AU seeks justice for Darfur victims

Mbeki and Buyoya in Kenya to drum up support for speedy resolution of conflict

The African Union has asked Sudan to set up a “hybrid court” to help find justice over the Darfur crisis.

Former South African president Thabo Mbeki said the court should have both Sudanese and AU-appointed judges.

“It will inspire confidence among the people of Darfur that justice will be done,” Mr Mbeki told journalists after a meeting with retired president Daniel arap Moi at his Kabarnet Gardens offices in Nairobi.

Northern neighbour

Mr Mbeki’s team, a member of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel on Darfur, is mandated with helping bring peace to Sudan, Kenya’s northern neighbour which has been at war with itself since rebels took up arms against the government in 2003.

The conflict has left hundreds of thousands dead and more than two million others displaced from their homes in Darfur.

The International Criminal Court has since issued an arrest warrant for the country’s leader, President Omar al-Bashir, for war crimes in Darfur.

Mr Mbeki was accompanied by former Burundi President Pierre Buyoya, deputy African Union representative to Somalia Wafula Wamunyinyi and the South African ambassador to Kenya.

He said his team had met the ICC chief prosecutor, Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo, over the indictment of Mr Bashir, and the prosecutor had said “the matter was in the hands of judges in The Hague”.

“He said if anyone wants to change the decision, then he or she has to appear before the judges at The Hague,” Mr Mbeki said, adding that the ICC was a court of last resort, and that it should never take precedent over national institutions.

He praised efforts to normalise Sudan-Chad relations, saying the move would boost peace efforts in Darfur, but took issue with the reported upsurge of violence in parts of Southern Sudan.

“President Salva Kiir is concerned. People are dying. That can be avoided ... it should be avoided ... to save lives and for stability.”

He warned that the violence could affect Sudan’s first democratic elections in more than 20 years, scheduled for April this year.

President Kibaki, after a meeting with Mr Mbeki later in the day, promised Kenya’s commitment to ensuring peace and stability in Sudan, despite concerns over the slow implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

The President said the CPA had remained resilient despite various challenges, and that its signatories must sustain commitment to the full and speedy implementation of its remaining aspects.