Sudan president says only DNA test can prove rape in Darfur
October 9, 2008 (KHARTOUM) – The embattled Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir vehemently denied the existence of wide scale rape campaign in the war ravaged region of Darfur in the west of the country.
“The women inside the camps are under the influence of the rebels and some are even relatives of the rebels. That’s why they make these claims” Al-Bashir said.
“We are fully convinced that no rape took place. It might have happened at an individual level, but this is a normal crime that can happen in any country in the world. Mass rape does not exist”.
In mid-July the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced that he is seeking an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir.
The ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. It was only last week that judges have started reviewing the case in a process that could possibly drag on to next year.
“Rape is an integral part of the pattern of destruction that the Government of the Sudan is inflicting upon the target groups in Darfur” the prosecutor stated in the summary of his application submitted to the judges.
Ocampo also stated that rape in Darfur has been widely “underreported”.
Al-Bashir told Channel 4 that DNA tests can be performed on children who are born from women who claim to have been raped.
“There are scientific methods that can reveal who are the fathers of these children which are born” he said.
But the interviewer Lindsey Hilsum challenged him by asking “So you are going to take the DNA’s of all the Janjaweed”?
Al-Bashir responded by saying “You can bring the accused and take his DNA”.
Hilsum again asked the Sudanese president how the raped women would be able to know the names of militia members who sexually assaulted them to perform the DNA test on them.
Al-Bashir ended up saying that “these [rape claims] are all false allegations. It is not in the culture of the Darfuris. The Darfurian society does not have rape. It’s not in the tradition”.
The Sudanese head of state also said that the ICC sources of information are “hostile”.
“These allegations are not correct. Everything is fabricated and made up. Anything saying that we ordered killing people is untrue. The sources used by the ICC prosecutor are all hostile; they are from the rebels who revolted against the state” he said.
Al-Bashir further said that he will reap over 50% of votes of Darfuris in the 2009 elections or else he “doesn’t deserve to lead the country”.
“The referee is the Sudanese people….they should decide if we are really criminals, or if we are leaders of the people who should govern them in the future” he added.
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.
(ST)
Yaak Barach
Sudan president says only DNA test can prove rape in Darfur
Win 50% of votes in Darfur in 2009 elections! what? You must be dreaming Mr. president, as the ICC judges will soon issue arrest warrant against you. Surely rape is not part of Africans’ culture but the Janjaweed are nothing but vile arabised creatures who have conducted this unspeakable act on women in Darfur.
You must go to the Hague to answer all the crimes that you have committed in Darfur.
Wunashuei
Sudan president says only DNA test can prove rape in Darfur
Shame on you Mr. Bashir, How come you denied all the outburst rape cases in Dafur which is more open and been the daily bread for your hopelessly thugs whom call themselves Janjiweed. My dear President, your words are so discasting and so embarrassing to hear in the ears of Dafurian who are now the victims. And side that it will be of no doubt to those who will read this interview that you qualified to be taken to Hague. How come you said that the raping is made up by Darfurian women, what they will gain out of it? We all know that Sudan arm forces is well off of committing rape as well as their allies (Militias) as they did some years back in South Sudan town of Juba, where every young lady and Girls are taken to the army barrack to go and sleep with soldiers in the name of National duty, what kind of that national duty? Don’t you know that what you call national duty is what the whole world terms it as rape, of course you can not belief it but you will come to know one time one day when the truth will fine its way. I thought you will not talk of 2009 election when you have caused all this bloodshed in the country. what kind of president will you make when you order killing in the name of Allah and say to aspect 50% votes from same people you order to be kill, I could not imagine what kind of human been are you? Not even think of where you belong to in the society,
Shame, Shame, Shame on You Omaaaaaar El Bashir!!!!!!