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Ben Chang, spokesman for president Obama's National Security Adviser, said on February 5, 2009 that Obama's Administration supports "the International Criminal Court in its pursuit of those who've perpetrated war crimes [in Darfur]. We see no reason to support deferral [of the indictment] at this time."
However, when the alleged war criminals are Americans, such as the former president George Bush and the rest of his Administration, as well as the CIA and U.S. army personnel, then Barack Obama wants to prevent any prosecution of the perpetrators.
It's hypocritical that so many Americans, including president Obama, want justice in Darfur, while at the same time pardoning and/or justifying the crimes and torture committed by their own government and military.
Vincent Warren, Executive Director of the American Center for Constitutional Rights, says that "the Obama Administration's stand against impunity for president al-Bashir for serious international crimes and support of his arrest warrant should go hand in hand with the investigation and prosecution in U.S. courts of those American former high level officials, starting with Donald Rumsfeld, who ordered and authorized torture and war crimes. Not doing so would suggest an unacceptable double standard."
A recently declassified report by the US Senate Armed Services Committee noted that the "U.S. government backing for the CIA's harsh interrogation methods set the tone for abuses by U.S. troops towards detainees" in Iraq and elsewhere.
The abuse and torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo weren't simply the work of "a few bad apples" in the U.S. military ranks. Instead, the techniques used in the abuse of prisoners have been approved and encouraged by the top officials in the George Bush's Administration.
Of course, some will say that the crimes committed in Darfur are not the same as the ones committed by the Bush Administration and thus cannot be compared.
True. I am not comparing the crimes, but only asking that all alleged war criminals be prosecuted and punished if found guilty, whether they are from Khartoum, Belgrade, Gaza, Tel Aviv, Washington DC, or Texas.
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Savo Heleta is the author of "Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia" (March 2008, AMACOM Books, New York). He holds an M.Phil degree in Conflict Transformation and Management from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Visit www.savoheleta.com for more info.
Quoting unidentified South African diplomatic sources, the London Times writes that Jacob Zuma "has already indicated that president Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, who has been charged by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, will not be welcome at his inauguration on May 9, and that he could even risk arrest and deportation to The Hague."
The Australian writes that "the heads of state of four other states with 'undemocratic' leaders -- those from Madagascar, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea -- were also told to stay away from the ceremony."
If these reports are true, this will be a major foreign policy change by Jacob Zuma's new government, greatly differing from the policies of his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki.
During Thabo Mbeki's presidency, South Africa supported and protected some of the worst despots, tyrants, and human rights violators on the African continent and around the globe.
While South Africa was a temporary member of the United Nations Security Council, the country's diplomats tried everything to suspend or delay the International Criminal Court's case against the Sudanese president for the war crimes in Darfur. They didn't mind the 200,000 dead and millions displaced in the Darfur conflict since 2003, which many analysts and aid organizations label one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.
Similarly, during its two years at the Security Council, South Africa has voted against imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe despite the unthinkable crisis and ruthless dictatorship of Robert Mugabe.
During the negotiations to end the crisis in Zimbabwe, many saw Mbeki as too soft on Robert Mugabe, thus prolonging the suffering of millions. While members of the opposition were being killed in Zimbabwe, Thabo Mbeki held Mugabe's hand on TV and claimed there was no crisis in Zimbabwe whatsoever.
South Africa, being economically the most powerful country in Africa, can play a major role in bringing democracy and peace on the continent.
The indication that the new South African government under Jacob Zuma will not tolerate African dictators, tyrants, and alleged war criminals is a great step towards this goal.
Delegates from about 30 countries walked out of a speech by Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at the UN anti-racism conference held in in Geneva, Switzerland.
In his speech, Ahmadinejad said "Jewish migrants from Europe and the United States had been sent to the Middle East after World War II in order to establish a racist government in the occupied Palestine... And in fact, in compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine."
He added: "Today, the human community is facing a kind of racism which has tarnished the image of humanity. In the beginning of the third millennium, the word Zionism personifies racism, that falsely resorts to religion and abuses religious sentiments to hide hatred."
"Efforts must be made to put an end to the abuse by Zionists and their supporters of political and international means... Governments must be encouraged and supported in the fight aimed at eradicating this barbaric racism and moving towards reforming the current international mechanisms."
Ahmadinejad, however, said nothing about Arab racism which, for example, was one of the causes of the conflict currently taking place in Darfur, where about 200,000 Africans have died since 2003.
The US, Israel, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and New Zealand decided to boycott the conference in protest at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's appearance and the possibility that he may use the conference to attack Israel, question the reality of the Holocaust, or to try to limit the right to criticize religion.
The 2001 UN anti-racism conference was a total failure after Arab and Muslim countries attempted to single out Israel for criticism.
This year's conference is yet another failure, due to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's pathetic speech.
The world does need to work together against racism, xenophobia, and any other type of discrimination, but Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cannot be a spokesperson for such an initiative.
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Savo Heleta is the author of "Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia" (March 2008, AMACOM Books). He holds an M.Phil degree in Conflict Transformation and Management from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Visit www.savoheleta.com for more info.
The Western media portrayed the killings as just another outburst of "tribal" violence on African soil, suggesting that nothing could be done to stop "savages" from killing each other in their "barbaric" outbursts of violence.
Under intense pressure from the United States and Britain, the United Nations Security Council demonstrated that no one was interested in the Rwandan genocide by ordering a reduction of UN troops in this small African country from 2,500 to only 270 soldiers in the midst of the slaughter.
Only six days after the reduction of the UN mission in Rwanda, the UN Security Council, again under the pressure from the US and Britain, authorized an increase of the international presence in then war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina, adding 6,550 troops to about 24,000 UN troops already there.
In Bosnia, people mattered because they are white.
Not only that the US and Britain were not willing to intervene in Rwanda, they even prevented other countries from doing anything to stop the mass murder.
The behavior of France was even worse. Before the genocide, the French government backed the Rwandan regime and trained and armed the Hutu extremists who committed the atrocities in order to preserve the French influence in Rwanda.
After the Rwandan genocide, many world leaders publicly promised (again) that they would never again delay intervention while innocent people are slaughtered around the world.
George W. Bush proclaimed "not on my watch."
Yet, during his presidency, about 200,000 people have died in Darfur from fighting, diseases and starvation, while more than 2 million have been forced to flee their homes.
Apart from sending humanitarian aid, George Bush and his government, as well as other Western governments, did hardly anything else to stop the suffering in Darfur.
Since July 2007, the world powers could not even spare one helicopter for the UN/African Union mission in Darfur. Helicopters are essential for any success of the mission in the remote region the size of France.
After the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II, the world said "never again" to unspeakable mass killings. The "never again" promise, however, meant nothing during the Rwandan genocide. It does not mean anything today in Darfur.
For poor around the globe and especially in Africa, it will not mean anything tomorrow either, as we live in a world where only self-interests of powerful countries, not ethics, morals, compassion and human decency play a major role in stopping large-scale exterminations of human beings.
Click here to read the full article in the Jerusalem Post.
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Savo Heleta is the author of "Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia" (March 2008, AMACOM Books). He holds an M.Phil degree in Conflict Transformation and Management from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Visit www.savoheleta.com for more info.
The recent conflict between Israel and Hamas has created fury around the globe, especially in the Muslim world. A number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa saw some of the largest demonstrations in their history condemning the killing of civilians and children in the military operation.
The Middle Eastern media, such as Al Jazeera, covered the confliclt 24/7.
One has to wonder why the Darfur conflict has never received similar attention.
Even though millions of innocent Muslims have become victims in Darfur over the past six years, the fact that they are victims of an Arab regime seems to prevent the Arab public from even acknowledging the humanitarian catastrophe.
Throughout the Darfur conflict, the Arab League stood by Sudan and defended its dismal actions. When the International Criminal Court's prosecutor decided to seek the arrest of Sudan's president for alleged war crimes and genocide, the league called it an "unbalanced stance."
After the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, the Arab and Muslim world continued to support the Sudanese regime. Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi Arabian foreign minister, said his country "stands by Sudan with our heart and soul" despite the indictment.
In the aftermath of the Gaza conflict, however, the Arab League called on the UN to "form an international committee to investigate Israeli crimes in Gaza and set up a criminal court to try Israeli war criminals."
It is appalling that the people of Darfur, who have suffered unspeakable atrocities since 2003, do not matter to many in the Arab and Muslim world because their tormentors are Arab Muslims and not Jews or Christians.
The deaths of children and civilians in Gaza must be condemned in the strongest terms possible, but what about the innocent people of Darfur? They are human beings, too!
Click here to read full article in the Jerusalem Post or The Sudan Tribune
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Savo Heleta is the author of "Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia" (March 2008, AMACOM Books, New York). He holds an M.Phil degree in Conflict Transformation and Management from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Visit www.savoheleta.com for more info.
In reality, the South African government refused to issue visa to the Dalai Lama in order to please China, one of the country's major economic partners. The Chinese embassy in Pretoria allegedly called upon the South African government not to allow the Tibetan leader to visit the country, saying his presence at the conference would harm bilateral relations between the two nations.
The peace conference was postponed after two other Nobel Peace laureates who were expected to take part, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former South African President FW de Klerk, pulled out in protest over the visa ban for the Dalai Lama.
This is not the first time that the government of South Africa is ignoring ethics, empathy, morals, human decency, and common sense in its international relations.
As a two-year temporary member of the UN Security Council, South Africa has voted against imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe despite the unthinkable crisis and ruthless dictatorship of Robert Mugabe. While members of the opposition were being brutally killed in Zimbabwe, former South African president, Thabo Mbeki, held Mugabe's hand on TV and claimed there was no crisis in Zimbabwe whatsoever.
When the UN voted to condemn Myanmar's military junta crackdown on peaceful protesters and human rights violations, South Africa was one of the countries that blocked the resolution.
South Africa has also voted against imposing any sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, and to stop monitoring human rights in Uzbekistan and Iran, despite the widespread human rights violations in both countries.
In January 2007, South Africa was one of 22 countries absent from the UN General Assembly when a resolution was adopted to condemn Holocaust denialism. Also, the country voted against a resolution that condemned the "use of rape as a weapon of war."
When Thabo Mbeki was the president of South Africa, one of his great friends was Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan who was recently charged for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur since 2003. The horrific atrocities in Darfur – over 200,000 dead and millions displaced – did not prevent the government of South Africa from doing everything to delay or suspend the International Criminal Court's case against the Sudanese president.
Nelson Mandela promised that "human rights will be the light that guides our foreign affairs?" Then why Robert Mugabe and Omar al-Bashir receive warm welcomes every time they visit South Africa but the Nobel Peace laureate and the global symbol of peace, the Dalai Lama, is treated like a criminal by the South African government?
Shame on South Africa!
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Savo Heleta is the author of "Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia" (March 2008, AMACOM Books, New York). He holds an Mphil degree in Conflict Transformation and Management from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Visit www.savoheleta.com for more info.
As expected by many analysts, the recent International Criminal Court's indictment of Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur since 2003 has radicalized many in Sudan and rallied thousands to support the president and alleged war criminal.
Since the arrest warrant for al-Bashir, the Sudanese regime began a large-scale propaganda war to portray itself among the allies (mainly the Arab and Muslim world, China, and African countries) as an innocent victim of the Western imperialism and colonialism.
The regime doesn't mind the reporting of the Western media, whom they see as a tool of imperialists and crusaders. The media in the West can write and report about al-Bashir being a criminal as much as they want.
But when the Arab media try to portray a balanced picture of the Darfur conflict and not only ask the Sudanese government for their opinion and views, well that hurts.
In an interview to the London based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, the Sudanese presidential adviser, Mustafa Osman Ismail, described certain Arab media as "stupid."
He singled out the Qatar based Al-Jazeera, saying it "rushes to interview any Darfur figures who own only seven or eight vehicles, calling them rebel leaders."
In a perfect world, according to the Sudanese government, there would be only one side of the story, the official story told by Omar al-Bashir and his advisors.
However, we [luckily] don't live in that kind of a world.
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Savo Heleta is the author of "Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia" (March 2008, AMACOM Books, New York). He holds an Mphil degree in Conflict Transformation and Management from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Visit www.savoheleta.com for more info.
This study critically explores the aims and perspectives of the Justice and Equality Movement, currently the most powerful Darfur rebel movement. The author has used the first-hand information gathered through interviews with the representatives of the rebel movement and additional data about the conflict and the rebels collected through an extensive literature analysis to portray the movement and its aims, perspectives, and plans for the future. Using the grounded theory approach as the data analysis tool, the author has presented key findings about the Darfur conflict from the perspective of the Justice and Equality Movement that have emerged from the data collected in this study.
Click here to open the PDF file or right click and save the file on your computer (115 pages / 1.1 MB)
Short summary of the findings
The views and perspectives of the Justice and Equality Movement regarding the causes of the Darfur conflict and current rebellion do not differ significantly from the majority of historians and Sudan and Darfur experts. Decades-long economic, political, and social neglect and marginalization of Darfur by the successive central governments of Sudan are seen as the main causes of the Darfur conflict and rebellion. However, the JEM representatives argue that the current Sudanese regime which came to power in 1989 has marginalized Darfur more than any other colonial and post-independence regime in the country. At the same time, the manipulation of ethnic and tribal identities and the environmental degradation in Darfur are seen as important causes of the conflict.
During the course of the conflict, the JEM has evolved from a rebel to a revolutionary movement. The movement’s primary aim is to topple the current Sudanese regime and fundamentally change the country. Only time will tell if the Justice and Equality Movement will be able to defeat the regime and bring about revolutionary change in Sudan. This will depend on many factors, such as the ability to attract support in other parts of the country, cooperation with other rebel movements, finance, military power, international support, and, in the event of their victory, the implementation of substantial political and/or socio-economic changes in the country.
As this study has found, the JEM is not an Islamist movement, as it is often argued by the Western media and analysts, but a movement of the marginalized people who want to change the government of Sudan and end decades of neglect and marginalization. Even though the support for the JEM and the movement’s military capabilities were minimal before May 2006, the movement has grown into currently the most powerful Darfur rebel/revolutionary movement.
The fragmentation of the Darfur rebels is seen as one of the major obstacles to an effective peace process. The main causes of the rebel fragmentation are fighting over power, control, and leadership, as well as the divide-and-rule tactics by the government of Sudan. Cooperation among the rebels is hardly achievable due to divisions and years of fighting between the groups.
After almost six years of fighting and destruction that took over 200,000 lives and forced more than two million people from their homes, Darfur and its people urgently need a negotiated political solution to the conflict that will satisfy all the parties. As Alex de Waal points out, “the crisis in Darfur is political. It’s a civil war, and like all wars it needs a political settlement.” The goal of the mediators who work on a new Darfur peace process must be solving the root causes of the conflict and ending the marginalization of the province. A peace agreement will last only if it accommodates and is signed by all parties. Everything else will be a short-term solution and a further protraction of conflict and violence.
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Savo Heleta is the author of "Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia" (March 2008, AMACOM Books, New York). He holds an Mphil degree in Conflict Transformation and Management from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Visit www.savoheleta.com for more info.
The alliance promised "world imperialists and CIA agents in US, UK, and France with another September 11 attack." The group also called for assassinations of the ICC chief prosecutor and Darfur rebel leaders.
The joint statement was signed by the Martyr Abu-Qiseissah Suicide Group, Ansar Al-Sunnah Al-Jihadiyah Group, the Group in Search of Martyrdom, the Martyr Ali Abdel-Fattah Brigade, and the Darfur Lions Brigade.
Earlier, high ranking officials from Iran, Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad visited Khartoum after the ICC arrest warrant was issued and expressed full support for president al-Bashir.
Ali Larijani, Iran's parliament speaker, said the ICC indictment is an "insult directed at Muslims."
Interestingly, over the last six years, while the Sudanese Arab government and their militias ravaged Darfur, killing more than 200,000 people and displacing over 2 million, hardly anybody in the Arab and Muslim world objected.
It did not matter that the victims in Darfur were Muslims.
Even though millions of innocent Muslims have been oppressed in Darfur since 2003, the fact that they are the victims of an Arab regime in Khartoum seems to prevent the Arab and Muslim public and governments from even acknowledging the suffering and humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur.
Up to this day, not one Arab or Muslim leader has publicly criticized Sudan's actions and atrocities in Darfur.
But now that president al-Bashir is charged for the war crimes and crimes against humanity, this is seen in Sudan and across the Middle East as yet another Western imperialist conspiracy which justifies calls for a global jihad against "crusaders, infidels, and Zionists."
Peace and Justice Distant
Just before the ICC issued the arrest warrant for Sudanesepresident, court's chief prosecutor, Louis Moreno-Ocampo, said an indictment would be "the end of president al-Bashir. It would have such a destabilizing effect on domestic politics that he would not be able to hold onto power."
In reality, it's quite opposite. Omar al-Bashir's popularity is on the rise in Sudan and across the Arab and Muslim world. Instead of being seen as a war criminal, many around the world see him as a victim of the new Western imperialism while the International Criminal Court is seen as a tool the Western countries use to suppress the developing world.
The most likely long-term scenario for Sudan is that al-Bashir will remain in power and continue business as usual despite the arrest warrant. The conflict in Darfur will continue and even escalate further, while the Sudanese opposition and freedom of speech and expression are violently suppressed.
Seen as war criminals around the world, al-Bashir and his government will have little or no reason to negotiate peace in Darfur.
Furthermore, al-Bashir's indictment is very likely to disrupt the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 which ended the two-decades-long war between Sudan and southern Sudan.
Justice is very important for the victims, post-conflict reconciliation and development, and the future of Darfur and Sudan. However, the aim of the international community should be to first bring peace to Darfur and then punish the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
But peace and justice in Darfur and long-term stability in Sudan seem now more distant then before the ICC indictment of al-Bashir.
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Savo Heleta is the author of "Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia" (March 2008, AMACOM Books, New York). He holds an Mphil degree in Conflict Transformation and Management from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Visit www.savoheleta.com for more info.
Interestingly, the African Union decided to appoint the same man who while the president of South Africa had a very friendly relationship with Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan who is indicted by the International Criminal Court for the war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
During Mbeki's presidency, when South Africa was a temporary member of the United Nations Security Council, the country's diplomats tried everything to suspend or delay the International Criminal Court's case against the Sudanese president for the war crimes in Darfur. They didn't mind the 200,000 dead and millions displaced in the Darfur conflict since 2003, which many analysts and aid organizations label one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.
Similarly, during its two years at the Security Council, South Africa has voted against imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe despite the unthinkable crisis and ruthless dictatorship of Robert Mugabe.
During the negotiations to end the crisis in Zimbabwe, many saw Mbeki as too soft on Robert Mugabe, thus prolonging the suffering of millions. While members of the opposition were being killed in Zimbabwe, Thabo Mbeki held Mugabe's hand on TV and claimed there was no crisis in Zimbabwe whatsoever.
What to expect from Thabo Mbeki's involvement in Darfur? Probably a few years of his "quiet diplomacy" during which tens of thousands will die and millions suffer unthinkable hardships and brutality.
Well, what else to expect from the African Union, an organization currently chaired by a dictator, Libya's leader Colonel Moamer Gaddafi, who himself is responsible for the current conflict and suffering in Darfur.
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Savo Heleta is the author of "Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia" (March 2008, AMACOM Books, New York) and a postgraduate student in Conflict Transformation and Management at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Visit www.savoheleta.com for more info.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, for the alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.
This is the first time the ICC has filled charges against a sitting head of state. The chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, believes he can prove that al-Bashir and his government are criminally responsible for "intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians and pillaging their property."
As Nick Grono from the International Crisis Group writes, the arrest warrant is one thing, but "getting al-Bashir before the court will be an entirely different challenge."
There are a few possible scenarios. Bashir can surrender himself to the court, something that no one believes will happen.
He can be arrested when he travels abroad. This will probably not happen, as he is very likely to travel only to friendly countries that guarantee his safety.
Another scenario sees the members of al-Bashir's party and government ousting him from power and sending him to the Hague. Not many people expect this to happen, but given a long history of political and military coups in Sudan this shouldn't come as a surprise.
The most likely scenario is that al-Bashir will remain in power in Sudan and continue business as usual. In this case, the conflict in Darfur would continue and even escalate further, while the Sudanese opposition and freedom of speech and expression would be violently suppressed.
The arrest warrant for al-Bashir is very likely to disrupt the current efforts to organize new talks to end the six-year-long Darfur conflict which are planned to take place in Qatar in the coming months.
Seen as war criminals around the world, al-Bashir and his government have little or no reason to negotiate peace. This could backlash in Darfur and continue suffering of millions.
Also, al-Bashir's indictment is very likely to disrupt the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 which ended the two-decades-long war between Sudan and southern Sudan.
Under the CPA, national elections are to take place in Sudan no later than July 2009. The indictment of al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court could end all hopes of holding free elections in the country. Furthermore, the southerners fear that a referendum on self-determination for the south, scheduled for 2011 under the CPA, could be in danger now that the ICC judges have decided to proceed with their case against president Omar al-Bashir.
The United Nations Security Council has an option of invoking Article 16 of the ICC Statute which allows the Council to suspend the ICC prosecutions in any case for a period of 12 months that can be renewed indefinitely. While China and Russia have stated they would support the delay of the case against al-Bashir, the United States, Britain, and France want to see him prosecuted.
Justice is very important for the victims, post-conflict reconciliation, and the future of Darfur and Sudan. However, the aim of the international community should be to first bring peace to Darfur and then punish the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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Savo Heleta is the author of "Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia" (March 2008, AMACOM Books, New York) and a postgraduate student in Conflict Transformation and Management at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Visit www.savoheleta.com for more info.
