Sudan.

The Government can no longer hide behind flimsy excuses and it is high time that it accounts for the decision to allow Al-Bashir to leave South Africa without being arrested. 

Issued by Stevens Mokgalapa, DA Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, 5 October 2015