Al-Bashir “sneaked away like a thief” – with Jacob Zuma’s assistance

(Bloomberg) – South Africa rebuffed the International Criminal Court and its own judiciary as it let Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir dodge arrest on war crimes and genocide charges rather than risk alienating its African peers.

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On Sunday, South Africa’s High Court ordered the government to ensure al-Bashir, who was in Johannesburg attending an African Union summit, stay put while it decided whether he should be arrested under an ICC indictment. At a hearing in Pretoria on Monday, Judge Dunstan Mlambo ordered preparations to be made for his detention, only to be told by a state lawyer that he’d left the country. The government’s actions were inconsistent with the constitution, Mlambo said. “Al-Bashir sneaked away like a thief,” Mukesh Kapila, the former head of the United Nations in Sudan, said in e-mailed comments. “It is very disappointing that the land that fought so bravely against apartheid showed such cowardice. They have let down their fellow Africans and indeed the world.” More...

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