At long last, it has happened that charges of genocide and crimes against humanity have been brought against the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court. Undoubtedly and quite unfortunately, these charges will wreak further havoc in the short run for the people of Darfur in the form of reprisal attacks orchestrated by Bashir’s government Ironically, a statement released by Bashir;s National Congress Party through Sudanese state television promising “more violence and bloodshed” in Darfur in the wake of these charges only offer further proof of his leadership role in the genocide. The deadly impact that these reprisals may well have cannot and must not be undermined: if anything, they are a potent reminder of why it is so important to push for peace in the region. Still, the ICC’s charges must be applauded because in the long run, they should mark the end of the international community’s feeble excuse-making for its impotence regarding Darfur and the whole of Sudan. The charges must ultimately be used to provide both the stick and the carrot to draw Bashir to peace talks which will finally halt the genocide.
Charging Omar al-Bashir with genocide represents the most hopeful scrap of news that Darfuris have had for a long time. Ironically enough, however, the United States - the first and only nation to publicly recognize the atrocities in Darfur as genocide - may well serve as a great impediment towards allowing the ICC charges to achieve their full potential as leverage with which to pressure for immediate and lasting peace in Darfur. The US’s generally cold attitude towards the ICC must not be allowed to impede potential progress towards peace. The United States has itself condemned Khartoum for the same crimes that the Court has brought to bear against Bashir: for the U.S. to fail to utilize the great opportunity that these charges represent would amount to a shamelessly continued complicity in the genocide. For if Mr. Bashir is guilty of these crimes - and we are aware of these gross violations of humanity - then how can we, who fail to do all in our power to stop it, help but think of ourselves as bearing the weight of complicity with genocide?
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sudan war crime charges expected
The Sudanese president is expected to be accused of genocide and crimes against humanity by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Luis Moreno-Ocampo is set to ask judges at The Hague to charge Omar al-Bashir, following investigations into alleged war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region.
Sudan's government has warned the move will undermine the peace process there.
This will be the first time the court's prosecutor has tried to make a case against a sitting head of state.
The three-judge panel is expected to take at least six weeks to decide whether to indict the president.
Sudan does not recognise the ICC and has refused to hand over two suspects who Mr Moreno-Ocampo charged last year, Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmad Harun and militia leader Ali Kushayb.
It has also labelled Mr Moreno-Ocampo a criminal, and warned that any indictment could stall peace talks and cause mayhem in Sudan.
The BBC's Laura Trevelyan at The Hague says that while some will welcome this move as a victory for justice, others fear it will undermine the peace process in Darfur and spark further violence.
The UN estimates that some 300,000 people have died as a result of the conflict in Darfur since 2003, while more than two million people have fled their homes.
Sudan's government is accused of mobilising Arab militias to attack black African civilians in Darfur, after rebels took up arms in 2003 - charges it denies.
'Disastrous'
Mr Moreno-Ocampo's office has said he will submit to the ICC on Monday "evidence on crimes committed in the whole of Darfur over the last five years" and seek to charge an individual or individuals.
The prosecutor said last month that Sudan's "entire state apparatus" was involved in an organised campaign to attack civilians in Darfur, and that he would present evidence implicating senior officials.
On Sunday, thousands of people rallied in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to show their support for Mr Bashir and to denounce the anticipated charges.
"With our souls, with our blood we die for Bashir," the demonstrators chanted outside an office where the president was chairing an emergency meeting.
Sudan's representative at the United Nations told the BBC that any charges against Mr Bashir would be disastrous for the security and stability of Sudan.
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms this move by this criminal Ocampo," said Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad.
The ruling National Congress party has meanwhile warned of "more violence and blood" in Darfur.
Mr Bashir said he had been angered by talk of his possible arrest, but added that it made him more determined to push for peace.
I'm very worried, but nobody can evade justice
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
"Our decisive response to them is that our issues are progressing and as before, our programmes are moving, and that this matter only increases our determination and seriousness to progress in the same direction," he told state radio.
"This talk has angered us and prompted us to move this way. We will move forward, God willing. We are committed to remove the country from a crisis."
But a leader of one of the factions of the Sudan Liberation Army rebel group told the BBC it would welcome any action by the ICC.
"The regime in Khartoum committed a big crime… We think the ICC is going the right way," Abdul Khalil said.
Peacekeeping fears
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the French newspaper, Le Figaro, that he was "very worried" about the possible impact of any indictment on peacekeeping operations and the political process, but added that "nobody can evade justice".
Earlier, a UN spokeswoman said it had raised the security alert level for its staff in Darfur.
The joint United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (Unamid), which has 9,000 troops, has been struggling to contain the violence.
It has raised the security alert for its staff to "level four", which stops short of evacuating all staff, but relocates foreign workers who are not directly involved in relief or security operations.
John O'Shea, director of Irish aid agency Goal, warned the Sudanese government and its supporters not to seek revenge against international aid agencies and peacekeepers for the ICC's moves.
"Should the Sudanese government take that type of action, they're in a way shooting themselves in the foot," he told the BBC.
"The NGO community and the UN agencies have done a very good job in the context of looking after hundreds of thousands of vulnerable and desperately poor people."
The ICC was set up in 2002 as the world's first permanent war crimes court.
Other international courts have previously indicted Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic and President Charles Taylor of Liberia while they were in office.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7504640.stm
Published: 2008/07/14 09:54:04 GMT
Luis Moreno-Ocampo is set to ask judges at The Hague to charge Omar al-Bashir, following investigations into alleged war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region.
Sudan's government has warned the move will undermine the peace process there.
This will be the first time the court's prosecutor has tried to make a case against a sitting head of state.
The three-judge panel is expected to take at least six weeks to decide whether to indict the president.
Sudan does not recognise the ICC and has refused to hand over two suspects who Mr Moreno-Ocampo charged last year, Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmad Harun and militia leader Ali Kushayb.
It has also labelled Mr Moreno-Ocampo a criminal, and warned that any indictment could stall peace talks and cause mayhem in Sudan.
The BBC's Laura Trevelyan at The Hague says that while some will welcome this move as a victory for justice, others fear it will undermine the peace process in Darfur and spark further violence.
The UN estimates that some 300,000 people have died as a result of the conflict in Darfur since 2003, while more than two million people have fled their homes.
Sudan's government is accused of mobilising Arab militias to attack black African civilians in Darfur, after rebels took up arms in 2003 - charges it denies.
'Disastrous'
Mr Moreno-Ocampo's office has said he will submit to the ICC on Monday "evidence on crimes committed in the whole of Darfur over the last five years" and seek to charge an individual or individuals.
The prosecutor said last month that Sudan's "entire state apparatus" was involved in an organised campaign to attack civilians in Darfur, and that he would present evidence implicating senior officials.
On Sunday, thousands of people rallied in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to show their support for Mr Bashir and to denounce the anticipated charges.
"With our souls, with our blood we die for Bashir," the demonstrators chanted outside an office where the president was chairing an emergency meeting.
Sudan's representative at the United Nations told the BBC that any charges against Mr Bashir would be disastrous for the security and stability of Sudan.
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms this move by this criminal Ocampo," said Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad.
The ruling National Congress party has meanwhile warned of "more violence and blood" in Darfur.
Mr Bashir said he had been angered by talk of his possible arrest, but added that it made him more determined to push for peace.
I'm very worried, but nobody can evade justice
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
"Our decisive response to them is that our issues are progressing and as before, our programmes are moving, and that this matter only increases our determination and seriousness to progress in the same direction," he told state radio.
"This talk has angered us and prompted us to move this way. We will move forward, God willing. We are committed to remove the country from a crisis."
But a leader of one of the factions of the Sudan Liberation Army rebel group told the BBC it would welcome any action by the ICC.
"The regime in Khartoum committed a big crime… We think the ICC is going the right way," Abdul Khalil said.
Peacekeeping fears
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the French newspaper, Le Figaro, that he was "very worried" about the possible impact of any indictment on peacekeeping operations and the political process, but added that "nobody can evade justice".
Earlier, a UN spokeswoman said it had raised the security alert level for its staff in Darfur.
The joint United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (Unamid), which has 9,000 troops, has been struggling to contain the violence.
It has raised the security alert for its staff to "level four", which stops short of evacuating all staff, but relocates foreign workers who are not directly involved in relief or security operations.
John O'Shea, director of Irish aid agency Goal, warned the Sudanese government and its supporters not to seek revenge against international aid agencies and peacekeepers for the ICC's moves.
"Should the Sudanese government take that type of action, they're in a way shooting themselves in the foot," he told the BBC.
"The NGO community and the UN agencies have done a very good job in the context of looking after hundreds of thousands of vulnerable and desperately poor people."
The ICC was set up in 2002 as the world's first permanent war crimes court.
Other international courts have previously indicted Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic and President Charles Taylor of Liberia while they were in office.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7504640.stm
Published: 2008/07/14 09:54:04 GMT
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