Friday, November 14, 2008

ICC Prosecutor Ocampo seeks arrest warrants next week for rebels' attack on AU peacekeepers in Haskanita, S. Darfur, Sudan 29 Sep 2007 (Part 2)

Oyeee! More good news! ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo seeks arrest warrants next week for the attackers and murderers of African Union peacekeepers at Haskanita, Southern Darfur, Sudan on 29 September 2007.

ICC Prosecutor Seeks Arrest Warrants In Third Darfur Probe
November 14, 2008 report from Dowjones Business News:
THE HAGUE (AFP)--The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Friday he would seek arrest warrants next week in a new probe into war crimes in Darfur - his first into acts by Sudanese rebel groups.

"Next week, we will request new arrest warrants for the attack against African Union peacekeepers in Haskanita" in southern Darfur in September last year, Luis Moreno-Ocampo told a gathering in The Hague of state parties to the Rome Statute that created the ICC.

"This is our third Darfur investigation."

Ten African Union peacekeepers were killed in an attack on Haskanita in southern Darfur in September last year.

In a report to the U.N. Security Council in June, Moreno-Ocampo said he had information that the killings were committed by two rebel splinter factions.

In May last year, the ICC issued warrants against Sudan's former interior minister, Ahmad Harun, and Ali Kushayb, a leader of the government-backed Janjaweed militia, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country's Darfur region.

And in July this year, the prosecutor asked the court to issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, allegedly committed in Darfur.

A panel of judges is reviewing the evidence to determine whether there are reasonable grounds to proceed with the case, which Bashir has shrugged off.

He has so far also refused to hand over Harun and Kushayb.

Moreno-Ocampo said Friday that the Sudanese government has done nothing to bring war criminals to book.

"Denial and impunity remain."

The ICC is the world's first independent, permanent war crimes court.
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November 14, 2008 report from Sudan Tribune - ICC prosecutor to charge Darfur rebels over peacekeepers attack next week:
Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s third case on Darfur investigates a rebel attack on the Haskanita military base last year that left 10 African Union (AU) soldiers dead and one missing.

Ocampo made the announcement during a speech Friday at the opening session for the assembly of ICC state parties.
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November 14, 2008 report from The Hindu - Darfur rebels targeted by ICC prosecutor
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP): The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Friday he will seek arrest warrants next week related to a deadly attack on African Union peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region.

The case is the first by the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal to target Darfur rebels, who are fighting government troops and the allied janjaweed militia of Arab nomads in a five-year conflict that has left up to 300,000 dead.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo said his third Sudan investigation is focused on attacks in the northern Darfur town of Haskanita.

He gave no further details during a speech Friday, but earlier said he was investigating a rebel attack on the Haskanita military base on Sept. 29, 2007, that left 10 African Union soldiers dead and one missing.

Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch welcomed the announcement.

"We have not seen his application, but the significance must be the seriousness of killing ... those who are mandated to protect civilians at risk,'' Dicker told The Associated Press.
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ICC's Chief Prosecutor

Photo: The Chief Prosecutor Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, sworn in on the 16th of June 2003. (ICC)

Darfur peacekeepers funeral

Photo: An African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) peacekeeper stands in front of the coffins of his killed colleagues during a funeral ceremony at the Mission's forward headquarters in El Fasher, North Darfur province October 4, 2007. Seven Nigerian peacekeepers and three military observers from Mali, Senegal and Botswana were killed during an attack by rebel militia on their base in Haskanita during the night of 29 September 2007. Reuters/Stuart Price/AMIS/Handout (Sudan)

Darfur peacekeepers funeral

Photo: In this photo made available by African Mission in Sudan, soldiers of the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS), stand to honour their dead colleagues, as the coffins of 10 AMIS troops are seen during their funeral ceremony at the Mission's Forward Headquarters at el Fasher, Darfur, Sudan Thursday, October 4, 2007. Rebel forces stormed a small African Union base in northern Darfur, killing 10 peacekeepers from the African Union mission. AP Photo by Stuart Price (Sudan)

Darfur peacekeepers funeral

Photo: In this photo made available by African Mission in Sudan (AMIS), AMIS personnel pay their last respects over a coffin of a peacekeeper during a funeral ceremony at the Mission's Forward Headquarters in El Fasher, Darfur, Sudan, on Thursday, October 4, 2007. (Sudan)

Darfur peacekeepers funeral

Photo: The coffins of 7 Nigerian soldiers killed while on peacekeeping duty in Darfur are given military honors in a burial ceremony at Nigeria's main military cemetery in Abuja October 5, 2007. Seven Nigerian peacekeepers and three military observers from Mali, Senegal and Botswana were killed during an attack by rebel militia on their base in Sudan during the night of September 29, 2007. AP Photo/Sunday Alamba (Nigeria)

Darfur peacekeepers funeral

Photo: Military pallbearers carry the casket of Lance Corp. Danjuma Madaki at a burial ceremony for seven soldiers killed while on peacekeeping duty in Darfur. AP Photo/Sunday Alamba (Nigeria)

Darfur peacekeepers funeral

Photo: The coffins of 7 Nigerian soldiers killed while on peacekeeping duty in Darfur are given military honours in a burial ceremony at Nigeria's main military cemetery in Abuja October 5, 2007. AP Photo/Sunday Alamba (Nigeria)

Darfur peacekeepers funeral

Photo: Soldiers and civilians participate in a Muslim prayer next to the coffins of three Muslim soldiers, at a burial ceremony for seven peacekeepers killed while on duty in Darfur, Friday, October 5, 2007. AP Photo/Sunday Alamba (Nigeria)

Darfur peacekeepers funeral

Photo: Relatives of one of the peacekeepers killed in Darfur cry during a funeral ceremony. Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde (Nigeria)

Darfur peacekeepers funeral

Photo: Rashidat Ajao cries during the burial of her husband Private Toyin Ajao, one of seven soldiers killed while on peacekeeping duty in Darfur and interred in Nigeria's main military cemetery in Abuja, Friday, October 5, 2007. AP Photo/Sunday Alamba (Nigeria)
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For photos of the war crimes at Haskanita see Sudan Watch September 24, 2008: ICC prosecutor to investigate Sudan's Darfur rebels crimes - What happened at Haskanita? (Part 1)

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