Darfur JEM calls for national unity following ICC announcement
July 14, 2008 (LONDON) – The Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) called for the formation of a national unity government after a world tribunal accused the Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir of war crimes.
Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. Judges are expected to take months to study the evidence before deciding whether to order Al-Bashir’s arrest
“In light of the recent developments we propose an interim transitional government that isolate no party in Sudan” JEM spokesperson Ahmed Hussein told Sudan Tribune.
The JEM official said that indictment of Al-Bashir is a “big day for Darfur and humanity and for seekers of justice”.
“This is a giant step for international justice since Nuremberg trials of Nazi leaders. It is a blow to the legitimacy of Al-Bashir” he added.
All Darfur rebel groups jubilantly hailed the ICC prosecutor’s announcement saying it gives justice to their people.
Some groups including JEM offered assisting the ICC with nabbing the suspects and sending them to The Hague.
Many people inside and outside Sudan warned that arresting Al-Bashir would create chaos in the East African nation.
However Hussein said that a broadly represented would prevent such a scenario.
“The agendas for this government would include working for peace in Darfur and all over Sudan as well as implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed with the South” he said.
The JEM official outlined a series of pressing issues that a national unity government would treat as top priority.
“We would need to ensure that we help with the voluntary and dignified repatriation of the displaced Darfuris to their villages through implementing a security plan and compensate them in a fair manner so they can build their livelihood” Hussein said.
“Also the new interim government would work closely with the international community towards Sudan’s stability through supporting fair and free elections that would accelerate the process of democratic transformation” he stressed.
International experts also say more than 300,000 were killed and 2 million have been driven from their homes by the conflict in Darfur, a region that is roughly the size of France.
The conflict spilled into Sudan’s neighbors Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) with millions of refugees feeling in to these two countries.
(ST)