TO NAB AL HAJI BASHIR – The Sudanese President wanted by the ICC

  By Mohan Mathew

 It’s naivety of the “first order to suggest forming of a TASK FORCE  to arrest an ICC fugitive from a sovereign state. It’s the conscience of each state that’s a signatory to the Rome Statute that matters. Under no circumstance can a criminal head of state like Bashir enter a country and be treated to full diplomatic and military hours befitting a head of state, without the full knowledge of the host government.

It’s true Kenya govt invited Bashir for the ceremony and protected him throughout the time he was there, and saw to it that he left for home safely. Possibly, Kenyan fighter jets escorted him to the border from where Sudan air-force took over. The moral rating of Kenya has plummeted internationally since the ill thought-out invitation.

Recently the Kibaki govt pulled another surprise by another cowardly action and became a laughing-stock proper. The Kenya HC ruled that Kenya was obliged by the local and international laws to arrest and deport Bashir to the Hague if he ever sets foot in the country. Bashir fumed as if he did not know Kenya was a democratic country with the judicial, parliamentary and executive arms in tact.

Kibaki in turn dispatched his foreign affairs, and defense ministers with the reassuring message that the ruling would be vacated by a higher court to calm down Bashir. Nothing much is heard these days of the several threats Bashir had unleashed on Kenya unless HC was not over-ruled in the matter, in 14 days!

The foregoing lays bare the negative attitude of the present Kenyan govt towards ICC, and by extension its disdain for the UN efforts to bring peace to the region. Kenya, that had been a mediator in the conflict between South and North, and now in the conflict in the Darfur region, which it uses as an excuse for its friendship with Bashir, does only pay lip service to the UN efforts to bringing regional genocide suspects to book. For example, it’s widely believed the Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga is hiding in Kenya with the connivance of the Kibaki regime.

Kenya has her own six citizens, ministers and civil servants included, facing confirmation of crimes against humanity charges at the Hague, too is worth noting. In this context, only two other countries have publicly invited Bashir for national or international events, Uganda and South Africa. Both at the same time let it be known that he might be arrested and handed over to the ICC if he came over. Ugandan president, later tried to play with words to mean he might not. But the message has been driven home. Bashir chickened out. However nobody expects such a bold move from Kibaki.

He has been increasingly projected himself as an advocate and defender of impunity and authoritarianism in his own country. Just imagine how a team of a few tens of ICC armed officers can walk in, apprehend and spirit a head of state fugitive guarded by the national police and other arms of its armed forces out of he country! It’s simply, wishful thinking. But if there’s a will there is a way. One can be arrested in air while in flight. This can be executed by a very technologically advanced air force like the NATO’s or Russia’s.

The accompanying escort air force jets must be rendered incapacitated first by air-to-air missiles or gun fire (or less preferably by ground to air missiles or anti-aircraft guns). They must be disabled, and not just scared away, because they can regroup and attack the intruders .Then the plane the fugitive is flying in, often a civilian one, should be herded to a prearranged location to effect the arrest.

This method can work without a hitch if the country the fugitive is over flying has a relatively weak air force, often using obsolete fighters like F-5s. I’m sure Kenyan air space is ideal for more than the above reason. One single US warship nearby can jam all military communication facilities around using their state of the art equipment.

I remember, when asked by newsmen about his reaction to the Kenyan hosting of Bashir, Ocampo said something to the effect that one day he would be arrested in the air, if not possible to do so on the ground. I wish Bashir more happy flights to visit his dictator brothers in impunity.

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