[JURIST] The International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Security Council [official websites] have been “conspicuous[ly] silent” in response to the prosecutor office’s calls to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, said [report] ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on Thursday. She stated that despite “countless appeals to [the UN Security Council] to address the persistent failure Sudan to comply with its international obligations,” the calls have gone unheeded by both the Council and the ICC. She argues that this failure has only been amplified by the fact that Sudan’s president has been documented to have traveled across international borders, despite having two arrest warrants against him. Several States, including some signatories of the Rome Statute [materials, PDF], have assisted Bashir’s travel. The non-execution of the arrest warrants, along with “lack of access to Sudan’s territory [and] resource constraints” have significantly hampered investigation [UN News Centre] into the situation in Darfur. Bensouda stated that “this Council must no longer tolerate the continuing deteriorating humanitarian situation in Darfur,” where there has been an increase in aerial bombings, ground warfare, and sexual crimes.

In September the ICC requested [JURIST report] that South Africa provide an explanation for the country’s failure to arrest Bashir when he was in the country last June. During Bashir’s visit a judge for South Africa’s high court issued an order [JURIST report] barring him from leaving the country. In March of last year the ICC requested assistance [JURIST report] from the Security Council in affecting the arrest of Bashir. In asking the Council to take “necessary measures” to force Sudan to comply with the ICC investigation, the court noted that without such assistance, the Council’s decision to request investigation into Bashir in 2005 would “never achieve its ultimate goal.” In February 2015 African leaders urged [JURIST report] the ICC to drop cases against Bashir and Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto or suspend the charges until African concerns are considered by the court. In December 2014 Bensouda told the Security Council that her office was dropping further investigation [JURIST report] into the situation in Darfur.