The Implications of Sudan’s Lack of Cooperation with the International Criminal Court on Darfur’s Peace Building Process

In pursuit for peace in Darfur, both regional and international involvement has been witnessed after a decade of killings, destruction of properties and lawlessness. Nevertheless, not much has been achieved in terms of restoring peace as a result of these diplomatic initiatives. This study is an analysis of the implications of the actions of Sudan’s government against the issuance of arrest warrants to its leaders by the International Criminal Court, on Darfur’s peace building process. Furthermore, the reaction of civil society groups on issuance of arrest warrants to Sudan’s leaders on Darfur’s peace-building prospects has been analyzed. The study is qualitative in nature and motivated by the fact that the approach pays significant attention to detailed observation in an attempt to produce a deep description of a study area. The qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis method. The study findings show that the International Criminal Court’s intervention, and particularly the request for an arrest warrant for the Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir, triggered attention for the topic of transitional justice by the civil society groups like the NGOs, religious groups and the media. The study findings further show that, both African Union and International Criminal Court have stepped efforts in ensuring accountable justice in Darfur. The study concludes that, the disagreements between the International Criminal Court and the African Union mostly outshine one important aspect that Africa is trying to deal with impunity and this has not improved pursuit for justice in Darfur. The study recommends that it is critical that the International Criminal Court coordinates with other judicial institutions in its plans, taking into consideration that these other bodies work for the same purpose of providing justice to the victims. Civil society organizations should engage more comprehensively by not taking sides but ensuring delivery of justice no matter the intimidations faced. There is need for a more robust application of fair mechanisms by African Union in ensuring justice and the adoption of additional measures that will ensure effective justice in Darfur. Thus peace in Darfur should rely mostly on home grown solutions by solving African problem with African solution philosophy.