Parliament – The South African government did not knowingly defy a court order allowing Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir to leave South Africa instead of executing an International Criminal Court warrant of arrest, minister in the presidency Jeff Radebe said on Thursday.
Briefing journalists on the outcomes of Wednesday’s fortnightly cabinet meeting, Radebe confirmed the country was reviewing its membership of the international tribunal.
Radebe said government did not act in contravention of a North Gauteng high court order that Bashir not be allowed to leave the country.
“The South African government believes in the rule of law (and) that’s why we have a democratic institution. We will always observe the rule of law and the court decisions,” said Radebe.
“There’s no decision by government that al-Bashir must leave in defiance of the court order. We’ve already said there’s an affidavit that’s going to be presented today (Thursday) in the North Gauteng High Court that would clarify the position….”
Radebe said South Africa would appoint a team of ministers to start engaging the ICC on a dispute it intends to lodge.
The minister said South Africa had accepted an invitation prior to the African Union summit, which Bashir was in the country to attend, from the ICC to consult with it under article 97 of the Rome Statute. A meeting was also scheduled to take place while the summit was underway, but the ICC issued an order that article 97 consultations had been concluded and that Bashir must be arrested, without hearing government’s position on the matter.
The move prompted Radebe of accusing the ICC of acting in bad faith.
“We have challenges with the ICC and those matters will be ventilated as we go forward. Government will be appointing a group of ministers that are going to be interacting with the ICC,” he said.
“We firmly believe the (article 97) consultation had not taken place in good faith.”
Radebe said South Africa would only withdraw from the ICC “as a last resort”.
“Such a decision will only be taken when South Africa has exhausted all the remedies available to it in terms of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the Charter of the United Nations and other international law instruments,” he said.
Bashir left South Africa on June 15 after attending the AU summit.
The Sudanese leader has been indicted by the ICC for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against some of the tribes of Sudan’s western Darfur region. Two warrants of arrest were issued against him in 2009 and 2010.
As a member of the ICC, South Africa is obliged to arrest him and surrender him to the ICC.
ANA