His Excellency Hon. Idriss Deby President of the Republic of Chad Ndjamena, Chad Your Excellency, February 12, 2013 We, the undersigned organizations, are seriously concerned over reports of a possible visit to Chad by Sudanese President Omar al-bashir wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes to attend the Community of Sahel-Saharan summit to be held on February 16, 2013 in Ndjamena. President al-bashir is the subject of two arrest warrants issued by the ICC. Permitting President al-bashir to visit Chad without executing these warrants would run counter to Chad s obligations as a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, in particular Articles 86 and 89(1). It would also send damaging signals to victims of mass atrocities in Darfur and globally, and undermine Chad s credibility on issues of justice and accountability. The Chadian government participated in the eleventh session of the ICC Assembly of States Parties (ASP) held in The Hague, during which states discussed the importance of strengthening efforts to ensure full and effective cooperation with the Court and expressed their political and diplomatic support. Avoiding situations of non-cooperation was a topic featured prominently in official statements at the tenth and eleventh sessions of the ASP. Recent events point to a readiness on the part of states to uphold their obligations under the ICC treaty and to avoid situations of non-cooperation with the Court. Most recently, Malawi pulled out of hosting a recent African Union (AU) summit in light of the AU s insistence that al-bashir attend the meeting. In the past years, President al-bashir cancelled a scheduled trip to the Central African Republic for independence celebrations in Bangui in December 2010 amid calls for his arrest, and his anticipated travel to Kenya was forestalled in October 2010 with the relocation of a meeting of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development from Nairobi to Addis Ababa. President al-bashir s curtailed travel sends a strong signal that, as a suspected perpetrator of the worst crimes known to humankind, he is not a welcome guest and should be arrested to face justice before the ICC. Already on December 13, 2011, following the visit of President Al-Bashir to Chad, ICC judges concluded that Chad failed to cooperate with the court and referred the matter to the UN Security Council. For all of these reasons, we urge the Chadian government to clearly affirm its commitment to cooperate with the ICC, as states such as South Africa, Uganda and Botswana, and Malawi have already done, and clarify that should President al-bashir
enter Chad, he will be arrested. This would be an important way to demonstrate respect for victims of the crimes committed, along with Chad s commitment to end impunity. Sincerely, c.c. H.E. Ambassador Ahmad Allam-mi, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Chad to the United Nations Signature list 1. ACADHOSHA asbl (Action des Chrétiens Activistes des Droits de l'homme à Shabunda), 2. Actions Humanitaires Justice pour les Victimes (AHJV), Democratic Republic of the Congo 3. Advocates for Public International Law Uganda (APILU), Uganda 4. African Center for Justice & Peace Studies, Sudan 5. Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG), Kenya 6. Arry Organization, Sudan 7. Avocats Sans Frontieres, Belgium 8. Carrefour Juridique Culturel (CAJUC), 9. Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies, Serbia 10. Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), Malawi 11. Center for Media Studies and Peacebuilding (CEMESP-Liberia), Liberia 12. Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC), Nigeria 13. Coalition Nationale pour la Cour penale internationale (CN-CPI/RDC), Democratic Republic of the Congo 14. Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), Kenya 15. Collectif des Auxiliaires Liberaux de la Justice (CALIJ), Democratic Republic of the Congo 16. Collectif des ONG pour la Promotion de la Justice (COPJ), Democratic Republic of the Congo 17. Coalition for the International Criminal Court, with offices in Benin and the DRC 18. Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), Republic of South Sudan 19. Darfur Solidarity Group, South Africa 20. Fondation Congolaise pour la Promotion des Droits humains et la Paix (FOCDP), 21. Forum des Femmes pour l'appropriation de la Resolution 1325 (FOFAP-1325), 22. International Center Policy and Conflict in Africa (ICPC) Kenya 23. Kenya Human Rights Commission, Kenya 24. Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ), Kenya 25. Kituo cha Sheria: The Centre for Legal Empowerment, Kenya 26. Ligue pour la Promotion et le Developpement Integral de la Femme et de
l'enfant (LIPRODIFE), 27. Lira NGO Forum, Uganda 28. Le Mouvement pour la Defense des Droits de L'Homme et D'Action Humanitaire (MDDH), France 29. La Rencontre africaine pour la défense des droits de l'homme (RADDHO), Senegal 30. Sierra Leone Coalition for the ICC, Sierra Leone 31. South Sudan Human Rights Defenders Network (SSHRDN), Republic of South Sudan 32. Southern Africa Litigation Centre, South Africa 33. Synergie pour la Protection des Defenseurs des Droits Humains (SYPRODH), 34. Use Your Voice to Stop Genocide, USA 35. Cameroon Coalition for the ICC, Cameroon 36. World Federation of United Nations Associations, USA 37. Amuria District Development Agency ADDA, Uganda 38. United to End Genocide, USA 39. The Kenyan section of the International Commission of Jurists, Kenya 40. Uganda Victims Foundation, Uganda 41. L'Association pour les Droits de l'homme et l'univers Carcéral (ADHUC), 42. Lira NGO Forum, Uganda 43. The South Sudan Law Society (SSLS), South Sudan 44. Human Rights Watch, with offices in the DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa 45. Humanity Is Us, USA 46. Kumi Human Rights Initiative (KHRI), Uganda 47. Human Rights Network Uganda (HURINET), Uganda 48. Ugandan Coalition for the ICC, Uganda 49. Arry Organization for Human Rights and Development, USA/Egypt 50. Fédération Internationale des Droits de l Homme, with offices in Kenya 51. Amnesty International USA 52. Human Rights & Advocacy Network for Democracy (HAND) 53. Operation Broken Silence, USA 54. Coalition Nationale pour la Cour Pénale Internationale- RDC (CN-CPI/RDC), 55. International Crime in Africa Programme, Institute for Security Studies, Afrique du Sud 56. STAND Canada 57. The Institute on Religion and Democracy, USA 58. Fondation Congolaise pour la Promotion des Droits humains et la Paix (FOCDP), 59. GlobalSolutions.org, USA 60. NYC Genocide Prevention Coalition, USA 61. Genocide Alert, Germany
62. World Federalist Movement Canada 63. Asuntos del Sur, Argentina 64. African Freedom Coalition, USA 65. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect 66. Ligue pour la Promotion et le Developpement Integral de la Femme et de l'enfant (LIPRODIFE), 67. Darfur Reconciliation and Development Organization (DRDO), Uganda 68. Darfur Alert Coalition, USA 69. Voices for Sudan, USA 70. International Justice Darfur Association in the USA 71. COVERCONGO, 72. San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition, USA 73. Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy, USA 74. The International Justice Project, Inc., USA 75. Genocide Watch, USA 76. Coalition Ivoirienne pour la CPI, Cote d Ivoire 77. Act for Sudan, USA 78. Investors Against Genocide, USA 79. Use Your Voice to Stop Genocide, USA 80. Darfur Women Action Group, USA 81. Darfur Solidarity of North America, USA 82. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Egypt 83. Coalition of Eastern NGOs (CENGOS), Nigeria 84. National Coalition on Affirmative Action (NCAA), Nigeria 85. Coalition Centrafricaine pour la Cour Pénale Internationale, CAR 86. Avocats Sans Frontieres-Uganda 87. Women s Initiatives for Gender Justice with offices in Cairo, Egypt, Kampala and Kitgum, Uganda, and The Hague, the Netherlands. 88. l'association LEAD-CENTRAFRIQUE, CAR 89. Connecting Gender for development (COGEN), Nigeria 90. Darfur Union, The Netherlands 91. Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, Australia 92. Darfur Call, The Netherlands 93. Darfur Reporters & Journalists, The Netherlands 94. Open Society Justice Initiative 95. Global Justice Center, USA 96. Center for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL, Sierra Leone 97. Human Rights First Rwanda, Rwanda