Sudan's Bashir defies court with Chad trip

[ludahai]

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N'DJAMENA (Reuters) – Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir arrived in Chad on Wednesday, his first visit to a full member state of the International Criminal Court, which is demanding his arrest for genocide.

The ICC said that as a member state Chad was obliged to arrest Bashir, but Chad said after Bashir's arrival it was under no obligation to do so and Bashir would return home safely after attending a summit it was hosting.

Bashir was indicted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur last year. This month the court added genocide to the charges, accusing him of presiding over rape, torture and murder in the remote west of Sudan.

Bashir was greeted by Chadian President Idriss Deby on his first trip abroad since the genocide warrant.

"We are not obliged to arrest Omar Hassan al-Bashir," Ahmat Mahamat Bachir, Chad's interior and security minister, told Reuters. "Bashir is a sitting president. I have never seen a sitting president arrested on his travels by the host country."

Once again, the ICC shown to be toothless. The warrent on al-Bashir is still valid and this is his first trip to an ICC member since the indictments were issued. Now, for those who criticized the US for not acceeding to the ICC, please come on here and defend this useless treaty and procedure where even member states can ignore the warrants of the ICC.