Originally published on the CGS blog on August 20, 2009.
A South African Foreign Ministry Official recently confirmed that Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir will be arrested if he sets foot on South African soil. This would be done in compliance with South Africa’s obligations to the International Criminal Court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Bashir for seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Darfur. Under the Court’s Statute, member states are obliged to arrest individuals on their soil who have had an arrest warrant issued for them by the Court.
South Africa’s stance goes against a recent African Union resolution which directed Member States to not cooperate with the International Criminal Court over the arrest warrant.
