Countries Shipping Arms to the Government of Sudan May Violate Genocide Convention
Today the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo, charged Sudanese president Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for atrocities committed in Darfur. This is the first time a sitting head-of-state has been charged with genocide. The Prosecutor’s Office began investigating the situation in Darfur more than three years ago after the United Nations Security Council referred the situation by way of a legally binding resolution.
The charge of genocide means that counties providing arms to Sudan may be violating the Genocide Convention by failing to take action to prevent it. Last year the International Court of Justice ruled in the case Bosnia v Serbia that if a country learns that there is a serious risk of genocide, and it subsequently “fail[s] to take all measures to prevent genocide which were within its power, and which might have contributed to preventing the genocide,” it may be legally liable for this failure under the 1949 Genocide Convention.
China and Russia are the leading countries providing arms to Sudan. Human Rights First issued a report in March detailing China’s relationship with the Government of Sudan and its large weapons transfers to Khartoum. These transfers continue between China and Sudan inspite of a legally binding United Nations Security Council arms embargo placed on Darfur. Today, the BBC investigative program Panorama will feature a story about China’s arms transfers to Sudan, including evidence of Chinese weapons entering Darfur in violation to the arms embargo.
The ICC Prosecutor’s charge of genocide is not an indictment by the Court. The case now rests with the Court’s Pre-Trial Chamber, which will assess whether there are reasonable grounds to indict President Bashir with any of the charges brought fouth by the Prosecutor and issue a warrant for his arrest.
Regardless, countries now have knowledge that President Bashir may be committing genocide, so their obligation to prevent gencoide under the Genocide Convention kicks in. Therefore, countries transferring arms to the Government of Sudan, such as China and Russia, should immediately stop as arms are the tools that fuel the ongoing violence in Darfur.
The charge of genocide means that counties providing arms to Sudan may be violating the Genocide Convention by failing to take action to prevent it. Last year the International Court of Justice ruled in the case Bosnia v Serbia that if a country learns that there is a serious risk of genocide, and it subsequently “fail[s] to take all measures to prevent genocide which were within its power, and which might have contributed to preventing the genocide,” it may be legally liable for this failure under the 1949 Genocide Convention.
China and Russia are the leading countries providing arms to Sudan. Human Rights First issued a report in March detailing China’s relationship with the Government of Sudan and its large weapons transfers to Khartoum. These transfers continue between China and Sudan inspite of a legally binding United Nations Security Council arms embargo placed on Darfur. Today, the BBC investigative program Panorama will feature a story about China’s arms transfers to Sudan, including evidence of Chinese weapons entering Darfur in violation to the arms embargo.
The ICC Prosecutor’s charge of genocide is not an indictment by the Court. The case now rests with the Court’s Pre-Trial Chamber, which will assess whether there are reasonable grounds to indict President Bashir with any of the charges brought fouth by the Prosecutor and issue a warrant for his arrest.
Regardless, countries now have knowledge that President Bashir may be committing genocide, so their obligation to prevent gencoide under the Genocide Convention kicks in. Therefore, countries transferring arms to the Government of Sudan, such as China and Russia, should immediately stop as arms are the tools that fuel the ongoing violence in Darfur.
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posted by Eric Sears at
8:15 AM
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