T

he US should ratify the statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) or just '€œshut up'€, Sudan has declared in a statement.

The Sudanese Embassy in Jakarta published the statement on Tuesday in response to a statement issued on Monday by the US Embassy in Jakarta, which expressed concern over Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir'€™s attendance at the fifth Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Extraordinary Summit on Sunday and Monday.

Sudan stated that it needed to remind the US that its [Sudan'€™s] president was in Jakarta at the request of the Indonesian government and the OIC secretary-general and that his presence was to show support for '€œthe innocent Palestinians being killed in cold blood by the Zionist State with the full support and protection of the US'€.

'€œIf the US administration is in full support of the so-called ICC and very concerned about international justice then in support of this endeavor it has to go forward and join the ICC and become party to its statute, or shut up,'€ the statement read.

There were over 500 delegates from 49 countries in attendance at the Jakarta summit, which was held on Palestine'€™s request to address issues around Jerusalem.

Bashir, who led a Sudanese delegation at the summit, arrived in Jakarta on Sunday and had a bilateral meeting with President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo on Monday, noting the intention of some Indonesian companies to invest in the oil sector in Sudan. The visit was a rare instance of the Sudanese president traveling outside of the Middle East and Africa.

The US Embassy published a statement on Monday saying the US was concerned about Bashir traveling to Indonesia for the summit.

'€œPresident Bashir has been charged by the ICC with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and warrants for his arrest remain outstanding,'€ it said in the statement.

'€œWhile the United States is not party to the Rome Statute, which is the treaty that established the ICC, we strongly support the ICC'€™s efforts to hold accountable those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.'€

The US and Sudan are among three countries that have stated that they no longer intend to become state parties to the ICC and, as such, have no legal obligation under the statute. The third country is Israel.

The Hague-based ICC issued arrest warrants in 2009 and 2010 for Bashir, who has ruled Sudan since a 1989 Islamist- and army-backed coup. State parties of the ICC are obliged to act on arrest warrants.

Bashir is the only sitting head of state wanted for allegedly masterminding genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The UN estimates that 300,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, along with the US and the EU, has called for the leader to be detained.