A press release from the International Criminal Court:
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has presented evidence today showing that Sudanese President, Omar Hassan Ahmad AL BASHIR committed the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.
Three years after the Security Council requested him to investigate in Darfur, and based on the evidence collected,
the Prosecutor has concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe that
Omar Hassan Ahmad AL BASHIR bears criminal responsibility in relation to 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The Prosecution evidence shows that Al Bashir masterminded and implemented a plan to destroy in substantial part the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups, on account of their ethnicity. Members of the three groups, historically influential in Darfur, were challenging the marginalization of the province; they engaged in a rebellion. AL BASHIR failed to defeat the armed movements, so he went after the people. “His motives were largely political. His alibi was a ‘counterinsurgency.’ His intent was genocide. ” The Prosecutor said.
For over 5 years, armed forces and the Militia/Janjaweed, on AL BASHIR orders, have attacked and destroyed villages. They then pursued the survivors in the desert. Those who reached the camps for the displaced people were subjected to conditions calculated to bring about their destruction. AL BASHIR obstructs international assistance. His forces surround the camps. One victim said: “When we see them, we run. Some of us succeed in getting away, and some are caught and taken to be raped -- gang-raped. Maybe around 20 men rape one woman. […] These things are normal for us here in Darfur. These things happen all the time. I have seen rapes too. It does not matter who sees them raping the women -- they don't care. They rape girls in front of their mothers and fathers”.
For over 5 years, millions of civilians have been uprooted from lands they occupied for centuries, all their means of survival destroyed, their land spoliated and inhabited by new settlers. ‘In the camps AL BASHIR’s forces kill the men and rape the women. He wants to end the history of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa people’ said the Prosecutor. ‘I don’t have the luxury to look away. I have evidence’.
And here's Julie Flint in Sunday's Observer, arguing that this is all a terrible mistake:
Some commentators use the word 'evil' to describe Bashir. This is a simplification. Bashir is a pragmatist who responds to incentives. He negotiated an end to the 20-year civil war with marginalised southerners when convinced of the benefits of peace. But he is also a proud and stubborn man, who responds to affronts to his dignity with rage. When humiliated, he lashes out. Today those closest to him recognise the signs of suppressed fury. 'We cannot say how he will react,' they warn ominously.
She doesn't deny the substance of the charges against Bashir: it's just that he's a pragmatist, a "proud and stubborn man". As indeed was Stalin; as was Hitler, as was Mao, and all the rest of them: all proud and stubborn men. And it would indeed be a simplification to use the word 'evil' to describe any of them. They were all, in Julie Flint's terms, pragmatists; men who, despite their long-term goals, would respond to incentives, and would, just like Bashir, react to affronts to their dignity with rage. But it would be a travesty of any notion of international justice if such men were not to be held accountable for their undoubted crimes.
The trouble is that by charging them and making them 'accountable' you massively decrease the likelihood of them giving up power. The result being the perpetuation of misery. Sometimes I think we should spend 0.25% of the aid budget on hit men and give them a Little List.
Posted by: Recusant | July 15, 2008 at 02:27 PM
Nah. Not evil, we just cannot say how he will react. Meaning how many people will have to die now.
Posted by: SnoopyTheGoon | July 17, 2008 at 07:03 PM