Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 February 2010
88 Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position regarding Darfur where the recent International Criminal Court decision to charge a person (details supplied) may lead to a charge of genocide. [7143/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe persistence of the conflict in Darfur, albeit at a lower level than the intense violence of 2003-2004, and the ongoing suffering of the people in the region are of grave concern. The UN estimates that the past seven years of conflict there have resulted in the deaths of over 300,000 people and the displacement of nearly three million.
In March 2009, a Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) charged Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir with two counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, torture and rape, in Darfur. At the time, the Pre-Trial Chamber determined, by a 2-1 majority, that there was insufficient evidence of the specific intent required in order to demonstrate the crime of genocide, namely an intention to destroy, in whole or in part, the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups, and so genocide was not included in the arrest warrant. Earlier this month, on the application of the Prosecutor of the Court, the Appeals Chamber unanimously reversed this ruling on the grounds that the Pre-Trial Chamber had used too high a standard of proof. The Pre-Trial Chamber will now reconsider whether to add three counts of genocide to the arrest warrant for President Bashir. As an independent judicial body, we fully respect both the independent process that led to the Court proceedings in relation to the issuing of an arrest warrant for the President and the proceedings themselves.
Ireland urges the Government of Sudan to cooperate in full with the International Criminal Court. We condemned the decision of the Sudanese Government to expel thirteen international NGOs from the country in response to the issuance of the arrest warrant last March. The decision to arbitrarily deprive innocent people — already victims of conflict — of basic humanitarian assistance was truly appalling. While the relationship of Ireland and the EU with the Sudanese Government is obviously affected by its failure thus far to cooperate with the ICC, it is important that we remain engaged in order to promote and support ongoing peace efforts and to provide whatever assistance we can to the large numbers of people displaced by the conflict in Darfur who are dependent on international aid.
