ICC revokes Jordan’s referral to UNSC, court's assembly on Bashir case

AMMAN — The appeals chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has rescinded the December 2017 pre-trial chamber decision to refer Jordan to the UN Security Council and the court's Assembly of States Parties, a Foreign Ministry statement said on Monday.

The decision came after Jordan appealed the referral regarding former Sudanese president Omar Bashir’s visit to Amman, in March 2017, to attend the Arab League summit, the statement said.

Amman welcomes the chamber’s decision, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sufian Qudah said.

The Assembly of States Parties represents nations that ratified the ICC statute, the statement explained.

Qudah stressed that the appeals chamber’s decision comes in recognition of Jordan’s historical role in supporting the ICC and commitment to international law, maintaining that Jordan “acted in good intention”. 

In the statement, he described the referral decision as “discriminatory, unfair and arbitrary in the first place”.

The ministry is currently going through Monday’s 98-page ruling to consider all its aspects, especially the “part where it supported the pre-trial chamber’s ruling that Jordan had not cooperated with the ICC in handing over Bashir, something Jordan entirely rejected”, according to the ministry’s statement.

Qudah added that Jordan will review the ruling in accordance with the country’s interests, while reaffirming Amman’s compliance with the law.

He underlined that Jordan has always been a strong supporter of the ICC since its establishment, noting that the Kingdom was the first country in the Middle East to ratify the court’s statute. 

International appeals judges on Monday found that Jordan “failed to comply with its obligations” because it did not detain Bashir in 2017 when he was wanted by The Hague-based tribunal on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, AFP reported.

Jordan, in September last year, defended its decision not to arrest Bashir, saying it was not obligated to detain and hand him over to the ICC.

The December 2017 ruling by the court found that Jordan had “failed to comply with its obligations” when it refused to detain Bashir, who is wanted by The Hague-based tribunal for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Amman’s lawyers appealed the ruling on  multiple bases, as shown in the ICC transcripts dated March 12, 2018.

The first grounds for appeal argued that the pre-trial chamber might have overlooked the 1953 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Arab League, which immunises heads of state.

The second grounds for appeal stipulates that the chamber might also have misunderstood Security Council Resolution 1593 (2005) in regards to “Jordan’s obligations under customary and conventional international law to accord immunity” to Bashir.

“Even if the chamber’s December 2017 decision with respect to non-compliance was correct… the chamber abused its discretion in deciding to refer such non-compliance to the Assembly of States Parties and the Security Council,” which was the third grounds for appeal, the transcripts said.

Long-time Sudanese leader Bashir jetted into Jordan in March last year to attend an annual Arab League summit, despite opposition from human rights groups and two ICC warrants out for his arrest.