Malawi ignores rights body, houses al-Bashir

  1. Posted on Friday 14 October 2011 - 09:39
    Chancy Namadzunda
    Image of Chancy Namadzunda
    Chancy Namadzunda, AfricaNews reporter in Lilongwe, Malawi
    Malawi has ignored the call by Human Rights Watch to arrest the Sudanese president Omar al- Bashir who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on various charges. Al-Bashir arrived in Lilongwe on Thursday at exactly 17:40 pm aboard the Sudan Airways airplane number ST-PRA IL62M to attend the 15th Summit of COMESA authority of heads of state and government.
    Bashir
    He was welcomed by Deputy Foreign Minister Kondwani Nankhumwa and Finance Minister Ken Kandodo among top ruling party officials.

    Malawi’s Minister of Information Patricia Kaliati said the country cannot arrest al-Bashir because they are not going to discuss about the ICC summon but developments amongst member states.

    The New York-based group’s senior counsel on international justice, Elise Keppler, urged Malawi not to host Bashir and arrest him.

    “al-Bashir is an international fugitive wanted on charges of heinous crimes — including genocide — committed in Darfur. Malawi should arrest him, not host him,” he said.

    The ICC issued an arrest warrant last year for Bashir on charges of orchestrating genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, where as many as 300,000 people have died since 2003.

    Malawi has ratified the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding document, which obliges the country to arrest him if al-Bashir enters the country.

    President Mutharika, himself also accused of orchestrating crimes against humanity, said in March that African leaders should not be dragged to ICC for crimes committed in Africa, preferring local jurisdiction.

    Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Swaziland’s King Swati, who is the outgoing chairman of COMESA are among the leaders who have arrived for the summit.

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