AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL. The rights group said the announcement by ICC prosecutor is an important step towards ensuring accountability for human rights violations in Sudan. Amnesty International said it has repeatedly called for accountability for crimes under international law committed by parties to the conflict in Darfur. TANZANIA'S MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS BERNARD MEMBE, SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF AFRICAN UNION CHAIRMAN: "We would like the ICC to suspend its decision to seek al-Bashir's arrest for a moment until we sort out the primary problems in Darfur and southern Sudan... We are asking ICC to re-examine its decision." SPOKESMAN FOR EGYPT'S PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK: The spokesman warned that "escalation" by the ICC against Sudan could lead to the collapse of peace efforts in Darfur, the state-run Middle East News Agency said. SHERIF HARIR, SENIOR MEMBER OF LARGE DARFUR REBEL SUDAN LIBERATION MOVEMENT (SLM) UNITY FACTION: "This is very welcome progress for international justice. The fact that the United Nations did not say it was genocide and now the prosecutor has come with evidence changes the character of the whole case. We'd like to see the United Nations act on that now according to its 1948 Charter to protect civilians." AHMED ABDEL SHAFIE, LEADER OF ANOTHER SMALLER SLM FACTION: "For the people of Darfur it's a victory because the criminal is going to go to the court. We need to urgently see the arrest warrant for Bashir because he's still the commander-in-chief of the army...and head of the mechanism of the genocide in Darfur. We urge the U.N. Security Council to hurry up and bring this criminal to court. After the execution of that Sudan will see a new era whereby all its people will come together and build a nation state." SULEIMAN SANDAL, DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF OF MOST MILITARILY POWERFUL DARFUR REBEL JUSTICE AND EQUALITY MOVEMENT (JEM) "The decision on this indictment is a victory for humanity all around the world. We in JEM will put all our forces to the service of the International Criminal Court to help bring him to justice. We have said that Bashir is a criminal and we asked the international community to help us but no one moved, no one spoke. Now this decision will put Bashir in a corner and will help us now to overtake this regime. A criminal man cannot be a president of a member state of the United Nations." SPOKESPERSON OF U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON: "The Secretary-General emphasizes that the Court is an independent institution and that the United Nations must respect the independence of the judicial process... "The Secretary-General expects that the Government of Sudan will continue to cooperate fully with the United Nations in Sudan, while fulfilling its obligation to ensure the safety and security of all United Nations personnel and property."
Protestors chant slogans against International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant to Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in Khartoum, July 14, 2008. The (ICC) prosecutor charged Sudan's president on Monday with masterminding ...
