ICC Registrar’s first visit to Sudanese refugee camps in Chad

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The Registrar of the International Criminal Court, Ms Silvana Arbia, travelled today to camps in Treguine and Bredjing in eastern Chad where tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees are living, in order to discuss the Court’s work and recent developments in the situation in Darfur, Sudan with them.

Ms Arbia’s trip is part of a four-day visit to Chad which started on Monday, 30 March 2009 and is her first to the country.

The Registrar met with camp leaders, mostly Massalit refugees, as well as with representatives of women’s groups and a great many victims. Questions mainly focused on the arrest warrant recently issued by the Court for the Sudanese President, Omar Al Bashir, and the modalities of its implementation by Sudan and the international community. Participants welcomed the arrest warrant but expressed concern at the lack of State cooperation shown to date. They also emphasised to the Registrar that, as soon as justice was done and peace restored, they wished to return to their place of origin, Darfur.

Ms Arbia assured her interlocutors that the Court would continue to strive for State cooperation in Omar Al Bashir’s arrest and transfer to the ICC. “The arrest warrant will be executed”, she stated, stressing that the Court is a permanent institution, the crimes that the Sudanese President is alleged to have committed are not subject to any statute of limitations and, even in the case of a Head of State, justice takes its course. In this respect, the Registrar referred to the Court’s powers in the event that Sudan, States Parties to the Rome Statute and other States failed to cooperate, namely the fact that the competent Chamber may make a finding to that effect and refer the matter to the United Nations Security Council.

Ms Arbia provided an update on the status of the other arrest warrants issued in the situation in Darfur.

In response to questions on victim participation in proceedings before the Court, the Registrar outlined victims’ rights and explained how they could obtain reparations for harm suffered.

For further information, please contact Cécilia Balteanu in Chad by telephone on: + 31 6 52 67 14 96 or by e-mail: cecilia.balteanu@icc-cpi.int