Sudan
ICC indicts Sudan President Bashir for Darfur genocide
In a potentially earth-shaking move, the International Criminal Court has charged Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with war crimes related to the Darfur genocide. LINK
Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Monday urged a three-judge panel to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to prevent the deaths of about 2.5 million people forced from their homes in the war-torn region of Darfur and who are still under attack from government-backed Janjaweed militia.
The five charges against al-Bashir include masterminding attempts to wipe out African tribes in the war-torn region with a campaign of murder, rape and deportation.
I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, yes, Bashir is a war criminal. He IS responsible for hundreds of thousands, likely millions, of deaths in Darfur. He's a totalitarian leader with no consideration for his people and he's impossible to negotiate with. On the other hand, it's not like he's actually going to be arrested. There's no way for the ICC to enforce this warrant, so all it really does is make the Sudanese government that much more pissed off at the West, making it that much less likely any lasting peace deal can get done.
My friend May, who's been over there as an aid worker and knows more about the region than anybody I know, called this "the worst setback to the peace process that has happened in Sudan in recent years."
I wonder what'll happen.
Darfur roundup
The New York Times reported yesterday that the Sudanese government is revisiting the tactics they used in the early stages of the conflict.
Such brutal, three-pronged attacks of this scale — involving close coordination of air power, army troops and Arab militias in areas where rebel troops have been — have rarely been seen in the past few years, when the violence became more episodic and fractured. But they resemble the kinds of campaigns that first captured the world’s attention and prompted the Bush administration to call the violence in Darfur genocide.
Aid workers, diplomats and analysts say the return of such attacks is an ominous sign that the fighting in Darfur, which has grown more complex and confusing as it has stretched on for five years, is entering a new and deadly phase — one in which the government is planning a scorched-earth campaign against the rebel groups fighting here as efforts to find a negotiated peace founder.
More below...
Helicopters for Darfur
This is a followup to an action item I posted last week.
Senators Biden and Lugar have introduced a resolution urging world leaders to provide 24 helicopters that peacekeepers in Darfur need to succeed. But they need to secure support from their colleagues to make sure the resolution is voted on quickly.
Sudan: Take 2
Hello everyone.
My name is May Malik and I'm a recent graduate of UCSB. I'm currently doing humanitarian aid work and research in the Sudan. I moved here about 2 1/2 months ago. Jake Thorn thought it would be a good idea to cross-post some of my personal Notes from my Facebook account in order to give people an idea of the kind of work currently being done in the Sudan and in relation to Darfur (a Facebook blog of sorts). This is the second Note of the series. Thanks!
Tuesday Open Thread
- AlexUA at Future Majority posts about prezzy candidate Chris Dodd's community service program proposal.
- The DARE Generation. I like this blog.
- How U.S. cities will adapt to global warming.
- Afghanistan?
France begins airlift for Chadian, Sudanese refugees
French military planes on Sunday began airlifting tonnes of relief supplies and food aid to refugee camps in eastern Chad in one of the first overseas humanitarian initiatives ordered by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The operation followed a visit this month to the camps near the border with Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region by Sarkozy's foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, co-founder of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders).
{..I can't think of a better background for a foreign minister to have than MSF...}
Global Reaction to New U.S. Sanctions Against Sudan
In case you hadn't heard by now, the U.S. imposed heavier sanctions against Sudan today.
The Treasury Department said it had blocked the assets of three Sudanese, 30 Sudanese government owned or controlled companies, and a company that violated the arms embargo in Darfur.