Posted on July 15, 2008 - by Frank

The ICC Seeks the Arrest of the Sudanese President

Three years ago, the UN Security Council requested that International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, investigate the situation in Darfur. He has undertaken that request thoroughly and based on his research he has just brought the evidence for genocide and crimes against humanity to the judges of Pre-Trial Chamber 1.

The case clearly points to Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir being the mastermind behind the genocide. The statements are strong:

For over 5 years, armed forces and the Militia/Janjaweed, on AL BASHIR orders, have attacked and destroyed villages. They then pursued the survivors in the desert. Those who reached the camps for the displaced people were subjected to conditions calculated to bring about their destruction. AL BASHIR obstructs international assistance. His forces surround the camps. One victim said: “When we see them, we run. Some of us succeed in getting away, and some are caught and taken to be raped — gang-raped. Maybe around 20 men rape one woman. […] These things are normal for us here in Darfur. These things happen all the time. I have seen rapes too. It does not matter who sees them raping the women — they don’t care. They rape girls in front of their mothers and fathers”.

For over 5 years, millions of civilians have been uprooted from lands they occupied for centuries, all their means of survival destroyed, their land spoliated and inhabited by new settlers. ‘In the camps AL BASHIR’s forces kill the men and rape the women. He wants to end the history of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa people’ said the Prosecutor. ‘I don’t have the luxury to look away. I have evidence’. - Click here for the complete summary.

Based on the evidence, the prosecution has requested an arrest warrant for Bashir and the statements for and against this move are flowing thick and fast.

Arab nations are being swift in their response, saying that this will inhibit the peace process and lead to more violence. We are yet to get any official word of Russia and China’s response, the two nations with the greatest oil interests in the region.

The shame of the whole thing is that the United Nations actions in the area, and the work undertaken by the African Union to protect the people of Darfur is in the hands of the very man who is accused of masterminding this genocide. Bashir dictates what international agencies can and cannot do to protect the people he is systematically trying to destroy.

The other great shame is that nations like China and Russia seem to put their oil interests above the interests of the lives of innocent civilians.

To China and Russia, innocent girls are being gang raped in front of their parents and Bashir knows it. You know that he knows it and you know that he has helped organise it. The evidence is being presented. As long as you continue to aid this despotic Sudanese regime, the blood and terror of the innocents is on your hands as well. Release your shame and aid the organisations seeking justice and the protection of these innocent people or you too will be known as the devils on horseback.

Associated Press article: