27 Aug 10 - Sudan’s President Omar Bashir, against whom the International Criminal Court last month issued an arrest warrant for genocide, today visited Nairobi to attend the signing of Kenya’s new constitution. It is the second time he has visited a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC since the genocide warrant was issued, having been to Chad in July.

 “As a state party to the Rome Statute, we should hope Kenya will honour its obligations to arrest Bashir and hand him over to the ICC,” says Dr James Smith, Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust. “Failure to do so would insult the victims of atrocities in Darfur and send a worrying signal that national commitments to international responsibilities aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.”

“It’s  sad to see African leaders sign international treaties that they then refuse to respect or implement ,” says Dr Mariam Suleiman, Chair of the Darfur Victims Organisation for Relief and Rehabilitation (DVORR), which tomorrow will host a talk by The Prosecutor of the ICC in London at which he will address recent developments in the Court’s work. “We call upon all African leaders, if they are true pan-Africanists, not to show solidarity with a suspected genocidaire but to put the preservation of the lives of their people first and cooperate actively with the ICC.”

“Failure to arrest Omar al Bashir would add to Kenya’s growing reputation as a safe haven for wanted war criminals,” says Nick Donovan, Head of Policy and International Justice at the Aegis Trust. “There have been many credible reports that Félicien Kabuga, the alleged financier of the Rwandan genocide, lived in Kenya for many years.  It’s alleged that he was protected by people within the Kenyan elite.”