ICC's Registrar returns from fact-finding mission concerning Sudanese refugees in Treguine and Breddjing camps in Chad

News from Sudan Radio Service - 2 April 2009 - ICC Registrar Visits Sudanese Refugees in Chad:

2 April 2009 - (The Hague) - The Registrar of the International Criminal Court, Silvana Arbia, returned from a four-day official visit to Chad on Friday. She was on a fact-finding mission concerning Sudanese refugees living in the Treguine and Breddjing refugee camps.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service from The Hague by phone on Friday, Arbia said that the refugees are desperate to return home and are seeking justice:

[Silvana Arbia]: “The refugees said that they are very interested to follow the proceedings of the court, they trust the court, they say that justice is necessary and they want also to resolve the peace problem to be able to return home soon."

Arbia denied the accusation that the ICC might have indirectly been responsible for increasing human suffering in Darfur by issuing the arrest warrant against Omar al-Bashir:

[Silvana Arbia]: “This is not possible because justice is working for the society over there. So this is justice, one of the fundamental rights, of an individual or a group of individuals. So there is no conflict between the courts. What the ICC is doing is an intellectual exercise and the interest of this population is for peace and for normal life in the country."

Arbia said that a resolution to the situation in Sudan will depend on the cooperation of the Government of National Unity.