Iumsonline.net – July 16, 2008
In a statement issued Tuesday July
15, 2008, the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS)
called upon people of justice and fairness from the
followers of all religions, and the defenders of freedom and
human rights to stand united against the illegal action that
was made by the International Criminal Court (ICC)
prosecutor as he called for an arrest warrant against
Sudanese president, Omar Hassan Al-Bashir. President Bashir
has been accused of being responsible for crimes against
humanity committed in Darfur.
The statement of the IUMS called
Arab foreign ministers who will meet at the Arab League
headquarters in Cairo on Saturday July 19, 2008 to adopt the
strongest stance against this unprecedented action that
affects the sovereignty of a member state in the Arab
League, and violates the internationally recognized immunity
of heads of states.
Illegal Arrest Warrant
The IUMS statement strongly
criticized the call for an arrest warrant against the
Sudanese president and viewed it as illegal because of the
following:
First: Neither the ICC prosecutor
nor any of his assistants visited the scene where the events
were said to take place or met with Sudanese officials. His
report was based on the false claims of some Sudanese
opponents who are residing outside Sudan, and made-up
allegations from the Western media that are mostly
groundless.
Second: The delegation of the IUMS
that visited Sudan and Darfur in the midst of events
(September, 2004) declared that all media allegations about
ethnic cleansing, genocide and mass rape were unfounded. In
this concern, the International Union for Muslim Scholars
issued a statement at that time concerning the whole issue
and declared its stance based on the real situation that was
clarified through a field visit.
Third: The independent and neutral
fact-finding committee headed by the honorable scholar,
Professor Daf`allah Al-Hajj Yusuf, the former Sudanese Chief
Justice completely denied the charges that the ICC
prosecutor laid against the Sudanese government and
President Omar Al-Bashir.
Fourth: According to Article
(11/2) of the ICC Statute, the ICC’s jurisdiction is only
confined to the States Parties to the Statute. In addition,
the ICC is only complementary to national criminal
jurisdictions, according to the Preamble and Article (1) of
the Statute. Thus, as Sudan is not a party to the ICC
Statute, the ICC prosecutor is not authorized to take any
action against the Sudanese president or any other Sudanese
officials.
Fifth: The American threat to take
action to arrest Sudanese president, Omar Hassan Al-Bashir,
is only a part of the series of American intervention in the
private internal affairs of other states. The American
administration seeks to play the role of “the international
policeman”, which enables it to exercise its military
strength without commitment to the rules that were
established in international laws and the provisions of
international treaties.
The Door Is Left Open for
Remaining Presidents and Kings
Moreover, the International Union
for Muslim Scholars warned that the Arab failure
to stop these false measures against the Sudanese president
will open the door to other similar practices against Arab
kings and presidents. This is so especially in the light of
successive accusations against many Arab countries in terms
of violations against human rights.
In conclusion, the IUMS statement
stressed that Islam requires all Arab and Muslim states to
unite and stand together to prevent any violation of human
rights in their homelands, regardless of the cause. In
addition, Islam requires Arab and Muslim states to take all
possible actions against violating international law and the
ICC Statute, through their attitudes within the United
Nations as well as through their bilateral and collective
international relations, to retain the prestige of the
international system and the sovereignty of states.
