Islamic scholar slams Arab lawyers for siding with Sudan president in ICC row

August 28, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – A prominent Islamic scholar lashed out at the Arab Lawyers Syndicate (ALS) based in Cairo for backing the Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir after the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked pre-trial judges in mid-July to issue arrest warrant for him.

Qatari Professor Abdel-Hameed Al-Ansari (Al-Jazeera)

Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. Judges are expected to take months to study the evidence before deciding whether to order Al-Bashir’s arrest.

“We will not hear a voice from the ALS, which has mobilized itself to defend indicted presidents, supporting the weak and marginalized” the Qatari Professor Abdel-Hameed Al-Ansari said in an article titled ’’ALS: Who will stand for Darfur victims?’ published in the UAE daily Al-Ittihad newspaper.

The former Dean of the Islamic Law department at Qatar University also accused Arab lawyers of double standards.

“Al-Bashir does not need the ALS to defend him but the Darfur victims and the millions of oppressed are in desperate need of legal help from these advocates” he said.

A delegation of the ALS flew to Khartoum following the ICC announcement voicing their strong support to Al-Bashir and formed a legal team to defend him.

The ALS chief Sami Ashoor accused the ICC of being a tool used by the international community against Arab leaders.

But Al-Ansari said he is not surprised by Ashoor’s statements.

“This position is not unexpected from the ALS or its head. This is not the first time. Their history is filled with wonders and strange things” Al-Ansari said.

The Qatari professor recounted how the ALS backed Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad and the late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

“What have been said today in defense of Al-Bashir and his policies was said yesterday in defense of Saddam and his adventures but it did not help anyways. They repeat the same arguments; politicization of international justice, double standards, prejudice against Arabs, selective justice and serving US agenda” he said.

“Where were these syndicates in face of mass graves, Darfur massacres, genocide in Halabga and Southern Iraq? Why do their voices get louder and they start displaying bravery against the US for Abu-Gharaib and Guantanamo? Then they go mute over what happens in the prisons and detention centers in their countries and what happens to hundreds of human beings who go behind the sun” Al-Ansari added.

Al-Ansari also made a subtle endorsement of the genocide charges brought against Al-Bashir by the ICC prosecutor.

“What they [ALS] always try to ignore is the victims….300,000 deaths and 2 million refugees [in Darfur] whose villages were destroyed by the Arab Janjaweed militias. Their entire fault was that they are not Arabs like their rulers” he said.

“Five bloody years and the people of Darfur dying, getting displaced and TV satellite channels transmit horrible images tearing the hearts of the world and making conscience bleed except that [conscience] of the Arabs which is on vacation or the Arab League that remained in a coma or their [Arab] media that failed to cover [Darfur conflict] and showing the truth” he added.

Al-Ansari also described reactions by Arab governments as “hypocritical”.

“The Arabs are a nation did not learn from past lessons. They are repeating same mistakes with Al-Bashir in line with the saying ‘Support your brother whether he is right or wrong’” he wrote.

He further accused Arab governments and the ASL of promoting double standards.

“They blame the international community for double standards and we use 10 standards with our own people. They accuse the International Court of prejudice and our lawyers are the most biased against the oppressed….When was there justice in our countries? They accuse the West of politicization but this is really what the ASL is doing” Al-Ansari said.

“If the US and Israel are committing crimes it is against their enemies but we commit them against our people and fellow countrymen. We want the international community to respect our arguments but we are cheating ourselves” he added.

The article by the Islamic Law professor represents a departure from the mainstream Arab view which is generally skeptical of the ICC and believes that it is a tool in the hands of the West to apply double standards of justice.

The Arab League said in the resolution last month that Sudanese judiciary is capable of prosecuting Darfur war crime suspects and described the ICC’s prosecutor position as “unbalanced”.

However a poll conducted by the Al-Jazeera TV this month showed that the majority of Arabs favor that their presidents be tried before international courts.

The French-Libyan born counsel Dr. Hadi Shalluf echoed Al-Ansari views in an interview with Sudan Tribune earlier this month.

“The Arab Lawyers syndicate is a political body serving regimes which are providing them with money. They are not out to stand for human rights and victims of oppression. They could have taken a stance in support of Darfur victims in addition to defending Al-Bashir if they are truly genuine. That is my opinion which is why I did not join them” Shalluf said.

Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statute, but the UNSC triggered the provisions under the Statute that enables it to refer situations in non-State parties to the world court if it deems that it is a threat to international peace and security.