Post date: Jul 15, 2013 7:12:27 PM
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir arrives in Nigeria for an African Union summit on HIV/AIDS as his hosts ignore an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against him.
ABUJA, NIGERIA (JULY 15, 2013) (REUTERS ) - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir arrived in Nigeria on Sunday (July 14 ) for an African Union summit on HIV/AIDS as his hosts chose to ignore anInternational Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against him.
Bashir, accused of masterminding genocide and other atrocities during Sudan's Darfur conflict, which has left some 200,000 people dead, in theory risks arrest if he travels to one of the more than 120 states including Nigeria that have signed up to the ICC.He has been refused trips to Uganda, South Africa, Malawi and Zambia in the past because of his indictment. This is his first trip to West Africa since the warrant was issued.
The African Union (AU) voted in 2009 not to cooperate with the ICC indictments, saying they would hamper efforts to end Sudan's multiple conflicts. Bashir rejects the ICC charges.
Speaking at the HIV and AIDS summit, Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan said it is necessary that Africa takes the appropriate steps in combating diseases that have plagued the region.
"For too long political instability, insecurity and infectious diseases have beclouded our efforts at rapid development and effective optimisation of the abundant potentials of our continent however today there is renewed hope that together and with home grown initiatives we can systematically and comprehensively address this tough challenges," President Jonathan said.
President Jonathan further added that it was time Africa rises to these challenges.
"The time is ripe for a final and concerted solution to these diseases. The human, societal and financial cost of inadequate action or no action at all will be too grievous to contemplate," he said.
"The theme is really appropriate for two reasons; first, HIV AIDS, TB (tuberculosis) and malaria remain major causes of morbidity and mortality in Africa. They continue to pose serious challenges to the socio-economic development of the continent," said Susanna Lamido Zuma, chairperson for the African Union commission.
Human Rights Watch International Justice Program director Elise Keppler saidNigeria had "the shameful distinction of being the first West African country to welcome ICC fugitive Sudanese President Sudan al-Bashir".
The main African Union summit this month had to be moved to Ethiopia, which has not signed the ICC statute, after Malawi, heavily dependent on Western aid, refused to host Bashir.
Though initially welcomed by African leaders, the ICC has been accused of exclusively targeting African war criminals and failing to indict anyone from other continents, a charge the ICC and its backers say is unfair.