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Darfur (pg. 4)
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| Magnetonium |
So, ICC and the international community finally got brave enough to issue a warrant for arrest of Sudan's president, Mr. Bashir. I didnt think this was going to happen. But judging by how Sudanese government has handled the concerns surrounding the massacre of many thousands of people in Darfur and South Sudan, this warrant should have been issued long ago.
Sudan continues to shield criminals from being prosecuted for killing and raping civilians in an ongoing genocidal campaign. But the problems dont end there, other that genocide there are still so many people out there who have been abducted from South Sudan and Darfur and work as slaves in central and northern parts of the country under Khartoum's control.
And China is the biggest culprit for arming, supporting and oiling up the Khartoum regime!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7923102.stm
| quote: |
Warrant issued for Sudan's leader
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on 3 March 2009
Omar al-Bashir says the charges reflect Western hostility towards Sudan
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's president on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
But the ICC in The Hague stopped short of accusing Omar al-Bashir of genocide. He denies the charges and has dismissed any ruling by the court as worthless.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital, Khartoum, after the announcement, amid fears of unrest.
The UN estimates 300,000 people have died in Darfur's six-year conflict.
Millions more have been displaced.
Court spokeswoman Laurence Blairon announced the ruling by a panel of judges on the charges presented by ICC prosecutors.
She said Mr Bashir was suspected of being criminally responsible for "intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians and pillaging their property".
This decision is exactly what we have been expecting from the court, which was created to target Sudan
Mustafa Othman Ismail
Aide to Omar al-Bashir
Profile: Sudan's Omar al-Bashir
Should Omar al-Bashir be arrested?
Q&A: International Criminal Court
World reaction: Bashir warrant
Ms Blairon said the violence in Darfur was the result of a common plan organised at the highest level of the Sudanese government, but there was no evidence of genocide.
The court would transmit a request for Mr Bashir's arrest and surrender as soon as possible to the Sudanese government, she added.
It is the first warrant issued by The Hague-based UN court against a sitting head of state.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo made the request for the warrant in July 2008.
'Toothless'
Reacting to the charges, an aide to Mr Bashir said the ICC judges were biased.
"This decision is exactly what we have been expecting from the court, which was created to target Sudan and to be part of the new mechanism of neo-colonialism," Mustafa Othman Ismail told Sudanese TV.
ICC's BASHIR CHARGE SHEET
War crimes:
Intentionally directing attacks against civilians
Pillaging
Crimes against humanity:
Murder
Extermination
Forcible transfer
Torture
Rape
Speaking on Tuesday ahead of the announcement, Mr Bashir said the Hague tribunal could "eat" the arrest warrant.
He said it would "not be worth the ink it is written on" and then danced for thousands of cheering supporters who burned an effigy of the ICC chief prosecutor.
Sudan expert Alex de Waal told the BBC the indictment is "pretty toothless" as the ICC does not have a police force.
In Khartoum thousands of government supporters gathered, chanting "We love you President Bashir".
Security was increased at many embassies, and some Westerners stayed home amid fears of retaliation.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Sudan to "co-operate fully" with all United Nations entities.
He said the UN would "continue to conduct its vital peacekeeping, humanitarian, human rights and development operations and activities in Sudan".
African and Arab countries have warned that the court's action will only increase tension in Sudan.
Egypt said it was "greatly disturbed" by the ICC's decision and called for a meeting of the UN Security Council to defer implementation of the warrant.
Sudan's foreign ministry said President Bashir would ignore it and attend an Arab summit scheduled later this month in Qatar.
Aid workers withdrawn
Russia called the warrant a "dangerous precedent".
Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel group hailed the decision as a "victory for international law" and called on Mr Bashir to turn himself in.
Darfur refugee child's drawing
In pictures: Art of war
The US administration also welcomed it, as did international human-rights groups.
"With this arrest warrant, the International Criminal Court has made Omar al-Bashir a wanted man," said Richard Dicker of the New York-based group Human Rights Watch.
Amnesty International called on any country visited by President Bashir to detain him.
Sudan expelled at least six foreign aid agencies hours after the arrest warrant was issued, aid officials said. No reasons were given for the move.
Before the announcement, the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said it had withdrawn foreign staff from Darfur.
The war crimes court has already issued two arrest warrants - in 2007 - for Sudanese Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Haroun and the Janjaweed militia leader Ali Abdul Rahman.
Sudan has refused to hand them over. |
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| Krypton |
| That's nice. For some odd reason, they only indict war criminals from third world countries. We'v got one chill'n in Crawford, Texas as we speak... |
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| Magnetonium |
I am extremely irritated and pissed off by this decadent Sudanese government. Like, seriously, claims like these are just piss pathetic:
| quote: |
hartoum reacted with anger at the 4 March ICC warrant for President Bashir, describing it as a "neo-colonialist" move to destabilise the country.
Following the indictment, he expelled 13 aid agencies accusing them of taking "99% of the budget for humanitarian work themselves, and giving the people of Darfur 1%" - charges the groups deny. |
WTF do aid agencies have to do with ICC warrant issue? The Hague has no relation to the volunteers. These people donate their time and life to help suffering people of Darfur, yet Bashir the idiot makes the most absurd claims and statements. He clearly doesnt want the people of Darfur to get help, he wants humanitarian agencies to be underfoot of Khartoum. These Islamic regimes are pissing me off ...
FULL ARTICLE:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7939223.stm
| quote: |
Sudan kidnappers 'demand ransom'
Medecins Sans Frontieres refugees camp in Darfur
More than two million refugees are receiving aid in Darfur
The kidnappers of three foreign aid workers in Sudan's Darfur region have demanded a ransom, say officials.
The Medecins Sans Frontieres staff were abducted on Wednesday along with two local staff who were later released.
The kidnappings come after Sudan ordered the expulsion of 13 aid groups, including the French and Dutch chapters of MSF, earlier this month.
They were told to leave after President Omar al-Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
The abducted staff were working for MSF's Belgian branch.
Local media quoted North Darfur governor Osman Kebir as saying he had spoken to the kidnappers and the aid workers by telephone.
"Negotiations with the abductors are progressing well and could result in the release of the victims soon," the Sudanese Media Centre quoted Mr Kebir as saying.
"The kidnappers demanded a financial ransom and have promised that they are not interested in violence," he said.
Sudan's government has condemned the kidnapping as "unacceptable" and an "act of lawlessness".
MSF says it is now withdrawing all its sections' medical teams from Darfur, leaving only a skeleton team to follow the case of those abducted.
"MSF is extremely worried both for our abducted colleagues and for the populations that MSF teams had been providing medical aid to," according to a statement from the medical charity.
Notorious area
The aid workers were taken at gunpoint from the MSF Belgium office at Saraf Umra, some 230km (143 miles) west of the North Darfur capital el-Fasher, on Wednesday evening.
MSF said the abductees included a Canadian nurse, an Italian doctor and a French co-ordinator.
Map
Two Sudanese staff were also taken but have since been freed.
MSF said it had no further information and would not make any more comments in order to safeguard the security of its staff.
The area where the aid workers operated is notorious for banditry, the BBC's East Africa correspondent Karen Allen says.
But the timing of the kidnapping will inevitably prompt questions about whether it was a political act, she adds.
Khartoum reacted with anger at the 4 March ICC warrant for President Bashir, describing it as a "neo-colonialist" move to destabilise the country.
Following the indictment, he expelled 13 aid agencies accusing them of taking "99% of the budget for humanitarian work themselves, and giving the people of Darfur 1%" - charges the groups deny.
Mr Bashir also threatened to kick out more foreign workers if they did not obey Sudan's laws.
The United Nations has said expelling the humanitarian groups puts more than one million lives at risk.
African and Arab countries, along with China and Russia, have been pressing for the ICC warrant to be delayed, fearing it will damage peace efforts in Darfur.
But the US, UK and France have said there is no reason to halt proceedings.
The UN estimates that 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million been displaced, since black African rebels took up arms in 2003 against the Arab-dominated regime demanding a greater share of resources and power.
Mr Bashir has always denied that his government helped mobilise the Janjaweed militias accused of the worst atrocities against civilians in Darfur. |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| Darfur is an absolute political quagmire right now, and I'm nervous for what happens if the expected 2009 election in the South actually happens because that would inevitably mean renewed calls for wealth-sharing and possible secession in the South, which would lead to a whole host of new problems all over the country. I'll try to scrape something more substantial together to comment on tomorrow. |
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| Magnetonium |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
Darfur is an absolute political quagmire right now, and I'm nervous for what happens if the expected 2009 election in the South actually happens because that would inevitably mean renewed calls for wealth-sharing and possible secession in the South, which would lead to a whole host of new problems all over the country. I'll try to scrape something more substantial together to comment on tomorrow. |
Cant wait for the 2011 referendum vote in Southern Sudan to decide whether to secede from the rest of the country!
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| VictorJukov |
| Darfur is the disgusting result of the shameful American imperialist involvement in Africa. |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by VictorJukov
Darfur is the disgusting result of the shameful American imperialist involvement in Africa. |
I'd like you to explain, if you could please. Thanks. |
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| VictorJukov |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
I'd like you to explain, if you could please. Thanks. |
Do you know that 'Darfur Crisis' was much supported by the USA? CIA agents were also performing the murders.
So you cannot downgrade the status of the Sudan government this simple.
And you cannot present your western vision of the events as the only available and true, because Sudanese also have own version.
Yankins have always claimed to be civilised, it would be wiser to solve the problem not referring to brutal force. |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by VictorJukov
Do you know that 'Darfur Crisis' was much supported by the USA? CIA agents were also performing the murders.
So you cannot downgrade the status of the Sudan government this simple.
And you cannot present your western vision of the events as the only available and true, because Sudanese also have own version.
Yankins have always claimed to be civilised, it would be wiser to solve the problem not referring to brutal force. |
I haven't heard this before - where did you find evidence for this? |
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| VictorJukov |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
I haven't heard this before - where did you find evidence for this? |
Well, seems your only source is CNN and BBS, whereas I'm a postgraduate student in Political science.
I bet those journalists that tell me this is not some Yanka backed terrorists protesting that goverment procecutes them for planing attacks on Minsk unlike you. |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by VictorJukov
Well, seems your only source is CNN and BBS, whereas I'm a postgraduate student in Political science. |
Actually, no. First of all, the study of Political Science has absolutely no relevance to the situation in Darfur. Political Science examines practices of institutions and individuals in the political sphere. I am, however, a postgraduate student in International Affairs with a concentration on intrastate conflict in Africa. So I've never referred to CNN or "BBS" in relation to the conflict in Darfur - instead, I've read (and wrote) academic pieces and policy appraisals.
I asked you a simple question, and expected you to be able to back it up with information. As you put forward a pretty provocative (and odd) theory on the origin of the conflict, it isn't surprising that you might be expected to back it up with something more than a comment. Now, normally, since this is the area I study and I know you're full of , I wouldn't take the high road. But since you're new to the forum I thought I'd allow you a chance to flush out your belief before calling it for what it is: absolutely unintelligent. I was content to continue being polite until you decided to post your snark above. So I'm sorry to say, but your views on Darfur obviously carry absolutely no insight into the conflict at all and are simply the manifestation of your own anti-American biases - I imagine you'd blame America for about anything, right? Well, get over it. The Cold War's over.
| quote: | | I bet those journalists that tell me this is not some Yanka backed terrorists protesting that goverment procecutes them for planing attacks on Minsk unlike you. |
I don't even know what the this means (though I'm sure you think it's some sort of insult), so I won't respond. |
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| VictorJukov |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
I don't even know what the this means (though I'm sure you think it's some sort of insult), so I won't respond. |
Typical Yanka, just insult people without having own argument. If you knew who your parents were then they would be ashame of you. |
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