JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, May 24 (UPI) -- War crimes suspects wanted by the International Criminal Court are blackmailing the international justice system, the incoming chief prosecutor said.
Incoming Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said war crimes suspects like rebel Congolese Gen. Bosco Ntaganda are blackmailing the court by threatening to kill people unless arrest warrants are dropped.
"This (is a) level of blackmail, which I call it, in which perpetrators are saying that if you do not drop warrants against me or if you issue warrants against me, I'll continue to kill people," she told the BBC. "I think this is what the international community, especially those who are directly responsible for the arrest of Bosco, should take into account."
The ICC is seeking to amend the 2006 arrest warrant for Ntganda by adding war crimes and crimes against humanity to the charges. He's accused of conscripting child soldiers and is blamed for sparking violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo since rebelling in April.
"Those who are wanted, those who have warrants out for them, for their arrest, should be arrested and surrendered to the ICC," said Bensouda.
A Gambian lawyer, she takes over for Luis Moreno-Ocampo in June.
