Malawian President in his former capacity as Chairman of the African Union, 54-member state regional organization for the continent. Malawi is being attacked because its hosted by the president of Sudan., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Malawi must keep obligations on Bashir - UN
Sat Oct 15, 2011 3:40pm GMT
* Malawi ignores arrest warrant for Sudan's Bashir
* UN says Malawi needs to meet obligations
JOHANNESBURG Oct 15 (Reuters) - The top U.N. human rights official called on Saturday for Malawi to meet its international obligations after it refused to arrest visiting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir under an International Criminal Court warrant.
Bashir, who is wanted by the ICC on charges of orchestrating genocide in the Darfur region, was visiting the southern African country this weekend for a regional trade summit.
"I call on governments and remind them of their legal obligations, and I am disappointed when they do not keep up their obligations," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said when asked about Malawi's decision to ignore the warrant.
Pillay was in Johannesburg to give a lecture.
Malawi's foreign minister told Reuters on Thursday it would not arrest Bashir, citing the "brotherly coexistence" between member states of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, to which both countries belong.
The decision to ignore the ICC warrant could lead to further diplomatic isolation for Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika, who is in a diplomatic row with major aid donor Britain and earned international condemnation after government forces killed 20 protesters at anti-government rallies in July.
The ICC issued the warrant against Bashir, saying he was responsible for the deaths of as many as 300,000 people in Darfur since 2003.
The European Union in August expressed concern about a second visit to Chad by Bashir, saying he should have been arrested. Bashir has also gone to countries including Kenya, Djibouti and China since the warrant was issued.
The ICC earlier issued a warrant in March 2009 for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Bashir has dismissed the charges by the ICC, the world's first permanent court for prosecuting war crimes, as part of a Western conspiracy.
(Reporting by Angelica Ramos and Siyabonga Sishi; Writing by David Dolan)
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