Sudan's President Makes Mockery of International Court

Foreign Policy published on 16 June 2015 a commentary titled "Omar al-Bashir Just Made a Mockery of International Justice. Again" by David Bosco, American University.  Bosco underscores the impotence of the International Criminal Court in The Hague after Sudan's president returned to Sudan from South Africa even though the High Court in Pretoria called for his arrest. 

President Obama's Trip to Africa

Agence France Presse asked me to respond by email to several questions concerning President Barack Obama's trip to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania from 26 June until 3 July.

The article titled "Visite de Barack Obama: la Tanzanie Profite du Cas, Embarrassant, Kenyan" appeared on 23 June and focused on the Tanzanian portion of the trip.

President Obama Visit to Africa by dhshinn5947

Kenya and the International Criminal Court

Chatham House published in February 2013 a report titled "The ICC Intervention in Kenya" by Gabrielle Lynch, associate professor at the University of Warwick, and Misa Zgonec-Rozej, associate fellow at Chatham House.

Uhuru Kenyatta/Wikipedia

The report notes that the International Criminal Court's (ICC) indictment of presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate William Ruto has boosted their popularity among parts of the Kenyan electorate.

As Kenya is party to the Rome Statute, even if Kenyatta and Ruto are elected as president and vice president in March, they will still be subject to the rulings of the ICC.

The case of President Bashir in Sudan demonstrates the difficulty that international partners face in maintaining normal economic and diplomatic relationships with countries whose head of state has been charged by the ICC.

Joseph Kony and the LRA

Human Rights Watch published an excellent basic analysis of the threat posed by Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on 21 March 2012. In question and answer format, it deals with the key issues posed by the LRA. You can access the document here.

Interview with VOA Mandarin about President Bashir

In a June 28 interview with the Mandarin service of the VOA concerning Sudanese President Omar Bashir’s visit to China, I made the following points:

• China was largely responsible for developing Sudan’s oil sector and is now a major beneficiary of its production. 
• China’s primary goal is to maintain good relations with both North Sudan, which has the infrastructure for exporting oil, and South Sudan, which holds 75 percent of the known oil reserves and will become independent on 9 July. 
• China is the most influential country in North Sudan and does not want to lose this influence while it continues to improve relations with South Sudan, whose president, Salva Kiir, first visited China in 2007. 
• There is not necessarily a direct link between the visit of President Bashir, who is under indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the upcoming independence of South Sudan. The visit underscores, however, that China, which is not signatory to the ICC, remains unconcerned about western criticism of Beijing’s receiving a visit by a leader who has been indicted by the ICC.

"Ivory Coast’s Ouattara Asks EU to Lift Cocoa-Port Sanctions"

BBC World Today's Komla Dumor interviews Alassane Ouattara. Flickr/BBC World Service.

I'm quoted in Pauline Bax, Olivier Monnier and Jason McLure's Bloomberg article on Ivory Coast president-elect Alassane Ouattara call for the EU to lift cocoa-export sanctions. Here are my quotes:

The prospect of a Gbagbo trial before the International Criminal Court may discourage the former president from surrendering, said David Shinn, a former U.S. ambassador to neighboring Burkina Faso. The prosecutor’s office of The Hague- based court said it has begun investigations of potential crimes in Ivory Coast.

Cocoa Crop

“Someone’s trying to find a place to dump him and give some sort of informal agreement not to put him before the ICC,” Shinn said in a phone interview from Washington. “If he’s convinced they are going to go after him he’ll hang on until the last dog dies.”

Piracy study looks at international law

There is yet another study that deals with Somali piracy and the piracy issue generally. It summarizes an Oct. 16-17, 2009, workshop on the subject and is titled "Suppressing Maritime Piracy: Exploring the Options in International Law." Organizations sponsoring the workshop included the One Earth Future Foundation, American Society for International Law and Academic Council on the United Nations System. The report discusses piracy and the International Criminal Court, Law of the Sea, a possible ad hoc international tribunal for piracy and concludes with recommendations. You can find additional information on Somali piracy at www.oneearthfuture.org.

Sec. Clinton on U.S. policy on Sudan

BBC TV asked for my reaction yesterday to the new U.S. policy on Sudan announced by Secretary Clinton earlier in the day. I replied that it reflected a new reality on the ground in both Darfur and southern Sudan. The situation in Darfur has improved and the death rate has dropped dramatically. The situation concerning implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the war between northern and southern Sudan has become more worrisome. Although the policy proscribes the Obama administration from dealing directly with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, who is under indictment by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur, I did not believe this would hinder Washington's ability to engage with Sudan, which has designated senior officials to oversee negotiations concerning both Darfur and implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. When asked about the probable reaction of human rights groups to the new policy, I responded that some of them would be displeased but hoped they too would recognize the new reality on the ground.

Al Jazeera English interview on ICC and President Bashir

I interviewed live today with Al Jazeera English on the International Criminal Court's decision to serve an arrest warrant to President Bashir of Sudan. I made the following points:

The United States has supported the position by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to serve an arrest warrant on President Bashir of Sudan for committing crimes against humanity. At the same time, it puts the United States in a strange position since it never signed the ICC agreement. Serving of the warrant may well worsen the situation in Darfur and even impact adversely implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the war between northern and southern Sudan. Interestingly, the coalition of evangelicals, liberals, human rights activists, and others who have supported this action against Bashir recently experienced a dissenting view from one of their own. The Reverend Franklin Graham wrote an oped in the March 3 issue of The New York Times that called on the international community to put peace in Sudan ahead of justice. Graham argued that Bashir's arrest could threaten the south's elections and referendum and hurl the country back into civil war.

Hopefully, Al Jazeera will post the video clip on its YouTube channel. If and when it does so, I will embed the video here. Image: Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashirat the 20th session of The New Partnership for Africa's Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Jan. 31, 2009. Source: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jesse B. Awalt/Released, via Wikipedia.