Sudan has dismissed the move by the International Criminal Court to seek the arrest of its president on charges of waging a campaign of genocide and rape in Darfur. Sudan is claiming the proposal to arrest Omar al-Bashir is a political move that is not binding on Sudan, because the country has never ratified membership of the ICC. On Monday, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced the charges.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo: “I just submitted an application requesting to the pre-trial chamber number three to issue an arrest warrant against Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.”

Geraldine Mattioli of Human Rights Watch praised the court’s decision but said it is unlikely al-Bashir will be arrested soon.

Geraldine Mattioli: “Let’s not be naive. It’s not going to happen in the next couple of days. That’s clear to us. But it’s not the first time that a head of state, sitting head of state, has been indicted. You will remember the examples of Slobodan Milosevic in ’99 or Taylor in 2001, who was also the sitting president of Liberia at the time. They were not arrested immediately, but eventually, when the international community threw its weight behind these arrest warrants.”

The ICC’s move has been criticized in some quarters. Former African Union adviser Alex de Waal said the indictment of al-Bashir may jeopardize the country’s peace process. De Waal accused the ICC of taking a tremendous gamble with the future of Sudan.