The Nobel Women’s Initiative and other supporters of the International Criminal Court were disappointed by a joint resolution issued at the end of the African Union summit in Libya last week, which declares that member states will not cooperate in the arrest and surrender of Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir on war crimes charges. The resolution says that the African Union “deeply regrets” that the United Nations ignored its previous demand for the ICC in The Hague to postpone its arrest warrant against the Sudanese President for crimes in Darfur.

Several African members of the ICC say they are uncomfortable with the AU declaration, including leaders from Ghana, Chad and Botswana. The Nobel Women’s Initiative continues to support the work of the ICC in Sudan.

On June 25th, an open statement signed by Nobel Laureates Wangari Maathai (Peace, 2004), Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Peace, 1984), and Wole Soyinka (Literature, 1986), as well as 39 other prominent African experts, emphasized that the ICC plays a critical role in achieving the objectives of “justice and accountability for the peoples of Sudan.”

View the statement.

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Botswana condemns AU resolution on Sudan’s Bashir, Reuters, 7 July 2009

Appeal on Bashir genocide charges, BBC, 7 July 2009

African leaders tackle continent’s challenges, Associated Press, 3 July 2009