By Mohammed Amin
KHARTOUM, Sudan
Sudan has announced the defeat the International Criminal Court (ICC), as President Omar al-Bashir arrived safely at Khartoum airport from South Africa on Monday evening.
A high court in South Africa had issued a temporary order for Bashir not to leave the country, until the court decided whether or not to hand him over to the International Criminal Court, who issued an arrest warrant for him in 2009. Bashir is accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s Darfur region.
Hundreds of Bashir’s supporters welcomed him at the airport, chanting slogans announcing that the defiant president has defeated the ICC.
President Bashir declined to address the crowds contrary to an announcement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before his return from South Africa where he was attending the 25 African Union Heads of state summit in Pretoria.
The crowds followed in his wake as he drove through the city under heavy security.
The Sudanese president, who was in South Africa to participate in the 25th African Union summit, has been in power for more than 25 years. He refuses to recognize the court, which he says is “an imperialist tool directed against his country and against Africans”.
Among the crowd, Mohammed Ahmed said Sudan described Bashir as the hero of Sudan and Africa.
"We come here today not to just to welcome the president but also to celebrate our victory on the ICC," he added to Anadolu Agency.
Another ruling party member Sumia Mohammed said that the ICC was against Sudan and the African leaders, describing it as colonialist tool against African countries.
"We are fighting in line with the African countries against the ICC to liberate our continent," she added.
Upon his arrival accompanying with the president, the Sudanese minister of foreign affairs, Ibrahim Ghandour, claimed that the African Union will present an official request to the UN Security Council to drop the ICC case against Bashir.
"What happened is just some fabrications by some lobbies in South Africa but we don’t care about all that," the Sudanese minister said, speaking to the reporters at Khartoum International Airport.
Abortion of justice
However, several Darfur internally displaced persons (IDP) have expressed sadness on what they describe as an abortion of justice in allowing Bashir to move around the continent.
Talking to Anadolu Agency over the phone from Abushoak IDP’s camp in Darfur, Mohammed Adam, an IDP, called it a day of defeat of justice.
"We are very sad [to hear] the news that Bashir has returned to Sudan without being accountable for the crimes which he committed in Darfur," he said
Sudanese rebels have also regretted the fact that Bashir was allowed leave South Africa despite the Pretoria High Court decision.
The deputy chairman of the rebel alliance of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), Abdul Wahid Al Nour, told Anadolu Agency that the move aborted international law as well as the independence of the judiciary in South Africa.
"We were hopeful to see South Africa as the haven for democracy and human rights defense on the African continent, but what happened today [...] is very regrettable," Al Nour said over the phone.
"The victims in Darfur will never forget that Bashir has escaped from South Africa without an arrest," he added. "Bashir has become a real fugitive according to South African and international law."
The South African High Court in Pretoria on Monday afternoon ordered that the South African government arrest Bashir. The court was immediately told by the government's advocate in court that the Sudanese president had left the country.
U.S. 'disappointed’
The U.S. State Department also expressed disappointment over South Africa allowing Bashir to leave the country without facing legal action.
"We're disappointed that he was able to travel," State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said Monday. "If he was able to depart with no action having been taken, then we're also disappointed by that as well."
The State Department had called on South Africa not to allow Bashir to travel to the country over the weekend.
*Anadolu Agency correspondent Kasim Ileri contributed to this report from Washington D.C.
