ICC arrest warrant long overdue
WASHINGTON, D.C. March 16, 2009– Southern Sudanese Voice for Freedom (SSVF), a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, welcomes the decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for Omar El Bashir, Sudan’s sitting head of state.
“This is an historical legal step toward bringing the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity to justice,” says SSVF president Jimmy Mulla, who adds that such a step is long overdue.
“The International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, established by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, actually reported to the U.N. in January of 2005 that there was reason to believe that crimes against humanity and war crimes had been committed in Darfur, and it recommended at that time that the situation be referred to the ICC.”
Mulla points out that for all but 11 of the 54 years since its independence in 1956, Sudan has been engulfed in civil conflict but none of the culprits were brought to justice. During the 22-year North-South conflict, more than 2.5 million people were killed, four million were internally displaced, and 1.5 million were forced into refugee camps in neighboring countries.
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan in January 2005, was meant to end Sudan’s North-South civil war, be used as a model to end the conflict in Darfur, transform the country into a secular state, and develop democratic governance countrywide.
“Unfortunately, following the signing of the agreement, the country witnessed unprecedented escalation of violence in Darfur, perpetrated by Khartoum and government- sponsored ‘janjaweed’ militias,” Mulla explains.
SSVF urges the international community to rally behind the ICC decision, and not let the legal process be impeded by political agendas, such as those expressed by certain African and Arab leaders, including Russia and China.
“The time for justice in Sudan is now,” Mulla says, “and those who think arresting Bashir would lead to a derailing of either the CPA or a peace agreement in Darfur, are naïve and self-serving. The CPA provides clear directives for filling vacancies in high government positions. “ It is unfortunate that African and Arab nations are willing to sacrifice both peace and justice in Sudan. The way forward for a democratic, new Sudan is to hold everyone accountable for their actions, without exception. And that includes Bashir.” Mulla notes that some African leaders use the defunct Organization of African Union Charter as justification for defending international bodies against interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation. “This rationale has been used by dictatorial regimes in African countries to suppress their own citizens,” Mulla says, “but with the establishment of the ICC prosecution of the former Yugoslavia’s Slobodan Milosovic, Liberia’s Charles Taylor, and perpetrators in the Rwanda genocide, it is time for African and Arab country leaders to recognize that this can no longer be used as excuse for committing mass murder. “The world is becoming a small village and those who have committed atrocities should be held accountable for their crimes, so the ICC needs to be strengthened to ensure that justice is served worldwide.”
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