April 6, 2005 - 5:50 AM

Hague court given list of accused in Darfur

By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has given the International Criminal Court a list of 51people suspected of slaughter, rape and pillaging in Sudan's Darfur region, the first step toward a war crimes prosecution.

The sealed list was gathered by an independent commission sent by the U.N. Security Council to Darfur last year, whichreported mass killings of civilians, systematic rape and burning of villages.

The Darfur case is the first referred by the Security Council to the tribunal, the world's first permanent criminal court. TheUnited States, which opposes the court, gave it some legitimacy last week by abstaining in the referral vote rather than usingits veto power to block the action.

Earlier on Tuesday the court, based in the Hague, received nine boxes of documents the commission had gathered inDarfur.

Annan passed on the list of 51 suspects recommended for trial to Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor of the criminal court.The list includes government officials, leaders of Arab militia known as Janjaweed, and rebels.

Moreno-Ocampo, an Argentine, said that before beginning his own investigation, he would analyze the documents and"admissibility" of the case and called on nations, individuals and organizations to give him information.

"We all have a common task to protect life, ending the culture of impunity," he said in a prepared statement read toreporters. Moreno-Ocampo declined to answer questions.

TEST OF EFFECTIVENESS

Because of the Security Council's involvement, the Darfur case has become a test of effectiveness of the court, set up to tryindividuals accused of genocide, war crimes and mass human rights violations.

The impact of a court indictment is uncertain. The Sudanese government has said that it would refuse to hand over itscitizens to face trial abroad and it would prosecute alleged criminals itself. Sudanese rebels have said they are prepared tosurrender to the court if they are indicted.

More than 2 million people have fled their homes and thousands have been killed each month in fighting in Darfur.

In The Hague, Serge Brammertz, deputy criminal-court prosecutor for investigations, who took charge of the documentboxes, said it was too early to say when the tribunal might issue indictments or arrest warrants over Darfur. He said he hopedthe Sudanese government would help with the inquiry.

A total of 98 countries have ratified a 1998 Rome treaty setting up the International Criminal Court. The Bush administrationrescinded the U.S. signature, fearing politically motivated prosecutions.

In a related development, Harvard University announced this week it was selling its stake in PetroChina, a unit ofstate-owned oil company China National Petroleum Corp., in protest at the Khartoum government's policies in Darfur.

Harvard President Lawrence Summers said in a statement that PetroChina's parent company played a leading role inSudan's oil industry.

The Harvard Crimson newspaper estimated the value of the stake, part of Harvard's $22.6 billion (12 billion pound)endowment, at about $4.4 million, based on endowment holdings as of the end of 2004.

Eric Reeves, a Smith College professor and Sudan activist, predicted more sales by institutional U.S. holders.