HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK UGANDA AND THE UGANDA COALITION FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT PRESS STATEMENT

RECALLING that the International Criminal Court was established by the Rome Statute upon realizing that among other things (in the preamble) that during the past decades millions of men, women and children have been killed and subjected to atrocious crimes by individuals with impunity;

NOTING that in the neighboring Sudan in the Darfur region, an estimated over 300,000 darfurians have been killed and subjected to crimes of International concern and another over 2,000,000 have been displaced from their homes by suspected janjaweed Miltia and Sudanese military in a systematic campaign;

RESOLVED with the International Community that perpetrators of serious crime of International concern should not go unpunished and impunity must be checked; HURINET- U and the UCICC therefore;
1) Welcome the decision of the ICC Pre trial chamber 1 to indict the President of the Sudan Mr. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir for crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated against the Darfuri peoples with impunity.
2) Applaud the Chambers decision to respect the provisions of Article 27 of the Statute providing for non application of any immunities conferred upon a Head of State or government by any law or instrument respecting to crimes of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity as stipulated in Article 5 of the statute.
3) Call upon the Government of Uganda, the African Union and the International community in particular not to condone and be cajoled in supporting the continued systematic rapes of women and girls, intentional directed attacks against civilian populations of Darfur, commission of murder, extermination, torture, forcible transfer of civilians and pillaging of property, in the name of protecting a head of State.
4) Call upon the Government of Uganda, the African Union and the International Community to recognize that the people of Darfur have suffered for many years owing to impunity and abuse of power by individuals in the Sudan and that this must come to stop once and for all by supporting mechanisms for holding perpetrators accountable and thereby establishing a strong precedent for accountability in Sudan and in Africa at large.

DATED at Kampala this 9th day of March 2009.
Mohammed Ndifuna
HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK UGANDA
Joseph Manoba
UGANDA COALITION FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT