ICC rules against prosecutor in favor of rebel Abu Garda

Justices of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have again ruled in favor of Darfur rebel leader Idriss Abu Garda, dismissing the prosecutor’s appeal to reconsider charges against him. The pre-trial chamber I of the ICC rejected prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo’s application to re-consider the case. Abu Garda was accused of having ordered an attack on African peacekeepers in Darfur. The attack took place on 29 September 2007 and left 12 African Union soldiers dead.

In its decision of the 8 February, 2010, the Chamber had declined to confirm the charges against Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, citing lack of evidence. Ocampo disagreed with this ruling and contended that the court had failed to consider “evidence of the orders given by Abu Garda in preparation for the attack; and evidence of Abu Garda’s movement in coordination with the rebels following the attack, and his gathering at Jebel Adola with the attackers, and the events that followed the attack.” The court rejected the prosecutor’s appeal saying that they disagreed about the evidence.