Sudan Not Afraid of the ICC
When it comes to Darfur, the International Criminal Court is following in the ridiculously ineffective footsteps of the United Nations.
On top of that, the UN is also notorious for not having the will to confront what needs confronting. The so-called “international community’s” and UN’s reactions to al-Bashir’s possible coming damaging reactionary maneuvers are all too predicable and they’ll be anything but tough or sufficient.
The United States is currently in a position to push the peace process harder, but it isn’t doing so anymore. Why? The little-publicized reason is the anti-terrorism cooperation between Khartoum’s Intelligence (Mukhabarat) and the CIA. Sudan’s intelligence has spies planted in Somalia and Iraq collecting valuable information. Only a year ago the CIA convened a conference in Khartoum attended by more than 50 African intelligence agencies.
To a certain extent this is all understandable, but America needs to balance its national security interests with the importance of human rights.
The Bush administration helped us Sudanese end our 20-year civil war between north and south because it dedicated significant resources to doing so. It can do the same for Darfur with adequate attention and the right approach.
The Olympics, by the way, is not necessarily the venue for action regarding Darfur. Really, if Bush is to be condemned for attending the Beijing Olympics as some believe, don’t we all deserve condemnation for purchasing goods with cute, little labels on them saying “Made in China?”
Choosing to boycott the Olympics or deciding to pressure the sponsors might send a strong message and make us feel good about ourselves, but it would produce nothing substantial at this point — just like the ICC warrants. The pursuit of justice at the expense of peace and highly critical political stability is imprudent.
To clarify my position, I must emphasize that the ICC’s indictment of other lower-ranking individuals involved in Darfur’s mass killings is something that should be fully supported as it is both moral and pragmatic, but indicting the head of state himself is unwise and even reckless. Where is the pragmatism? Where is the concern for possible negative repercussions?
If the ICC effort could truly deliver positive results, it would be wonderful, but I strongly suspect the bad will outweigh the good.
The ICC will just make itself look more and more like what the UN already is — a fangless, paper tiger.
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Drima is a freedom-loving, Afro-Arab Sudanese Muslim. When he's not busy studying or pursuing other endeavors, he makes his own music and blogs at The Sudanese Thinker. He's currently writing a book about liberalism and new media.
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17 Comments
1. The ICC Vs Sudan : The Sudanese Thinker:[...] my PJM piece about the latest drama here. Of all the pieces I published there, this one has been edited quite heavily so some parts might [...]
Jul 14, 2008 - 3:45 am 2. digital:Putting aside the pain and suffering of the Darfuri people, this whole situation was avoidable, they should of offered Haroun and his buddies up a long time ago to appease the do-gooders (just being pragmatic).
Jul 14, 2008 - 4:37 am 3. [Análise/opinião] 14 Julho « A Vila de Potemkin:[...] Sudan Not Afraid of the ICC Drima, Pajamas Media [...]
Jul 14, 2008 - 7:26 am 4. tanstaafl:Reportedly, al-Bashir did use the army (and the janjaweed) to put down the opposition and instructed them to not bring back any prisoners. In other words, to basically eradicate whole populations.
Also (reportedly) the viciousness of the janjaweed even spun out of al-Bashir’s control.
In reading of the possible ICC indictment, I was glad that attention was being drawn to Omar al-Bashir’s personal role in the longstanding travesty of Darfur.
I also thought that getting this head of state before the ICC would be next to impossible (if not completely impossible).
Also reportedly, al-Bashir has been working with the US on “intelligence” which might well be a move by al-Bashir to deflect criticism for his “other” activities. Which sounds like a bribe, or a deal that the US shouldn’t have made.
Jul 14, 2008 - 8:28 am 5. Tatter:The only nations that have any reason to fear the ICC are the democratic ones. Thus, the ICC is destined to become one of the tools that will be used to bring the golden age of democracy, enlightenment, and liberty to a bloody end.
Jul 14, 2008 - 12:33 pm 6. Drima:digital,
good suggestion, and I think that would have indeed worked.
tanstaafl,
sweet, you’ve got your facts and analysis right.
“sounds like a bribe, or a deal that the US shouldn’t have made.”
Yes sort of, and I find it disappointing. From the start of the presidential race, I was for McCain and nobody but McCain because he’s the moderate and also because the Republicans have done a lot more for Sudan than stupid Bill Clinton who only screwed things up further.
Problem now is American pressure on Sudan started decreasing because the Sudanese anti-terrorism intel became valuable. Hence, I’ve found myself shifting towards Obama now.
Allow me to repeat myself again… “America needs to balance its national security interests with the importance of human rights.”
Jul 14, 2008 - 12:45 pm 7. TMLutas:Sorry do gooders, you’ve gotten what you’ve asked for, a US that is not inclined to play Don Quixote for a significant amount of time. You won’t accept responsibility for this state of affairs. Instead it’s Bush’s fault, of course. That this administration’s multi-year worldwide vilification has eroded exactly the sort of political support the US needed to assemble a Darfur coalition is not to be spoken of in polite company.
How do these ‘do gooders’ sleep at night?
Jul 14, 2008 - 12:58 pm 8. Dick Eagleson:I believe there is a not so old saying to the effect that one’s mouth should refrain from writing checks one’s ass cannot cash.
Jul 14, 2008 - 5:55 pm 9. toohugeworld:Drima,
I think you’ve hit this nail on the head. While the sentiments are laudable and the information contained in the indictment is, no doubt, interesting, it will not help move Sudan towards peace. It will push this government to stonewalling and non-cooperation, precisely what we need less, not more of, these days.
Jul 14, 2008 - 10:07 pm 10. Drima:“one’s mouth should refrain from writing checks one’s ass cannot cash”
LOL Dick, that’s hilarious!
toohugeworld,
Precisely my friend!
Jul 14, 2008 - 11:09 pm 11. Azores:A naive question: why do not arm and train the people of Darfour? A small army would make wonders.
Jul 15, 2008 - 4:59 pm 12. ListeningandLearning:Azores,
We’d have to be able to get to them to do so. Darfur is blocked off from what I understand. Last I knew Chad’s IDP camps are accessible, but there is still no way to go into Darfur without conflict.
The consequences could also be very bad, and give the Khartoum government more ‘justification’ for ‘counter-insurgency’.
The ICC and UN need to go in and get him. Period. Without him, the conflicts will crumble (though the Sudan has been an area in great conflict for sometime)
Jul 16, 2008 - 11:59 am 13. I challenge you:watch this video and demand answers.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6802228062297352475
Jul 17, 2008 - 12:40 pm 14. olad:It,s not good to hate any fellow human beings unless that kind of ethenic is evil or like to ruin the world but still some people are very harmfull and like to eridicate the others for no reoson or less measuremant then to be reached to let them go or show “0″ tolerence yet we see , feel and know how the law is not equels to all mankind for instance , ICC called some power full men earlier years _those they call world leaders _but never showed up in the court or rejected to come or don,t even recognise their excistence of ligitimcy at all.
Jul 17, 2008 - 4:46 pm 15. ella:how come then one can obey such law that never rulled over Bush and Ramesfield and Gonzelos sorry if i miss pronounced the last name !? we need real change and one who can bring back the dignity and reliabilty of whats when is upon a time known as world,s most precious country .
I understand that perhaps ICC may not be able to *do* anything to Bashir but at least ICC acknowledges genocide in Darfur – OIC does not want to. Furthermore the major objection is the probable inability of ICC to arrest Bashir but situation may change.
Drina, remeber the story about Hodja Nasruddin and his claim that within a year he will teach a horse to talk? He explained that “within a year the king may die, or I may die, or the hose may die. Furthermore, who knows? Maybe the horse will learn to talk” Don’t you think that if there would be an arrest warrant for Bashir he will not be able to go out of the country, many a states will not be able to invite him for visit as they do right now and they will not be able to officially deny the reality of his genocidal policies?
BTW have you read ICC application for warrant?
“………Militia/Janjaweed, singled out for attack those villages and small towns inhabited mainly by members of the target groups. The attackers went out of their way to spare from attack villages inhabited predominantly by other tribes considered aligned with the Government, even where they were located very near villages inhabited predominantly by members of the targeted groups The Prosecution has charted all the known attacks that have taken place from 2003‐2008 on an interactive map of Darfur, showing towns, villages and the tribal composition of the inhabitants (available on the ICC OTP website). The results show that the overwhelming majority of villages attacked were inhabited mainly by the target groups. They were clearly selected for attack………….
The targets are not rebel forces, but the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa communities. Attacks are typically launched against civilian targets, and do not cease until the town or village, in its entirety, has been victimized and its population forcibly displaced, regardless of the lack of rebel presence or the lack of any valid military objective. Witnesses have also described instances in which rebels were known to be located outside of towns or villages, but attackers from the Armed Forces and Militia/Janjaweed bypassed those locations to attack the towns or villages instead…..”
http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/organs/otp/ICC-OTP-Summary-20081704-ENG.pdf
Jul 18, 2008 - 8:16 am 16. Global Voices Online » Sudanese reactions to the ICC charges against President al-Bashir:[...] Thinker published his analysis and shared two photos he found in a very active Sudanese Facebook group discussing the ICC's [...]
Jul 19, 2008 - 12:38 am 17. ella:follow up to above from alarabiya:
“Arab League criticizes ICC for Bashir warrant
What the prosecutor of the court has done is a dangerous precedent,” Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci told his Arab counterparts.
“We have (to take) … a strong stance in solidarity with our brothers in Sudan and move effectively with regional and international organizations and the … states in the Security Council to immediately reconsider this demand by the prosecutor,” he said, according to extracts of his speech.”
Yep, arabic solidarity is very important, even a solidarity with genocidal rulers. .
Jul 20, 2008 - 9:35 am