Sudan
capable of brining justice to
Darfur
Last week we commended the Sudanese government acceptance for formation of special courts for perpetrators of human rights violations in
Darfur to be attended by legal experts from the Arab League, African Union and the United Nations.
We also called on the government to speed up implementation of the step of establishing that special courts. Now according to news reports of yesterday, the
Sudan government has issued a decision appointing a prosecutor general for
Darfur crimes in the period from 2003 onwards. The Minister of Justice passed a resolution appointing legal advisor Nimer Ibrahim as a prosecutor general to adjudicate on those crimes with the assistance of other legal consultants from the Ministry. The resolution stipulates that the prosecutor general can recourse to anybody for the purpose of doing his job and that he is authorized to investigate any crimes related to Darfur and to submit a monthly report on the situation to
Sudan's Attorney General.
This step comes after the AU Peace and Security Commission Chairman, Dr. Jean Ping visited Sudan recently for he proposed formation of a committee from distinguished lawyers to address the situation in Darfur and investigate the allegation of war crimes or genocide in that region.
In the same sequence, the High Committee for Crisis Management on the ICC has asked the Ministry of Justice to provide groups of jurists with all documents related to previous prosecutions so as to support the government's stance in confronting the ICC allegations.
These steps together with the expected announcement of the mechanism to execute Darfur Peoples' Rescue Initiative prove that the Sudanese government is capable and will achieve justice in
Darfur if it gets the assistance of all concerned parties thus giving a strong blow to the unbalanced and illegal steps Ocampo wants implemented.