November 13, 2017

President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan arrived for a three-day visit in Uganda on Monday, defying an international Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against him.

The ICC issued arrest warrants for al-Bashir in 2009 and 2010 on charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in the Sudanese region of Darfur.

Uganda is not planning to arrest al-Bashir, in spite being a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the ICC, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s press secretary Don Wannyama said.

“Uganda’s position is that the arrest warrant is uncalled for, which is the position of the African Union,” said Wannyama.

“Our position is that Africa can solve its own problems.’’

Al-Bashir and Museveni were meeting to hold bi-lateral talks on the issues of trade, regional security and migration, according to the press secretary.

It is al-Bashir’s second visit to the East African nation since the warrants were issued.

In May 2016, the Sudanese leader attended a re-election ceremony held for Museveni.

Other African nations, including South Africa, have ignored the ICC’s demands to detain al-Bashir.

In July, the ICC ruled that South Africa violated its rules when failing to arrest al-Bashir during his visit to Johannesburg in 2015.

The court did not, however, refer the case to the UN Security Council, saying that would not foster cooperation with South Africa.