Sudan's president praises ICC investigation suspension
Iran Press TV
Sat Dec 13, 2014 9:53PM GMT
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has lauded the International Criminal Court's (ICC) suspension of its alleged war crimes investigations in the conflict-hit western region of Darfur.
In a speech in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Saturday, Bashir accused the ICC of attempting to "humiliate and subjugate' his country.
The Sudanese president went on to say that the decision was made "because of the Sudanese people's refusal to be humiliated and to kneel down."
Bashir added that by suspending the investigation, the ICC "admitted" its failure in its effort against him.
The ICC wants Bashir over alleged war crimes in the country's western region, where the government has been attempting to quash an insurgency since 2003.
Earlier on Friday, ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said she was discontinuing her crime probes in the region due to a lack of initiative by the UN body.
'Given this council's lack of foresight on what should happen in Darfur, I am left with no choice but to hibernate investigative activities in Darfur as I shift resources to other urgent cases,' Bensouda said while presenting her 20th report on Darfur to the UN Security Council (UNSC).
She also condemned the UNSC for failing to arrest al-Bashir for what she referred to as orchestrating atrocities in Darfur.
Darfur has been the scene of violence since 2003, when rebels took up arms against the government in Khartoum.
The UN estimates that the violence in Darfur has so far killed at least 300,000 people and displaced around two million; the Sudanese government puts the death toll at some 10,000.
SRK/NN/SS
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