Sudan tries to deflect pressure
2007-03-06 15:27
Khartoum - Sudan is seeking to take the lead and drag Darfur war crimes suspects in front of its own courts, despite divisions at home and world pressure to hand them over to an international court.
A special court in West Darfur is due to open proceedings on Wednesday against three security officials suspected of murdering civilians and burning down their villages.
"Three suspects will appear in front of the special criminal court in Geneina. Trial proceedings will start on Wednesday," reported the Suna news agency.
The move was announced late on Monday, a week after Khartoum came under renewed pressure when the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for the first time named suspected Darfur war criminals.
ICC prosecutor Luis-Moreno Ocampo on February 27 accused militia leader Ali Kosheib, who will appear in the Geneina court on Wednesday, and secretary of state for humanitarian affairs Ahmed Haroun, who will not.
Khartoum reacted to the ICC's move last week by insisting that its judiciary was fully competent to handle the suspects and rejected the legitimacy of any foreign court seeking to try Sudanese nationals.
'Political forces divided'
It simultaneously announced Kosheib had been detained since late November and that Haroun had also been interrogated and cleared of any wrongdoing.
But the ICC's offensive against the Sudanese regime has left domestic political forces divided.
Diverging views within the unity cabinet were highlighted last week when Salva Kiir, the southern rebel leader turned first vice-president, expressed his dissatisfaction with Khartoum's policies in Darfur.
'Missed the chance'
The Popular Congress Party of Beshir's former mentor Hassan al-Turabi said the president had "missed the chance" earlier in the conflict to bring suspects to justice in Sudan.
According to the United Nations, at least 200 000 people have been killed and more than two million displaced since the civil conflict erupted in Darfur in February 2003.
The UN's former top envoy in Sudan, Jan Pronk, stressed that Khartoum failed to seize the opportunity it was given to prove the efficiency and independence of its judiciary.
Pronk said: "I told them in 2004 to come up with a credible legal process and they failed, this is a second chance.
"I am quite disappointed that the UN security council is not following up on its decisions. I am pleased with the fact that the ICC prosecutor came out. It created a new political situation in Sudan.
"I hope the president will be wise enough and make clear to his people that it's a non-political decision."
'Government fully responsible'
Darfur rebel groups unsurprisingly came out in favour of handing over suspects to The Hague.
"The government is fully responsible for what has happened and what is now happening in Darfur," said the party.
Observers also suggested that Beshir's own National Congress Party may not speak in one voice on the issue.