Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09NOUAKCHOTT190
2009-03-08 16:47:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Nouakchott
Cable title:  

EL BASHIR'S ARREST WARRANT ELICITS MIXED REACTIONS

Tags:  PHUM PREL PGOV ICC SU MR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3469
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNK #0190/01 0671647
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081647Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8200
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0011
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NOUAKCHOTT 000190 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV ICC SU MR
SUBJECT: EL BASHIR'S ARREST WARRANT ELICITS MIXED REACTIONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NOUAKCHOTT 000190

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV ICC SU MR
SUBJECT: EL BASHIR'S ARREST WARRANT ELICITS MIXED REACTIONS


1. (SBU) Summary: The March 4 International Criminal
Court's (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant against
Sudanese President Omar El Bashir for war crimes and crimes
against humanity in Darfur has elicited strong reactions in
Mauritania. While the majority of the political class
condemns the ICC's move, describing it as further proof that
the ICC is nothing but an instrument of U.S. foreign policy,
local human rights groups have expressed their support and
satisfaction. In a country with underlying racial tensions,
where slavery is still practiced and where those responsible
for the Afro-Mauritanian purges in the 90s have not been
brought to justice, the decision brings both fear and hope.
End summary.

-------------- --
DEPUTIES AND POLITICAL PARTIES CONDEMN DECISION
-------------- --


2. (SBU) In a statement released March 4, Mauritanian
parliamentarians condemned the ICC and expressed their
support for El Bashir. Labeling the arrest warrant "an
injustice", the deputies state it is "eloquent proof that the
ICC is nothing but another tool of American foreign policy -
a policy characterized by double standards, particularly in
the areas of African and Arab Affairs." The communique
accuses the ICC of seeking to destabilize Sudan while
"refusing to even think about looking into war crimes
commited by Israel in Gaza or Lebanon or by the Bush
administration in Iraq and Afghanistan." According to them,
the decision highlights the degree of politicization of the
court, which in their view has lost all credibility. The
group calls for all Arab and African nations to suspend their
ICC membership and declared its unconditional solidarity with
President El Bashir.


3. (SBU) The Arab Nationalist/Baathist "Sawab" party
released a communique March in which it stated that "the
resolution taken by the so-called 'International Criminal
Court' against the Sudanese president is just one in a series
of humiliations that the West and the United States of
America have perpetrated against Muslims in general, and
Arabs in particular." The communique went on to state that
the goal of the resolution is not "to achieve justice for the
victims, but to create sufficient conditions to break up the
Arab Sudan lands by weakening the hold of its central
authority."


4. (SBU) The Islamist "Tawassoul" party was similarly
unimpressed by the ICC decision in a March 5 communique.
Characterizing the ICC decision as "violation of Sudan's
sovereignty," the statement asked how the ICC could at the
same time "ignore crimes committed by the former Bush
administration in Iraq and Afghanistan and successive
governments of the Zionist entity." The statement further
called on all "Arab, Islamic, and peace-loving states" to not
apply the ICC resolution.

--------------
HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS SUPPORT ICC
--------------


5. (SBU) On March 7, three human rights non-governmental
organizations (SOS Esclaves, Association Mauritanienne des
Droits de l'Homme, Association des Femmes Chefs de Familles)
and a political association (Conscience et Resistance)
released a joint statement entitled "Finally, the law takes
precedence over the obstacles." The group declared itself
"overjoyed" by the ICC's decision, reinstated its support to
the people of Darfur, and called for Mauritania to support
the ICC. The communique also addressed parliamentarian
allegations that the ICC is an instrument of U.S. foreign
policy by stating that the U.S. opposed the court's creation
and accusing the deputies of being ignorant and cynical.
According to the group, in Mauritania "where dozens of
torturers get away with their racial crimes, the ICC's
decision brings hope that the truth will come to light, and
that the victims will be rehabilitated and receive redress."


6. (SBU) Comment: As a country with underlying racial
tensions between Moors, black Moors and Afro-Mauritanians, it
is not surprising that the ICC's decision has been decried by
those in power -- who fear its potential ramifications -- and
embraced by human rights organizations that work against
slavery and for the rights of those who lost family members
in the early 90s racial purges. Those most strongly
supportive of the ICC decision are generally Black Moors or
Afro-Mauritanian. It is ironic that some Mauritanians view
the ICC as a tool of U.S. domination as the U.S. is critical
of it and has refused to join. End comment.


NOUAKCHOTT 00000190 002 OF 002


HANKINS