Majority of WES citizens think Sudan’s Bashir should comply with ICC
By Richard Ruati
March 4, 2009 (YAMBIO) – Many people in Western Equatoria believe and think that, president Al-Bashir should comply with the International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague, to answer for crimes he is alleged to have carried and masterminded in Darfur province.
Majority of the people PNU asked did not show love and sympathy with President El Bashir.
Views on the street of Western Equatoria State
“Absolutely he should be arrested for presiding over one of the gravest crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. It would also set a new precedent that would force incumbent heads of state to reconsider their actions. The ICC does however need to address the preponderance of African cases in its docket, let it not be deemed as biased against Africans. Nevertheless perpetrators of mass atrocities must be brought to book whatever the mechanisms.” Ezekiel K. Wenesa
“If this tyrannical leader like Al Bashir that called himself President for all Sudanese cannot think about his own people, then let him feel what the people are feeling.” – Alberto Gabriel, Yambio
“There is no life that is too indispensable then the other. Let the ICC make the vulture be held accountable for his wickedness against humanity.” – Marcelo Mboringba Cosmos, Tambura
“As a common sense no one feels the pain more than the victims, but the difference comes, when all people are equal, but some people are more equal than others. History repeats itself, for the last 50 years after the second world war, many people have suffered due to European aggression, no one was brought to justice, just take few examples, Vietnam, South Africa, Iraq, name just few of them, did you hear any one accounted for these heinous crimes no one even bother to talk as they did not happen.” – David Udo, – Nagero
“Let the ICC issue two arrest warrants, one against President Al-Bashir for his role in Darfur (if there is any) and two against former US President George Bush for his role in killing innocent civilians in Iraq.” – Angelo Wesley, Mundri West
“Well if the ICC has enough evidence against him, then why not arrest him. There’s no one above the law, am very happy that the ICC is changing the law to charge even sitting presidents. No Sudanese nationalist will ever support this, because many are victims themselves, this is also the reason why many don’t want to leave power. If Bashir is arrested, it will act as an eye opener to others who should know that being a leader does not mean that you have the law in your hand.” Dominic Elisapana – Mundri West
“What we need in the region is peace irrespective of the arrest of Bashir. Even if Bashir is arrested another radical in his party will mushroom, a matter which may escalate the war. The UN must look for, is the root cause of the problem and bring the warring factions to the negotiating table. Further there are two different groups of people with two different regions which must be looked at critically.” – Miriam John, Yambio
“Omer Al Bashir has been in power for almost a half of the time that Sudan has been in conflict with itself, and if he is not part of these conflicts he would have to solve them as a president of the nation, but what do we see or hear more and more problems in all parts of the country and the only solution is to let the justice prevail, he must go or be taken.” – Jerome Mbiko Gbia, Maridi
“We are worried because of insecurities to be mounted on southerners living in Khartoum; Khartoum may not send us more money to pay our wages, simple because Al- Bashir and tops aids think south Sudan is highly supporting his arrest.” – Moses Anikpari, Ezo
“It will not cause any problem to us as southerners, we stand by the SPLM point of view on the matter and our leader Salva Kiir, we are going to remain calm not to temper with the decision being taken by world’s most respect court (ICC), when the atrocities started South Sudan government was not there, we don’t know the cause, Bashir started wrongly, so it will end wrongly with him, let him go and explain himself,” said one member of Western Equatoria State government, who requested anonymity in this report.
“What goes around comes around; it’s now Bashir’s turn to face the music. He has been drinking the blood of the poor and innocent people of Sudan as a whole and not just only Dar-Fur and Southern Sudan for so long. No one is above the law and so, he should get his share of the crimes he has committed, long live the people of Sudan, and long live Sudan.” Anthony Mbiko, Yambio
The Sudanese president is accused of orchestrating a campaign of violence against Darfur’s ethnic Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa. The human rights organization, Amnesty International says 300,000 people have been killed and nearly 3 million others displaced since the attacks begun in 2003.
The ICC’s decision to push ahead with the prosecution has divided African leaders. The African Union and the Arab League want the UN Security Council to defer the charges for a year to allow Darfur peace talks to take place.
(ST)