Has Sudan’s Bashir left South Africa?
June 15, 2015, 4:22 am

South African President Jacob Zuma is in an untenable situation regarding the status of Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir at the 25th AUC Summit in Johannesburg [Xinhua]

South African officials have not commented on these reports, but journalists covering the Summit claim they saw him at the proceedings late Sunday.

A High Court on Sunday ordered the government to prevent his return to Khartoum until a ruling had been made regarding his International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant.

Al-Bashir arrived in Johannesburg on Saturday to attend the 25th African Union (AU) Summit despite an international warrant for his arrest issued by the ICC on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the Darfur conflict in 2009.

The Sudanese president has since then attended a number of African and Arab League meetings and summits, but the High Court’s order marks the closest the international community has come to carrying out the ICC warrant.

Although the AU Summit is being held amid a number of challenges on the continent – Burundi’s political crisis, the threat of Boko Haram’s terrorism extending beyond Nigeria, and sectarian conflict in the Central African Republic – the dilemma faced by the South African government regarding al-Bashir’s status is likely to overshadow the last day of the meet on Monday.

If the High Court had ordered the government to arrest al-Bashir with the intent of handing him over to the ICC, such a move would have likely sparked anger and controversy among many African and Arab leaders on the continent who have until now supported the Sudanese leader.

In hosting the Summit and inviting heads of state to attend, South Africa argues that such high-profile entities cannot be arrested. However, South Africa in 2000 ratified the treaty that established the ICC; and in 2002, the treaty was entered into force there.

Since 2009, a number of African states withdrew from the treaty in protest of the ICC arrest warrant brought against al-Bashir.

To date, there are more than 40 United Nations members which have not adopted or ratified the ICC treaty.

What the South African government does now will reverberate on the continent for years – beyond raising the ire of other countries.

South African geopolitical analyst Bongani Mbindwane says that if the judge ruled to have al-Bashir arrested, the damage to world order will be immense.

“South Africa could be accused in the continent of having known and staged an entrapment. The immunity granted by South African Foreign Minister Nkoana-Mashabane is a valid defense,” he writes.

“South Africa has the right to refuse the visit by a head of state sought for international crimes but cannot entrap or accept the head of state and then arrest him whilst on diplomatic duty,” he adds.

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