African judicial leaders gather in Khartoum to highlight justice

First African Conference of Chief Justices and President of Supreme Courts on Sunday kicked off its sessions in Sudanese capital Khartoum.

"Your conference reflects the African stance which is committed to justice. It represents a Africa's strong message that the continent is capable of changing the stereotype image drawn by the colonial media," said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir when addressing the conference.

Al-Bashir further lashed out at the International Criminal Court (ICC), describing it as "politicized."

"It is enough for the African judiciary that it has discovered that the so-called ICC was not but a colonial and politicized instrument meant to undermine the African continent," said al-Bashir.

The Sudanese president reiterated his country's commitment to confront all forms of terrorism, human trafficking and money laundering crimes.

In the meantime, President and China's Chief Justice of Supreme People's Court, Zhou Qiang, sent a letter to the conference, pointing out that the conference is the first of its kind for the top judicial leaders from African countries and would summarize the developments and achievements of all court systems in Africa.

The letter stated that "it is of great significance in the establishment of a united African judicial system alliance jointly combating the transnational organized crimes, promoting the exchange of judicial experiences among African countries and improving the judicial capabilities of African states as a whole."

The forum will discuss four major topics, namely the African experience in conflict resolution through alternative means, independence of the judiciary under the African experiences, the judicial system and means of its development and transnational crimes.

Representatives of 34 African countries attended the conference, and China, India and Indonesia participated as monitors. Endit