ICC Note: South African legal organizations are calling for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir if he arrives in Johannesburg for the upcoming Afircan Union summit, as he is reportedly expected to do on Saturday. Experts say South Africa is bound by law to arrest him if he sets foot onto their soil. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity related to the war he perpetuated against black Christians in Darfur. He also presides over the nation that is holding two South Sudanese Christian pastors on death penalty charges because of their faith with court proceedings to continue Monday June 15.
6/12/15 Johannesburg, South Africa (News24) – Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir must be arrested if he arrives in South Africa for the African Union summit in Johannesburg, two organisations said on Friday.
The Democratic Alliance and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) want to secure a warrant of arrest for Bashir.
He was reportedly expected to arrive in South Africa on Saturday.
The department of international relations could not be reached to confirm whether he was coming or not.
The SALC intended to bring an urgent application in the High Court in Pretoria to compel South African authorities to arrest Bashir if he attended the AU summit.
The DA and the SALC pointed out that South Africa was a signatory on the Rome Statute, which was established by the International Criminal Court (ICC), and so was duty bound to arrest Bashir if he set foot in the country.
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