SA had duty to arrest Al Bashir, ICC rules
The International Criminal Court says South Africa should have detained Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir when he was in the country.
"South Africa was under the duty to arrest Omar Al Bashir and surrender him to the court while he was on South Africa's territory in June 2015," Judge Cuno Tarfusser says.
The justices at the Hague have been delivering their ruling after deliberating on whether or not South Africa failed to meet its obligations in terms of the Rome Statute.
Al-Bashir was in South Africa for an African Union Summit in June 2015.
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The Southern Africa Litigation Centre went to the High Court to compel government to detain the head of state as a warrant for his arrest has been issued by the ICC.
The court ordered his arrest, but Al Bashir was allowed to sneak out of the country.
The State appealed the High Court order arguing that Al Bashir had diplomatic immunity. However, the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the High Court ruling.
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Judge Tarfusser says the argument of immunity is not applicable.
"Accordingly, Article 98 (1) of the Statute is not applicable to the arrest of Omar Al Bashir and his surrender to the court. No immunity needs to be waived and state parties cannot execute the court's request for arrest and surrender of Omar Al Bashir without violating Sudan's rights under international law," he says.
Al Bashir is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.