ICC Stops Referring Jordan to UN for Failure to Arrest Sudan’s al-Bashir

The International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Monday that it would not refer Jordan to the UN Security Council for its failure to arrest former Sudanese President Omar alBashir when he visited Amman in 2017.

In a split ruling, a five-judge panel said that while Jordan should have arrested al-Bashir, its failure to do so was not grounds for referral because the country had tried to consult with the court about the matter ahead of time.

The former Sudanese President, who was ousted in April after 30 years in power, is the subject of two ICC arrest warrants over his alleged role in war crimes including genocide in Sudan’s Darfur province.

Jordan had cited head of state immunity – which is customary under international law – as the reason for not arresting al-Bashir in 2017.

But the ICC court said immunity no longer applied to al-Bashir due to Sudan’s alleged war crimes.

“The appeals chamber confirms … Jordan had failed to comply with its obligations under the statute by failing to execute the court’s request for the arrest of al-Bashir and his surrender to the court, while he was in Amman on March 29, 2017,” presiding judge Chile Eboe-Osuji said.

But Eboe-Osuji said that referring Jordan to the UN for possible sanction went too far.

The ICC had noted in a statement in Dec. 2017 that it was Jordan’s fundamental duty to arrest al-Bashir and hand him to the court when he arrived to attend the Arab League summit in March of that year.

Under court rules, judges can use their discretion on whether a violation is serious enough to prompt a referral.