ICC Prosecutor – Pushing Forward Not Moving On

On March 4th, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir – charging him with 5 counts of crimes against humanity and 2 counts of war crimes.

The first-ever indictment of an active head of state – one would think that ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the main man behind the Bashir arrest warrant, would be overwhelmingly pleased with the decision.

However, for Moreno-Ocampo, while the ICC’s decision is significant and a step in the right direction, it is not enough.

Moreno-Ocampo has filed an application to appeal the arrest warrant’s absence of genocide charges against Bashir requested by the ICC prosecutor.

According to Moreno-Ocampo –

Killings, as a matter of law and as a matter of fact, are not the only way to commit genocide…the majority decision has misunderstood the prosecution’s arguments pertaining to the test to be applied for genocide…the decision contains fundamental errors.

With each passing day, I continue to be more amazed and more inspired by Moreno-Ocampo’s commitment and resolve to the pursuit of justice. The issuance of an arrest warrant for crimes against humanity and war crimes is a victory on its own. However, Moreno-Ocampo knows that what he has seen in Darfur is genocide and will not stop until it’s called by its rightful name.