It would be a mockery of justice if the government allowed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir into the country again, following the controversial June visit, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) said yesterday.
“I think it would be great travesty if President al-Bashir were to come to South Africa again because there is a standing order for his arrest,” said Angela Mudukuti, an international criminal justice lawyer at the SALC.
The centre is the NGO that went to court when the government failed to execute an international arrest warrant against al-Bashir.
“The judge has made it clear South Africa is obligated to arrest him. The rulings need to be taken seriously.
“President al-Bashir should understand that should he come to South Africa, he is likely to be arrested,” Mudukuti said.
She spoke to reporters at the high court in Pretoria, shortly after Judge Hans Fabricius dismissed the government’s application for leave to appeal against the court’s June ruling regarding Bashir’s departure from South Africa, despite an interim order from the same court instructing government not to allow him to leave.
Representing a full bench of high court judges, Fabricius said the government’s stance on Bashir could not override the country’s international obligations.
He said leave to appeal may only be given when the court is of the opinion the appeal would have “a reasonable prospect of success”.
“We are not of that opinion and for the reasons stated in our judgment, President Bashir enjoyed no immunity from arrest or from prosecution under customary international law as a serving head of state,” said Fabricius.
“The essence of the case made out by the applicants (government) is South Africa’s duty to arrest Bashir takes a back seat even when a known fugitive head of state, of the International Criminal Court, is in the country.”
The judge said he disagreed with government’s stance.
“Accordingly, the application for leave to appeal is dismissed with costs, including costs for two counsel,” Fabricius ruled.
Applicants in the matter included the minister of justice, the minister and national commissioner of police, as well as the ministers of international relations and home affairs and the national director of public prosecutions and the head of the Hawks.
The SALC was cited as the respondent.
On Tuesday, President Jacob Zuma kept diplomats guessing about whether Bashir might visit South Africa again for the summit of the Forum for China-Africa Co-operation (Focac) in December.
Bashir was in South Africa in June for the lavish 25th African Union summit held in Sandton, Joburg.
At that time, the high court ordered the government to detain him under an arrest warrant issued by the ICC which wants to charge Bashir for alleged atrocities in Darfur.
But authorities let him leave the country, even though the country is a member of the ICC and domestic law obliges it to comply with ICC arrest warrants. As a result, the high court has held the government flouted a court order.
On Tuesday, briefing numerous ambassadors and journalists on South Africa’s foreign policy, Zuma noted questions had been raised about whether Bashir would be invited to the Focac summit.
He added the government was aware of the order made by the ICC on September 4, requesting submissions from the government to be considered by the Hague-based tribunal in ruling whether South Africa had flouted the instructions of the ICC in failing to arrest Bashir.
It gave Pretoria until October 5 to submit its arguments in writing.
The ICC said in its order that if it found South Africa – as a member of the ICC – had disobeyed its obligations to the court, the ICC might refer it to the UN Security Council for further action. The Security Council could, in theory, order sanctions.
The DA, which had sought to have Zuma impeached over the Bashir controversy, welcomed the high court ruling as a victory for the rule of law.
African News Agency