The President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Ambassador Tiina Intelmann (Estonia), recalled that two warrants of arrest were outstanding against the President of Sudan, Omar-Al Bashir, and regretted the fact that despite ICC orders and widespread calls by the international community for Chad to respect its obligations of cooperation with the Court, the visit of Omar-Al Bashir to Chad had taken place on 16 February 2013.
The President of the Assembly reminded the Government of Chad of its commitment, as a State Party to the Rome Statute, to comply with the decisions of the Court and recalled her 13 February 2013 letter to H.E. Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Minister of Foreign Affairs and African Integration of Chad, in which she had indicated that the issue of the non-execution of the requests of the Court was receiving continued attention of States Parties to the Statute. The Assembly had repeatedly expressed concerns regarding the negative consequences which such failure to comply had on the Court’s capability to carry out its mandate.
As President of the Assembly, she deplored the visits of persons subject to arrest warrants of the Court to any State Party. “I call upon the Government of Chad to respect and fully comply with its Rome Statute obligations, and I also renew my appeal to States Parties and others in a position to do so to join efforts to prevent instances of non-cooperation”, the President said, speaking in New York.