A Ugandan court has ruled that the country failed its international obligations by not arresting Sudan’s ex-President Omar al-Bashir when he visited the country in 2016 and 2017.
Bashir has an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against him for genocide and crimes against humanity.
Signatories to the ICC, including Uganda, are obliged to arrest him if he enters their territory.
But Bashir visited Uganda on two occasions, in 2016 and 2017 without being detained.
Nicholas Opiyo, the lawyer who filed the case, has said that he is happy with the ruling.
“Uganda will not and cannot be a haven for fugitives or people against whom arrest warrants have been issued. That is the bottom line.
“Ultimately the state of Uganda has an obligation under domestic and international law to comply with arrest warrants issued by the ICC… regardless of whether he is a head of state,” he said.
In a similar case in 2016, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the country’s failure to arrest Bashir was inconsistent with its obligations and unlawful.
Bashir, who governed Sudan for three decades, was ousted in April, following months of protests.
This month, he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to two years in a social reform facility.
BBC
