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SA parliamentary committee concerned over court order to arrest Sudan's president

Xinhua, June 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation on Monday voiced concerns over a court order to force the government to arrest Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir.

"This is an opportunistic act only meant to pit African leaders against each other in the name of international law, but also hijack the vision to have Agenda 2063 operationalised," Committee Chairperson Siphosezwe Masango said in Cape Town.

The High Court in Pretoria on Monday ordered that al-Bashir must be arrested, but the order came hours after al-Bashir had left the country, defying an order by the same court preventing him from doing so.

Handing down a judgment on an urgent application to have al- Bashir arrested, Judge President Dunstan Mlambo said the government's failure to arrest Bashir "is inconsistent with the Constitution".

The court decided that the SA government "must take steps to detain him (al-Bashir), pending a formal request from the ICC (International Criminal Court)", Mlambo said.

Al-Bashir was in South Africa to attend the 25th AU summit in Johannesburg. The South African government has given immunity to all African leaders, including al-Bashir,atttending the AU summit. This means that no African leader can be arrested while the summit was going on. The summit is scheduled to end later Monday.

The ICC has requested South Africa to arrest al-Bashir when he came to the country to attend the summit. Al-Bashir is wanted for alleged crimes against humanity.

"Government should be alert to opportunism by civil society organizations whose claim to legitimacy is to 'strengthen democracy by overseeing African governments' while the opposite is true," Masango said.

"The task at hand that ought to occupy Africans is to make Africa a better continent whose place on the global stage is respected," he said.

Masango said African leaders appear to be subjected to the ICC, and if things continue this way his committee might have to advise the government to re-look its membership of the ICC.

"In fact, it would be best if the entire continent follows suit. Although SA holds international governance structures in high regard, it is crucial that their programs are not open to sinister objectives and hidden agendas," he said.

African leaders are discussing issues hampering development on the continent including women empowerment, immigration and xenophobia. The meeting also seeks to align these issues with the Agenda 2063, Africa's blueprint for development in the next 50 years.

Masango said South Africa valued Africa's developmental agenda above all else. Endi