From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Fri Jul 11 2008 - 09:10:46 EDT
From Times Online
July 11, 2008
Backlash fears as Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, faces genocide
indictment
The government of Omar al-Bashir is accused of giving backing to the
Janjaweed militia, which has been responsible for brutal attacks in Darfur
James Bone, New York
The UN is braced for a fierce backlash from the imminent indictment of the
Sudanese president for genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Omar al-Bashir will become the first sitting head of state and the first
Arab leader to be charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which
celebrates the 10th anniversary of its founding charter on Thursday.
Diplomats say Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the international prosecutor, will seek an
arrest warrant for Mr al-Bashir from ICC judges in the Hague on Monday.
Thousands of UN peacekeepers in Sudan have regrouped and received extra
provisions in recent days in anticipation of a hostile Sudanese response to
the prosecutor's move.
Peacekeeping commanders and other key personnel have been told to cut short
leave to return to their posts, and urgent talks on the future of the UN
forces in Darfur and southern Sudan have been held in New York.
The five veto powers at the UN, including Britain, met privately on Thursday
with Jean-Marie Guehenno, the head of UN peacekeeping, to discuss "force
protection" in the wake of an attack on UN troops in northern Darfur on
Tuesday, leaving seven dead and 22 wounded.
Sudan has repeatedly threatened retaliation for charges being levelled
against its leader after the slaughter in Darfur was referred to the ICC by
the UN Security Council in March 2005.
UN officials fear the indictment, which must be approved by ICC judges,
could precipitate the collapse of the fragile UN force in Darfur, where some
300,000 people have died since government-backed Janjaweed Arab militias
began driving villagers from their homes in 2003.
A joint UN-African Union force is struggling to stabilise Darfur despite
having only 9,500 of its full strength of 26,000 peacekeepers.
The UN is dependent on Sudan's halting cooperation to reinforce the
peacekeeping mission with troops from Egypt, Ethiopia, and Nigeria as well
as non-African contingents from Thailand, Nepal, Bangladesh, a Dutch field
hospital and Chinese engineers.
The UN also maintains another 10,000 peacekeepers in southern Sudan to
police the peace settlement that ended the long-running civil war.
Abdalmahmood Mohamad, Sudan's ambassador to the UN, said the repercussions
of charging Mr al-Bashir could be "disastrous."
"It's playing with fire. We want to caution and alert the international
community to the possible consequences," he said. "All options are open for
us. All reactions are open."
The attack on a convoy of some 60 UN peacekeepers by a group of 200 armed
men in Darfur on Tuesday is seen as a possible prelude to a wider offensive
against UN peacekeepers.
UN officials describe the attack as an ambush by Sudanese government
"proxies" in which more advanced weaponry, such as recoil-less rifles
mounted on the back of "technical vehicles", was used in Darfur for the
first time.
The international prosecutor has already charged 11 war crimes suspects from
Africa - including two Sudanese accused of organising the mass killings,
torture, rape and forcible displacement in Darfur.
One is Ahmad Harun, who allegedly coordinated the Sudanese army and
Janjaweed militia while servicing as minister of state for the interior and
head of the "Darfur security desk" in 2003 and 2004.
UN officials are still forced to deal with Mr Harun because he is now
Sudan's secretary of state for humanitarian affairs and the government's
liason with the UN force in Darfur. The other indictee is Janjaweed militia
leader Ali Kushayb.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo, an Argentine, told the UN last month that the "entire
state apparatus" had been mobilised for the campaign of rape and pillage in
Darfur. He stressed that the government had failed to turn over Mr Harun.
"The Sudanese government tolerates the firefighters and promotes the
arsonists at the same time. The international community cannot ignore the
arsonists. If they remain, there will never be enough firefights," he said.
Although he is meant to avoid politics, Mr Moreno-Ocampo has consulted with
key powers at the UN about the charges against Mr al-Bashir. He has
informally notified the UN secretary-general of his plans.
Britain, publicly supportive of the ICC, is said to have warned the
prosecutor privately of the wide-ranging consequences of indicting the
Sudanese president. Mr Mohamad, Sudan's UN ambassador, called for the
15-nation Security Council to exercise its power to suspend the indictment
for a year in the interests of peace.
However, human rights organisations said the indictment of Mr al-Bashir
should go ahead, despite the risks.
Dr James Smith Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust, the anti-genocide
campaign group, said: "Inevitably some panic-prone diplomats fearing attacks
on UN peacekeepers and aid workers will call on the UN Security Council to
halt the ICC proceedings. In doing so they will squander the only point of
leverage the international community has on a regime that governs by
genocide.
"At times, justice needs to give way for peace, but only if there is a
prospect of peace or significant benefit for the victims. Neither is on the
table in Darfur.
"Instead of caving in to threat from the Government of Sudan, the UNSC
should consider only two options in response to the prosecutor on Monday:
throw its support behind the ICC to make it clear genocide is unacceptable
behaviour, or instruct diplomats to use the ICC ruling as a bargaining chip
to strike a deal for peace and security in the region. If the UNSC come out
of next week with nothing for the beleagured people of Sudan it will be
unforgivable."
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