Bashir: Wanted by The Hague
March 6th, 2009 at 8:09 pm - by Blake Allen
On Wednesday, March 4th 2009, judges from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands issued an arrest warrent for the President of Sudan: Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir. This is the first time the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for a head-of-state while they were still in power.
Bashir, 65, is accused of five Crimes Against Humanity Counts: ‘Murder’, ‘Extermination’, ‘Forcible Transfer’, ‘Torture’, and ‘Rape’. Bashir also faces two counts of War Crimes: ‘Intentionaly Directing Attacks Against Civilians’ and ‘Pillaging’, however the tribunal at The Hague rejected allegations of genocide stating “insufficient evidence”.
The United Nations estimates are that 300,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million displaced in the Darfur-region of Sudan since this conflict began: the ICC claims that these alleged crimes were committed during a five-year period of civil conflict, in which the Sudanese government squared off against the Sudanese Liberation Movement Army (SLM-A), The Justice and Equality Movement, and various other armed insurgencies throughout the Darfur. These crimes continued until July 14th, 2008, when the ICC applied for this arrest warrant.
While the government of Sudan admits to organizing “self-defense militias” following a series of rebel attacks in 2003 it has denied all allegations of its involvement with the notorious ‘Jangaweed’ who have made international headlines for the atrocities which they’ve been accused of. However, in March 2005 a top member of the Jangaweed Human Rights Watch stated that the Sudanese government directed and supported attacks on ethnic Africans in Darfur
Upon issue of the warrant Sudan expelled ten foreign agencies in the Darfur including Care, Save the Children UK, and Oxfam. These agencies supply food and water to some 1.5 million people and each claim that these lives will be put at risk. Contrastingly, the government of Sudan claims that these aid groups have political agendas and are using their humanitarian activities as a cover.
In a rally to support President Bashir in downtown Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, 10,000 people packed the streets as Bashir made a public address claiming “the true criminals are the leaders of the United States and Europe” as he accused America of genocide against the First Nations and Vietnamese.
“We are telling the colonialists we are not succumbing; we are not submitting; we will not kneel; and we are targeted because we refuse to submit” Bashir also said as he rallied his supporters. The scene in Khartoum was described by many as a party in the streets as pro-government supporters denounced the west. Bashir then said the ICC, International Monetary Fund and the UN Security Council were trying to “colonize their people anew and steal their resources”.
Both the African Union (AU), and China, who is the largest consumer of Sudanese oil have urged the court to postpone the case. The AU claims postponing the case would “give a chance for peace in Sudan” while Chinese officials warn that the ICC was risking the destabilization of Darfur.
Officials in the Sudanese foreign ministry have said that despite the arrest warrant, Bashir still plans on attending the Arab summit in Qatar at the end of this month.
