Sudan's Gen Omar al-Bashir, fruitlessly pursued by Moreno-Ocampo

A case in point is his attempt to prosecute President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan for genocide in Darfur. The case of genocide had come about as a result of American pressure without foundation and there is no doubt that Moreno-Ocampo saw this as a chance to enhance his position but immediately failed to prepare his case with adequate groundwork and certainly without evidence or recognition that there were and still are gangster groups terrorising Darfur.

And he consequently blundered by seeking an open arrest warrant for al-Bashir in 2009 when the chances of enforcing it were close to nil. Diplomats quite rightly have accused him of actively impeding the search for peace by turning al-Bashir into a fugitive whenever he travels outside Sudan. Here Moreno-Ocampo has himself committed a crime in his action of de-stabilizing a government.

When criticised in person, he comes out with lame excuses and one recent report has him saying:  “People who make opinions on my cases, they don’t know my cases. They don’t know my evidence. No one knows my evidence, so how can they talk?” On the specific question of why he didn’t interview witnesses on the ground in Darfur, he points out that, unlike others who did, he has to give his witnesses’ names to the defence, and this could endanger their lives.

On the diplomats and others trying to stop the killing by negotiation, he says they don’t know the details. “We try to explain to them but it’s difficult because they don’t have to engage in crimes. They don’t like to know about crimes. They like to engage in peace, not crimes, but then they miss the point. You are not dealing with people who are trying to make peace. You are dealing with people who are trying to exterminate people.” He should look around elsewhere on this planet; there are many actions going on with extermination in mind and it is only diplomacy preventing it.