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Malawi CSOs back govt over al-Bashir

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Malawi civil society organisations (CSOs) have rallied behind their government’s decision to withdraw from hosting the 19th summit of the African Union (AU) over the latter’s insistence that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), should be part of the summit. The civic groups last Saturday resolved to push for the […]

Malawi civil society organisations (CSOs) have rallied behind their government’s decision to withdraw from hosting the 19th summit of the African Union (AU) over the latter’s insistence that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), should be part of the summit.

The civic groups last Saturday resolved to push for the arrest of the Sudanese leader as soon as he set foot in Malawi.

The ICC recently issued a warrant of arrest for al-Bashir so he could be tried over war crimes charges in Darfur where thousands were reportedly killed and displaced under his reign.

Four other countries, namely South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Tanzania, have openly opposed Omar al-Bashir’s attendance at the summit.

“While hosting the Summit has the potential to boost the credibility of a given member state we, the undersigned, strongly applaud the government of Malawi for standing up to uphold and respect international commitments and obligations especially the Rome Statutes by opting to withdraw from hosting the 19th Summit of the African Union that was slated for July 2012 if the International Criminal Court-indicted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is allowed to attend,” said the CSOs on Monday.

“This, in our view, is a clear manifestation that Malawi will not compromise on anything less than justice and human rights. We appreciate the tight spot that the African Union pushed Malawi into by forcing down on us to host all African Head of States and Government including President Omar al-Bashir or pass the right to host the summit. This negated the AU’s responsibility as an institution to live up to the promotion of human rights within its own ranks by ensuring that it does not promote impunity for oppressors of human rights at the highest level.”

The AU summit has since been moved to Ethiopia next month.