On June 9, 2009, the foreign minister of Botswana, Phandu Skelemani, told BBC that Botswana has a legal duty to help ensure the appearance of Bashir before the International Criminal court.
Botswana’s President Ian Khama, in April, said that Sudan’s President Al-Bashir is one of the African leaders who “continually show a disregard for human rights and the rule of law.” According to Mmegi Online, the President said this in a speech during Tanzanian president Kikwete’s visit to Botswana. President Khama added, “And by not condoning impunity, we should also have the courage to render such leaders to international justice including the International Criminal Court so that they can answer to the charges against them.” He recommended isolating illegal regimes in Africa until the constitutional order is restored.
This is in contrast with Botswana’s former President, Festus Mogae, who spoke at a two-day conference at Brooklyn’s Medgar Evers College sponsored by the Boston University African Presidential Archives and Research Center in May. At the conference, former President Mogae said that it was premature to call for the arrest of President Al-Bashir.
Both the Common Market for Eastern Southern Africa (COMESA) and the AU have urged the International Criminal Court to suspend the warrant for the arrest of al-Bashir and instead to promote dialogue between Sudan and Chad. According to VOA News, African member states of the ICC are considering a mass withdrawal to protest the war crimes indictment against al-Bashir that was suggested by Libya, Senega, Djibouti and Comoros. However, the AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra has suggested that African ICC members states take a moderate approach by urging that the UN Security Council defer the indictment and pressuring Sudan to redouble its efforts toward ending the ongoing human-rights violations in Darfur. According to VOA News, African diplomats say the group is more likely to choose this more moderate approach. In July, the AU will conduct its next summit in Sirte, Libya.
The former Botswanian president became the winner of the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership in 2008. The prize is the largest annually awarded prize in the world ($5 million over 10 years and $200,000 annually afterwards). He earned this distinction for his leadership in Botswana for ensuring continued stability and prosperity in the face of the HIV pandemic and for promoting sustainable development. Mogae became the second Ibrahim Laureate.
Experts have argued that peace efforts in Darfur would be undermined by the ICC’s efforts, even while the ICC is trying to protect the interests of Darfurians who have been affected by injustices. The ICC has stated that they are trying to contribute to reconciliation efforts. In response, the ICC has been criticized for being politically motivated rather than upholding the rule of law. Experts, such as Festus Aboagye, a researcher at Pretoria’s Institute for Security Studies, have suggested that the AU should see the ICC as a partner in upholding the rule of law and protecting human rights and recognize the difference between the political and legal approaches toward these goals.
On January 11, 2007, Botswana and Sudan established ambassadorial level bilateral diplomatic relations. Since then, little has been discussed about relations between the two countries until recently. How the current stance of the Botswanian government will affect diplomatic relations with Sudan remains to be seen. However, prior to the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, the president of Botswana who served before President Mogae, former President Ketumile Masire, wrote an opinion piece for the Boston Globe in (June 2005) where he suggested that the presidents of Africa needed to immediately resolve the bitter conflict in Darfur. He asked that leaders of Africa not permit the Darfur crisis to imitate the genocide in Rwanda and he drew attention to the fact that many African leaders avoided action then. Alongside of this, he wrote, “As African leaders, we have an important responsibility to protect the weak and underprivileged…As African leaders, we have a responsibility to restore freedom from fear to all of the people of Darfur. Western logistical help and air support will be necessary…But African determination must be demonstrated first if the death rate in Darfur is to be brought much closer to zero.”
In March, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu wrote in a New York Times editorial, that it was “shameful” that so many African leaders have rallied around al-Bashir. “Because the victims in Sudan are African, African leaders should be the staunchest supporters of efforts to see perpetrators brought to account,” wrote Tutu. He continued, “Yet rather than stand by those who have suffered in Darfur, African leaders have so far rallied behind the man responsible for turning that corner of Africa into a graveyard... To imply that the prosecution is a plot by the West is demeaning to Africans and understates the commitment to justice we have seen across the continent.” Desmond Tutu wrote, “An arrest warrant for al-Bashir would be an extraordinary moment for the people of Sudan."
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