Fighting for the Independence of the International Criminal Court

Human Rights Watch has fought tirelessly for justice on behalf of victims of the nearly six-year war in Darfur. Throughout the conflict, we have documented abuses by the Sudanese armed forces and its allied Janjaweed militias, as well as by various rebel groups. In 2005, we successfully pressed the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court for prosecution. In July of this year, the ICC took a major step towards justice for the people of Darfur when the chief prosecutor requested an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president. The prosecutor accused President Omar al-Bashir of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for having directed a counterinsurgency campaign that has deliberately and systematically targeted civilians in Darfur. Bashir has struck back by working to convince the UN Security Council to exercise its power to suspend prosecutions. He has been supported in his efforts by Sudan’s allies on the council: Libya, Russia, China, and South Africa. These governments fired the opening shot in the battle to suspend ICC proceedings in late July, trying to tie suspension of the prosecution to renewal of the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in Darfur. Our advocates worked furiously in UN missions in New York and in key capitals to resist this blackmail. In the end, the Security Council resisted the blackmail and approved the peacekeeper mandate without blocking the ICC. We will continue our efforts in 2009 to prevent the Security Council from capitulating to Bashir’s ongoing efforts to stave off justice. The stakes are very high. The ICC must be allowed to proceed without Security Council interference, in order to demonstrate that even heads of state are not above the rule of law when they resort to mass atrocities. That is an essential message to send to others in Sudan, as well as to leaders anywhere else who might be tempted to follow in Bashir’s murderous footsteps.