As the International Criminal Court (ICC) considers whetherto issue arrest warrants for Sudanese President al-Bashir, some are calling onthe UN Security Council to block the action.
The ICC's prosecutor says the Sudanese leadershould be charged with genocide and war crimes stemming from the war andhumanitarian crisis in Darfur. But how much power does the Security Councilhave over the ICC? Sonia Robla is the head of public information at theInternational Criminal Court. From The Hague, she spoke to VOA English toAfrica Service reporter Joe De Capua about the court's relationship with theUnited Nations. However, she refused to be specific regarding the Sudanesepresident.
"I don't want to answer this question related toa concrete case because it is a hypothetical situation and the court does notanswer to hypothetical situations. Moreover, at this stage there is still noteven a warrant of arrest issued by the court, but only a request of the officeof the prosecutor. So I think that it's a bit early to answer related to aconcrete case," she says.
Speaking in more general terms, she says, "What Ican explain?or clarify about the relationship between the Security Council andthe International Criminal court is the following: The International CriminalCourt was established by a treaty of a number of countries which approved theRome Statute (establishing the court). It is not the result of a resolution ofthe Security Council of the United Nations, which is the case with the otherinternational tribunals, for example the International Tribunal for the FormerYugoslavia or the International Tribunal for Rwanda. The International CriminalCourt is an independent institution, which is not part of the system of theUnited Nations."
Asked whether that means the ICC is totallyindependent of the United Nations' influence or pressure, Robla says, "The RomeStatute has a provision, which is Article 15, which established that theSecurity Council? in a resolution?can request the court to stop investigationsor prosecutions. And the Security Council can do it for a period of 12 months.This period can be renewed by the council under the same conditions.
"There's no set number of times the SecurityCouncil can do this. "The Rome Statute has no provision about it. The onlything which is clear under Article 16 (of the UN charter) is that the SecurityCouncil can renew under the same conditions."
