'SA govt is a lawless regime that is corrupt,' says ICC lawyer

, New York
A lawyer representing the victims of atrocities committed in Darfur believes the flight of President Omar al Bashir from South Africa suggests the African National Congress (ANC) government is a lawless regime that is corrupt in the deepest and most profound way.

Speaking exclusively to SABC News in New York, Raymond Brown, who as part of the International Justice Project represents 11 victims recognised by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in proceedings related to crimes in Darfur, accused the government of rejecting a fundamental principle of a constitutional democracy that provides limits on what a government can and cannot do.

Brown's case at the ICC has been stalled pending the arrest of President Bashir, who has evaded the execution of the ICC arrest warrant since 2009.

The attorney for Darfuri victims had tough words for the South Africa government who stands accused of letting President Bashir slip away, out of their grasp.

"It suggests it's a lawless regime, it suggest a regime that's corrupt in the deepest and most profound way, not necessarily about money though that may be the case, but about a disregard for the fundamental principle that democracy has to be hedged by a constitutional regime which provides limits on what government can do and they have defied the limits of their own regime which leads the reasonable observer to say, it isn't so much for them to defy an international regime of which they're apart."

Despite his outrage, he said events in Johannesburg had galvanised many into action and brought the issue of Darfur back into the international spotlight.

However, he argued it did little for the South African government's reputation as a defender of the rule of law. He called the actions a significant blow to efforts to challenge the rich and powerful.

"Current heads of state who for a variety of motives, not so noble, seek to hide a man who's an accused ‘genocider' for crimes committed against Africans, crimes committed against the Fur, the Masalit and the Zaghawa people who are African peoples, that's not a pro African stance. And that there would be a variety of opinions amongst the people of Africa, not so surprising, it's a place with fertile tradition, a long tradition of anti-colonialism, but to wrap yourselves in the mantle of anti-colonialism in order to shelter Omar al Bashir, you've have to sleep long and hard to really countenance that and additionally if you're a stalwart of the ANC, to use that mantle to protect this man, is something that ought to cause you to lose sleep at night."

Brown says he wishes his own country, the United States, would join the Rome Statute but dismissed the argument that one alleged violation of law should excuse another.

Co-Founder of the International Justice Project, Wanda Akin, who also represents the Darfuri victims at the ICC, talked about the irony of allowing President Bashir to attend an AU Summit dedicated to the empowerment of women.

"The fact that the AU summit was to focus on women and women's empowerment was a double blow to many of our victims who are women and children and considering what Bashir has been accused of and responsible for in the Darfur in particular, mass rapes, burning of homes and the stealing and looting of heirlooms that are so sacred to these women, it is just abominable that he used the excuse of attending such a summit focused on women to deprive women of justice."

The attorney's also warned that South Africa could now face censure for non-compliance by the ICC and Parties to the Rome Statute while praising the South African judiciary for its principled stance in the matter currently before it.