Egypt

Cairo, 24^th April 2008

The Egyptian Coalition calls on the Sudanese government to cooperate with the International Criminal Court on handing over of wanted men

The Egyptian Coalition for the International Criminal Court expresses its concern over what the International Criminal Court (ICC) is facing during the performance of its mission, particularly in matters concerning the handing over of Ahmed Haroun and Ali Kosheyb. The two men were involved in extremely serious crimes against humanity in Darfour.

Surrender of the two men to the ICC is the most serious obstacle hindering the Court performing its role. This prompted the ICC to propose the establishment of a body which would oblige States to cooperate with the ICC in the handing over of wanted individuals (particularly in Darfour, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Uganda) during a press conference it held in New York on 21^st November 2007.

The Egyptian Coalition expresses its solidarity with the ICC’s demands, and urges the international community to cooperate with the Court in order to establish justice and the culture of escaping punishment.

The Egyptian Coalition also urges Member States of the ICC to sign the Protocol to the Rome Statute which establishes a permanent mechanism allowing the ICC to oblige States to hand over wanted individuals to international justice.

The Egyptian Coalition calls on the Sudanese government – given that Sudan is a sovereign country – to abide by international law and implement resolution 1593 issued by the Security Council in 2005 and cooperate with the ICC by arresting the wanted men and bringing them before the ICC. The Coalition believes that Ahmed Haroun’s remaining in his post and controlling civilians in camps reduces the chances of peace in Darfour. The Sudanese government must take advantage of the procedural guarantees of justice in articles 65, 66, 67, 75 and 76 of the ICC’s 1998 Rome founding Statute.

Current members of the Egyptian Coalition

Founded in 1999, the Egyptian Coalition currently has 26 members.

No.	Name	Year joined
1	The Land Center for Human Rights	1999
2	The Association for Democratic Development	1999
3	The Human Rights Center for Information and Legal Information	1999
4	The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies	1999
5	The Human Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners	1999
6	The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights	1999
7	The Institute for Development and Human Rights Dialogue	2005
8	The Arab Organization for Penal Reform	2005
9	The Association for Human Rights Legal Aid	2005
10	The Center for the Study of Alternative Development	2005
11	The Hisham Mobarak Law Center	2005
12	The Shomo Association for the Protection of Human Rights and the Development of Local Society	2005
13	The Egyptian Association for the Support of Democratic Development	2005
14	The Egyptian Association for the Development of the Family	2005
15	The Egyptian Association for the Spread of Development and Legal Awareness	2005
16	The Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies	2005
17	The Egyptian Institute for Training and Human Rights	2005
18	The Center for Egyptian Women’s Issues	2005
19	The National Association for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms	2005
20	The Vocational Association for Development	2008
21	The One World Institute for Development	2008
22	The Center for Rural Studies	2008
23	The Arab Women’s Alliance	2008
24	The Institute for National Belonging and Human Rights	2008
25	The Egyptian Transparency Association	2008
26	The Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession	Founder and coordinator

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