International

Sudan’s President Maybe Faced with Genocide Charges 

Molly Burns

 

            On Wednesday, February 3, 2010 judges for the ICC (International Criminal Court) upheld an appeal for genocide to be included in the arrest warrant charges of Omar al-Bashir, the current president of Sudan. Initially it was ruled that he could not be charged with genocide because prosecutors had failed to prove intent.

            According to the United Nations, as many as 300,000 people have died in Darfur (a region of Sudan) since 2003.  Many groups such as the Genocide Intervention Network, the Save Darfur collation, and even former secretary of state Colin Powell blame the Sudanese government for not only failing to take action to prevent these deaths over a 7 year period, but have accused the government of actually providing assistance to the Jajnaweed, a militia group responsible for many of the murders of the people in Darfur.

            After being created in 2002, the I.C.C. has been the permanent authority responsible for prosecuting individuals involved with genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity and is used when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute those crimes.  The I.C.C. first issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir in March 2009, making him the first president to be indicted by the court

 

 

• Appeal: Requested a change to a formal decision
• Genocide: The deliberate and systematic destruction, of a racial, ethnic, religious, or national group
• Indicted: Formally accused of committing a criminal offense
• Militia group: A military force comprised of normal citizens who have no salary or terms of service

 

• Argument for: If guilty, al-Bashir’s conviction of genocide would provide justice for the victims of the Darfur situation.
• Argument against: The arrest and trial of the president could slow political progress in the region.
• Some argue that the existence of the ICC takes away from the sovereignty (supreme and independent authority) of states because, depending on the circumstances, it could have jurisdiction over existing national courts. 

 

 

For further reading

-http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/03/200934153234922643.html

-http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8494759.stm

-http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0204/1224263733936.html

To learn more about Darfur or to donate go to www.savedarfur.com