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Kenya: the controversy after the visit of Omar El-Bashir
By African Bulletin on September 1, 2010
Again the international justice considered being defied by the Sudanese Head of State, Omar Al-Bashir, when he rendered, on August 27, an official visit to Nairobi.
He was on the guest list for the ceremony of the promulgation of the new Kenyan constitution. He is currently subject of two international arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He is accused since 2009 of war crimes, crimes against humanity and most recently of genocide in the Darfur province.
International institutions have immediately reacted. On behalf of the European Union, Catherine Ashton, has pressed the Kenyan authorities to “respect their obligations” as a state signatory member vis-à-vis the ICC. President Barack Obama himself said he was “disappointed” by the attitude of Nairobi. The ICC judges have called for the Security Council to “take all appropriate measures” against Kenya. Out cried Kenya’s leaders have tried to explain the reasons, citing an invitation to all the neighbouring countries, including of course Sudan.
However, Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga, had to admit Sunday that the invitation was a “mistake”.
But why this visit to Kenya is so cried by some countries and international bodies, and did not say a word when the same strongman of Sudan visited, very recently, Libya in July 2010, or Chad, or Eritrea in March 2009, a few days after the announcement of the first arrest warrant issued against him.
Finaly, the African Union asserts that it will oppose any attempt exercising a pressure on the African countries to undermine the common position of Africa, which consists in not cooperating with the ICC for the arrest of the Sudanese president for ” war crime and genocide ” in Darfour.
International institutions have immediately reacted. On behalf of the European Union, Catherine Ashton, has pressed the Kenyan authorities to “respect their obligations” as a state signatory member vis-à-vis the ICC. President Barack Obama himself said he was “disappointed” by the attitude of Nairobi. The ICC judges have called for the Security Council to “take all appropriate measures” against Kenya. Out cried Kenya’s leaders have tried to explain the reasons, citing an invitation to all the neighbouring countries, including of course Sudan.
However, Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga, had to admit Sunday that the invitation was a “mistake”.
But why this visit to Kenya is so cried by some countries and international bodies, and did not say a word when the same strongman of Sudan visited, very recently, Libya in July 2010, or Chad, or Eritrea in March 2009, a few days after the announcement of the first arrest warrant issued against him.
Finaly, the African Union asserts that it will oppose any attempt exercising a pressure on the African countries to undermine the common position of Africa, which consists in not cooperating with the ICC for the arrest of the Sudanese president for ” war crime and genocide ” in Darfour.