Sheltering wanted al-Bashir Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru | credits: File copy WANTED for alleged crimes against humanity and rejected by most other countries, Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, was nevertheless warmly received in Nigeria for two days. But the hugs and expressions of goodwill were restricted to officials ensconced in fortified government premises. On the streets, anger and disgust were freely expressed by most Nigerians at home and abroad at the presence of the fugitive. President Goodluck Jonathan failed, as usual, to see the big picture and act in the country’s best interest. Expectations by Nigerians and the international community were that our government would execute the international arrest warrant on the Sudanese president should he ever step on Nigeria’s territory. The International Criminal Court indicted al-Bashir in 2008 on charges of masterminding atrocities in Darfur, a region within Sudan, during which over 200, 000 persons perished. ICC has filed five counts of crimes against humanity, two counts of war crimes and three counts of genocide against al-Bashir, who, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, seized power in a bloodless coup in 1989. His victims allegedly included hundreds of thousands of tribesmen of the Fur, Masalit and Zagawa ethnic nationalities, murdered by elements of the Sudanese army and their proxy militias, especially the notorious Janjaweed irregulars. But Nigeria is a signatory to the ICC treaty, which it freely entered into and the terms require member nations to apprehend indicted persons once an arrest warrant has been issued by the court. Some countries that, for one reason or the other, object to its sweeping reach, especially its disregard for high office or national boundaries, have refused to sign on to the court. The ICC is a permanent tribunal set up by the Rome Statute in 2002 and with offices at The Hague, the Netherlands, though it can exercise its jurisdiction anywhere. Nigeria is one of the 122 countries that are state parties to the Statute of the Court while 31 others have signed, but not ratified the Rome Statute. China, India and 39 other countries have shunned the treaty, while the United States, Israel and Sudan have said they will not ratify their signatures. But Nigeria does not have the luxury of hosting an indicted person. Al-Bashir has expressly been denied entry into Uganda, South Africa, Malawi and Zambia. Even in dysfunctional Africa, only Chad and Djibouti have received him. Jonathan and Foreign Affairs Minister, Olugbenga Ashiru, have thoroughly embarrassed Nigeria and, by their blunder, added fresh odium to our global reputation. This country has stopped hobnobbing with international pariahs since the tyrant, Sani Abacha, died in office as military head of state in June 1998. Nigeria now has, as Human Rights Watch put it, “the shameful distinction of being the first West African country to welcome the ICC fugitive.” Again, Jonathan has stumbled badly by his cavalier approach to governance. What was so compelling about the African Union summit on HIV/AIDS that Abuja could not have quietly informed Sudan that its indicted president would not be welcome? The attempt by presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, to explain away the red-carpet spread for the pariah on the grounds of the AU’s stand to reject the arrest warrant, is not good enough. The government exists to serve the interest of Nigeria and not the AU’s reflexive solidarity with the continent’s strongmen. Other AU member countries with astute leaders have wisely kept al-Bashir at arm’s length despite the continental resolution. Our government misses the point. The alleged victims of al-Bashir’s genocide are mostly black Africans – whether in Darfur, South Sudan or Kordofan – where racist Northern Sudanese Arabs have engineered atrocities for six decades. As the country with the world’s largest black population, Nigeria should be standing up for black men everywhere. We should also be demonstrating our displeasure at the killing of Nigerian peacekeepers in Darfur by Sudanese or Sudanese-backed fighters, by not cozying up to their chief sponsor. Nigeria should be providing material and moral support for South Sudan, whose independence in 2011 came at the cost of 1.5 million lives in over four decades of war with the north. Ashiru, a distinguished professional, ought to know this, or possibly his advice was ignored, in which case, he should reconsider his continued stay in this government. Nigeria is losing its influence on the global stage despite being the second largest contributor of troops to international peacekeeping operations. If smaller African nations exercised discretion by discouraging controversial visits by indicted leaders, the so-called “Giant of Africa” ought to demonstrate more tact. Nigeria gains nothing from such diplomatic rascality. Already, HRW and other global NGOs have said they will report Nigeria to the United Nations Security Council for its brazen refusal to abide by a treaty it freely signed. The European Union, a major development partner, is also dismayed by our conduct. We should not forget that the ICC was established in response to horrendous atrocities committed by powerful individuals and state parties and exercises jurisdiction only when national judicial institutions are unable or unwilling to prosecute offenders. Just as no one could move against Charles Taylor in his own country while he ran Liberia, al-Bashir, as the maximum ruler of Sudan, cannot be charged in his own subjugated country. The AU’s argument that most of the ongoing indictments are against Africans forget that in four out of the seven current cases against African accused persons, it was the countries concerned that asked the ICC to step in. That African “big men” are being called to account should be an encouragement to nations not to lose faith in the democratic process. The government is compounding its latest blunder by defiance. For a government claiming popular legitimacy, it should apologise to Nigerians and make up with the rest of the civilised world that is rightly scandalised by the al-Bashir visit.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 14:22:50 +0000
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