EU chastises Chad for failing to arrest Sudan's Omar Al-Bashir

The European Union (EU) says it regrets the failure of Chad to arrest Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity, war crime and genocide.

This was contained in a statement released on Friday accusing Chad of not fulfilling ‘‘its legal obligation this week, in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1593, to execute the arrest warrant against Sudanese President Al-Bashir who visited the country on 8 August.’‘

Al-Bashir joined over a dozen other African leaders to witness the inauguration of Chadian president Idris Deby Itno for his fifth term in office.

The EU said it was ‘‘fully committed to supporting the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to take action against those who avoid impunity for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.’‘

Al-Bashir before travelling to Chad, had attended two summits, the African Union and Arab League Summits in Rwanda and Mauritania respectively.

Both countries are not signatories to the ICC. Chad is a State Party of the Court and was expected to hand him over but that did not happen.