July 14, 2008

The Case for Genocide

Posted by Sarah Burris at 9:51AM

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On Monday, July 14 Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court that could lead to international sanctions against Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

CNN reports:

"would make al-Bashir the first sitting president to be indicted by the ICC for genocide...

A senior official in Sudan's security apparatus Sunday called the possible prosecution a "catastrophe," a "big mistake."

"Definitely, the rebels will try to capitalize on this," the official said. "No one will talk about the peace process anymore.

"What do you expect the rebels to say if the president is indicted? [They] will say, 'Let us see what happens before we enter into any serious negotiations,'" the official added. "So it produces a stalemate."

The United Nations has called Darfur "the scene of the world's largest humanitarian operation for the past three years... 4 million people in the Darfur region rely on humanitarian assistance."

The Save Darfur Coalition has been one of the most outspoken American-based groups to partner with university campuses and social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to speak out against the genocide. The organization is one of the many that has worked to help those victimized in the region.

Save Darfur has also been a leader in the push to get companies to divest from the war-torn region. This has been particularly important to college students who have urged their school administrations to divest from Susan.

Jerry Fowler, Safe Darfur's Executive Director, welcomed the news of potential ICC sanctions. He also suggested that the news highlights the failure of previous inaction by the United States Security Council, saying:

"The world at-large, primarily the Security Council, has allowed al-Bashir to continue his reign of destruction, recalcitrance and violence with utter impunity. These pending charges must now sober al-Bashir’s international apologists who continue to shield and protect the Khartoum regime from meaningful measures with meaningful consequences."

Today's news comes just one week after seven peacekeepers were killed in Sudan. According to the International Herald Tribune:

"The attack... was reported by the UN officials Wednesday, was the deadliest on international forces in Darfur since September 2007, when 10 peacekeepers were killed in an assault on a base..."

Many activists on the Save Darfur Facebook Fan Page mark this as a huge step forward.

To hear prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo discuss the charges, listen to his interview with BBC World News.