Turkey urged to comply with international court verdict

Controversial Sudanese leader Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who stands accused of committing war crimes in his country’s western Darfur region, will make his third visit to Turkey to attend a meeting in Istanbul on Monday.

The visit comes after the International Criminal Court, or ICC, issued an arrest warrant for the 65-year-old leader in March on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Al-Bashir will be in Istanbul for a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, or OIC.

When asked if al-Bashir would be arrested upon landing in Turkey because of his outstanding arrest warrant, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin remained vague, saying only that the statutory provisions of international law would be fulfilled. His remarks, however, were not clear enough to reveal whether al-Bashir would be arrested.

Turkey has ‘indirect’ responsibility

Turkey is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal, the ICC.

“Yes, Turkey is not a party to the Rome Statute and does not have to abide by its rulings but since the country is a member of the United Nations, it has an indirect responsibility to comply with it because the ICC was established by the United Nations,” Özlem Altıparmak, chairperson of Amnesty International Turkey, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

“Would non-obedience with the arrest warrant cause a headache for Turkey? Legally no, but this is a problem politically,” she said.

Al-Bashir’s government denies charges of ordering civilians to be killed. In October, U.S. President Barack Obama warned Khartoum of more pressure if it fails to respond to his fresh incentives to stop “genocide” and “abuses” in Darfur.

“The United States is strongly committed to pursuing peace in Sudan and believes those who committed atrocities should be held accountable,” Deborah L. Guido, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Ankara, told the Daily News. She declined, however, to comment on al-Bashir’s travel plans.

U.N. a ‘claimant’ in al-Bashir case

The Turkish government came under fire for giving a cordial welcome to the Sudanese president and his deputy on past visits.

“Turkey’s being non-party to the Rome Statute has no relevance as it is a member of the U.N. Security Council. The case at the ICC opened in line with a report forwarded by [that council],” said Öztürk Türkdoğan, spokesman for the Turkish Coalition for the International Criminal Court.

“The United Nations is a claimant in this case and Turkey, as its member, should review the decisions of the United Nations,” he said.

The ICC, unlike the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, prosecutes individuals, not states, for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. In the Sudanese leader’s case, the judges did not find enough evidence to charge him with genocide as sought by the court prosecutor although this charge could be added later.

Türkdoğan urged Ankara to assist the ICC. “Turkey has a responsibility also arising from Article 13 of its penal code that opens the way for the trial of those accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity with the consent of the justice minister. Turkey’s non-obedience with the arrest warrant also means a violation of its domestic law,” he said.

The government should not pursue an inconsistent policy that criticizes Israel for its actions in Gaza but remains silent on the Darfur issue, Türkdoğan said.

“The process over the U.N. report accusing Israel over Gaza is not finalized yet but the case over al-Bashir is one step further as there is an arrest warrant. Turkey must act as a democratic state governed by the rule of law, otherwise it will face problems in the international arena,” he said.