Darfur call to action for UK politicians

Thursday, 8 May 2008 12:01 AM

MPs and peers must do more to pressure the government on action against suspected Sudanese war criminals, chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo believes.

Addressing MPs and peers in parliament yesterday, the international criminal court (ICC) prosecutor pressed the importance of parliamentarians around the world helping get beyond the "lack of enforcement" seen in too many countries.

Fifteen months have passed since the ICC named Sudan's humanitarian affairs minister, Ahmed Haroun, and Ali Kosheib, Janjaweed leader, as chief suspects of war crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Khartoum has refused to surrender the pair and Mr Moreno-Ocampo blames the "very weak" stance by the international community for a "missed opportunity" on the issue.

The chief prosecutor warned that "in 40 years the whole world will be like Darfur" if the rule of international law is not upheld.

And he called on MPs and peers to pressure the government on the issue, telling them "I think you can make a real difference here".

He told politics.co.uk the best way to achieve this was through "showing interest" and "talking about the issue".

Speaking after the event, Mr Moreno-Ocampo's deputy Beatrice le Fraper Du Hellen said she believed the chief prosecutor had spoken in "good cop" terms about the problem.

"We need to press parliaments around the world to make sure governments scrutinise their development budgets much more carefully," she pressed.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo refused to comment on whether British MPs and peers were doing better or worse than other national-level representative institutions.

But he called on parliamentarians to address lack of enforcement, what he called the "real issue".

"The biggest challenge is for political leaders. They have to think what they can do to support us," he pressed.

Tags:
• africa
,
• foreign policy
,
• sudan