South Africa will escape with little more than a slap on the wrist for allowing international fugitive and war crimes accused Omar al-Bashir to escape justice.
The Sudanese president, who escaped via Air Force Base Waterkloof in Pretoria, is wanted for war crimes and genocide in his country, where nearly 300 000 people have been killed and more than 2million people displaced during years of conflict.
The departure of al-Bashir, who attended the African Union summit in Sandton at the weekend, flouted a Pretoria High Court order on Monday that he be arrested by South African authorities and handed over to the International Criminal Court, which originally issued the warrants for his arrest.
There have been claims that the real reason he was allowed to leave was because nearly 1000 South African peacekeepers operating in the Darfur region were being held hostage at their base by Sudanese government forces.
The under-equipped troops, who are part of the joint UN and AU peacekeeping mission, were allegedly surrounded at bases in Kutum, Mellit and Malha. They were reported to have been used as pawns, with their safety allegedly in jeopardy, should al-Bashir have been arrested – a claim both South African and UN authorities deny.
Defence Ministry spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said: “There is no truth in these allegations. The SA National Defence Force did not come under any threat during this period . The troops continued with normal operational duties in the area of responsibility.
“No extraordinary operational preparedness was done by the SANDF. No additional instructions, with regard to higher alert levels, were issued.” He said the security situation in Darfur “is calm”.
It has now emerged that government representatives could face contempt of court charges for allowing Bashir to leave South Africa.
Specialist Criminal Law expert James Grant warned South Africa could be seen as being complicit in the war crimes that Bashir faces.
South Africa’s ratification of the Rome Statute, means it must arrest anyone wanted by the ICC.
The country must also treat the crime as if it was committed on home soil.