SEVERAL years after the mass killing in Odi, Bayelsa State was allegedly ordered by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, the International Criminal Court (ICC) yesterday offered an explanation for not investigating the former President’s role in the dastardly act which has left a scar on the people.
ICC’s Deputy Prosecutor, Mrs. Fatou Bensouda, who was in Nigeria to attend a judicial colloquium marking the 10th anniversary of the Rome Statute of the Court in Abuja, spoke with reporters before her departure to The Hague, Netherlands, noting that the Odi killings happened before the Court was established.
Bensouda explained: “The ICC does not have a retroactive jurisdiction to prosecute offences committed before it was created.
ICC is an independent, permanent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. But such crimes can only be looked into if they were committed when the court came into force.”
The court was established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which was adopted in Rome, Italy on July 17, 1998 by the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court but it was officially established on July 1, 2002 after 60 states had become parties, whereas the Odi killings took place in 1999.
The prosecutor also described as a lesson for African leaders the application, which the prosecutors filed for a warrant of arrest of the President of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir.
According to her, the era of impunity for African leaders is gradually coming to an end.
She explained that in all the cases in which the court had intervened in Africa, it was at the instance of African leaders.
“The only exception is Sudan which was at the instance of the United Nations Security Council,” she added.
The court had in the past issued warrants of arrest against some nationals of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and the Central African Republic.
ICC is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had on July 14 presented evidence showing that Sudanese President, Al Bashir committed the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.
Three years after the Security Council requested him to investigate in Darfur and based on the evidence collected, the prosecutor has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Al-Bashir is criminally responsible in relations to 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The prosecution evidence shows that Al-Bashir masterminded and implemented a plan to destroy in substantial part the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups.
For over five years, Al-Bashir has denied the crimes. He says rape does not exist in Sudan.
Meanwhile, Lagos lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo and leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF), Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo have filed an application before the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Abuja asking the court to compel the Inspector-General of Police, to produce the report of his investigations into the killings in Odi and Tiv.
The motion on notice is asking for the court’s order compelling the Inspector-General of Police to appear before the court for the purpose of submitting his report in respect of the investigation ordered by the court earlier this year into the alleged mass killings in Odi and Tiv “by the Obasanjo’s government.”
The motion dated July 21, 2008, according to Keyamo, is to ensure full compliance with the order of the court. Chief Magistrate Uche Ezinne had on May 19, 2008 ordered the inspector general of police to investigate the killings based on the application filed by the duo.