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Journal of International Criminal Justice 2008 6(5):841-851; doi:10.1093/jicj/mqn072
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© Oxford University Press, 2008, All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Editorial Comments

The Request for an Arrest Warrant in Al Bashir

Idealistic Posturing or Calculated Plan?

Christopher Gosnell*

* Defence Counsel, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

[gosnellchris{at}gmail.com]


  Abstract

The decision to seek President Al Bashir's arrest, assuming that the evidence substantiates the request, can be viewed as part of a longer term pragmatic strategy. By going public, rather than obtaining a sealed warrant, the ICC Prosecutor ensured that Al Bashir would only be surrendered on a voluntary basis. The arrest warrant can be soft-pedaled or used as a bargaining chip by political actors until such time as the moment is propitious for his surrender. The author argues that, in the meantime, the Prosecutor should immediately seek as many sealed arrest warrants as possible of lower level perpetrators, with the aim of bringing one or more of them into custody and starting judicial proceedings related to crimes in Darfur as soon as possible. Public judicial proceedings are essential to enhancing the credibility of the ICC in general, and the charges against Al Bashir in particular.


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