معاًمن اجل منع البشيرمن زيارة تشاديوم16فبراير(حملة توقيعات لتحالفICC)

His Excellency Hon. Idriss Deby
President of the Republic of Chad
Ndjamena, Chad

February 12, 2013

Your Excellency

, We, the undersigned organizations, are seriously concerned over reports of a possible visit to Chad by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir—wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes—to attend the Community of Sahel-Saharan (CEN-SAD) summit to be held on February 16, 2013 in Ndjamena. President al-Bashir is the subject of two arrest warrants issued by the ICC. Permitting President al-Bashir to visit Chad without executing these warrants would run counter to Chad’s obligations as a state party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, in particular Articles 86 and 89(1) of the Rome Statute. It would also send damaging signals to victims of mass atrocities in Darfur and globally, and undermine Chad’s credibility on issues of justice and accountability. The Chadian government participated in the eleventh session of the Assembly of States Parties to the ICC held in The Hague, the Netherlands. During this session, the ASP called upon states parties to strengthen their efforts to ensure full and effective cooperation with the Court and express their political and diplomatic support. Avoiding situations of non-cooperation, including visits by President al-Bashir, was a topic featured prominently in official statements and discussions at the tenth and eleventh sessions of the ASP . Recent events point to a readiness on the part of states to uphold their obligations under the ICC treaty and to avoid situations of non-cooperation with the Court. Most recently, President al-Bashir cancelled a scheduled trip to Malawi in the summer of 2012 to participate in the AU Summit, after the strong signals from newly-elected Joyce Banda, indicating that he would not be welcome in the interests of international justice and solidarity with victims of mass crimes. In the past years, President al-Bashir cancelled a scheduled trip to the Central African Republic for independence celebrations in Bangui in December 2010 amid calls for his arrest, and anticipated travel by the President to Kenya was forestalled in October 2010 with the relocation of a meeting of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development from Nairobi to Addis Ababa. President al-Bashir’s curtailed travel sends a strong signal that, as a suspected perpetrator of the worst crimes known to humankind, he is not a welcome guest and should be arrested to face justice before the International Criminal Court. Already on 13 December 2011, following the visit of President Al-Bashir to Chad, Trial Chamber I had found a violation by Chad of its obligation to cooperate and had passed through the President of the ICC, the decision to the Security Council. For all of these reasons, we urge the Chadian government to clearly affirm its commitment to cooperate with the ICC, as states such as South Africa, Uganda and Botswana, Burkina Faso and Malawi have already done, and clarify that should President al-Bashir enter Chad, he will be arrested. This would be an important way to demonstrate respect for victims of the crimes committed, along with Chad’s commitment to end impunity.

Sincerely,

c.c: H.E. Ambassador, Ahmad Allam-mi, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Chad to the United Nations