The price of ICC´s arrest warrant for Al-basher
Mohamed I. Abdi
March 06, 2009
The international criminal court issued on Wednesday an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan Omar Al-basher on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The victims of Darfur conflict were elated by the ruling of the ICC and human rights activists appalled by the abominating atrocities committed against the civilians in Darfur applauded the arrest warrant to end impunity and bring justice to any criminal to pay the price of his crimes even if this will result to indict a sitting head of state like Omar al-basher.but many analysts say there are reasonable grounds to infer that ulterior political agenda is twinned with the legal procedure of ICC to indict Al-basher.
Omar al-basher is the de jure president of Sudan; he has been ruling the country since 1989 after a bloodless coup in which many Sudanese regarded at that time as the coup de grâce to their problems. During his rule, Sudan witnessed great political upheavals that ushered this war embattled country to a positive and negative changes, basher and his national congress party secured the end of one of the longest and abhorrent civil wars in Africa when his party struck a peace agreement with the SPLM led by late John Garang after marathon peace talks in Niavasha Kenya. South –north Sudan civil war or what is called Anyanya rebellion started in 1955, before the independence of Sudan. Although Al-basher and his comrades blundered when they fallaciously tried to give this war an Islamic tag to secure the support of Northern Sudanese to defeat SPL rebels armed and financed by international lobbies and regional powers but time showed the ineffectiveness of al-basher´s recruitment strategy.
During Machacos-Naivasha peace talks 2002-2005, the delegation of national congress party led by Ghazi salahu-din –on contrary to the affront al-basher´s camp are egocentrics, irreconcilables and other mumbo jumbo used by those who castigate them- showed political maturity, pragmatism and unwavering commitment for peace, the various protocols embodied by the final agreement between the national congress party led by Omar Al-basher and SPLM substantiate that al-basher´s camp made some bold and remarkable concessions for the sake of peace in sudan.al-basher´s government invested huge efforts on exploring Sudan´s oil wealth with the help of among others, Chinese and Malaysian owned oil companies, after Sudan´ oil was exported to world markets, Sudan economy flourished and the living conditions of Sudanese improved and for the first time Sudan´s current account entered surplus in 2000-2001. Sudan´s oil would not have been discovered and exported with out the sincerity of al-basher´s government because previous governments and oil companies operating in Sudan before 1989 were creating systematic obstacle aimed at to deny Sudan´s people to benefit their natural resources.
The failed assassination attempt of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in Ethiopia 1995, heralded a turning point for the relations between Sudan and it´s Arab counter parts, al-basher, for his belief that improving relations with Arab countries particularly the neighboring Egypt after years of isolation will best serve for the people of Sudan, he took several constructive steps to ease the tension between Khartoum and the Arab world. This heroic decision was followed by improving relations with the United States after 11/September to dismiss claims that Sudan harbors terrorist and say to the whole world "Al-Qaida will not get a foot hold in Sudan".
It is palpable that Sudan government´s poor management for Darfur conflict triggered the killing of civilian villagers, rape and massacre of Darfur women. Sudanese government did not react swiftly to crack down on and dismantle janjaweed militias to contain the conflict but I do believe that circles with in the international community fueled The flames of Darfur war or acted politically and militarily not only to perpetuate the suffering of Darfur people but to spill the conflict over the entire Sudan for regime change agenda.
At the political level, the international community did not pressure Darfur rebel leaders to renounce violence and act positively to the peace process but unfortunately became a staunch defender of the warmongers like the unscrupulous Abdulwahid Mohmed Nur and Khalil Ibrahim while UN and EU criticize and issue diktat for Sudanese government .Former UN envoy to Sudan Jan Prok published on his blog in 2006 a libel denouncing Sudanese government and glorifying rebel leaders, Jan Prok, the UN diplomat, went beyond his mandate when he claimed that government ´s army has been defeated in Darfur and its morale is law in a clear massage to embolden rebel leaders to continue their fight against the government. Jan Prok wrote in his blog "The morale in the government army in north Darfur has gone down - some generals have been sacked; soldiers have refused to fight ". Lack of impartiality on the side of UN and the reluctance of the mushrooming rebel groups exacerbated the situation but the government´s side has been always blamed on the human causalities of the conflict.
At the military level; Many UNMIS troops where killed in Darfur after rebel groups blatantly attacked their garrisons, UN did not take concrete measures to curb the marauding militias of Darfur rebels but constantly pinned blame on Sudanese government. In 2007 10 AU peacekeepers have been killed and 50 others gone missing when Darfur rebels attacked their base in southern Darfur. AU spokesman said "Our camp has been completely destroyed. As many as 1,000 armed men in at least 30 vehicles stormed the base in Haskanita, South Darfur just after sunset in a deliberate and sustained assault".
At The legal level, UN and ICC recruited rebel militias as witnesses and the arrest warrant was issued based on their testimony, at a time UN envoy to Sudan urges the government to review sentences of rebel militias captured after their attack on Omdurman on the pretext they might not get fair trail, Alraed newspaper also published that the current head of UN mission in Sudan Ashraf Gazi admitted that UNMIS leaked information related to Sudan to the international criminal court, in clear violation of the mandate of UNMIS. The leaked information might be used as an evidence against President Al-basher.
In a recent interview with the international criminal court persecutor Luis Moreno –ocampo by foreign policy FP, Mr. Acampo showed his indifference to the disheartening problems of Sudanese folks after ICC orders the arrest of Al-basher, he said when asked the implications of the arrest warrant to Darfur "no. for people in Darfur, nothing could be worse. We need negotiations, but if basher is indicted, he is not the person to negotiate with. Mr. should not be an option for negotiations for Darfur or in fact for south. I believe negotiators have to learn how to adjust to the reality. The court is reality."
The subsequent decision taken by Sudanese government to expel and revoke the licenses of 13 humanitarian organizations and its adverse consequences to the people of Darfur shows the impracticability of Mr. Ocampo´s for mentioned allegations. He is not taking into account that the arrest warrant could plunge the whole country a new era of fragmentation and civil war because northern Sudanese will ardently support Al-basher and will not abandon him. In the worst scenario, Sudan might became a failed state like Somalia, Ocampo and his benefactors will take the responsibility.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27621&Cr=Darfur&Cr1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Sudan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6074808.stm
http://www.darfur.pl/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=295
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4698&page=1
Omar al-basher is the de jure president of Sudan; he has been ruling the country since 1989 after a bloodless coup in which many Sudanese regarded at that time as the coup de grâce to their problems. During his rule, Sudan witnessed great political upheavals that ushered this war embattled country to a positive and negative changes, basher and his national congress party secured the end of one of the longest and abhorrent civil wars in Africa when his party struck a peace agreement with the SPLM led by late John Garang after marathon peace talks in Niavasha Kenya. South –north Sudan civil war or what is called Anyanya rebellion started in 1955, before the independence of Sudan. Although Al-basher and his comrades blundered when they fallaciously tried to give this war an Islamic tag to secure the support of Northern Sudanese to defeat SPL rebels armed and financed by international lobbies and regional powers but time showed the ineffectiveness of al-basher´s recruitment strategy.
During Machacos-Naivasha peace talks 2002-2005, the delegation of national congress party led by Ghazi salahu-din –on contrary to the affront al-basher´s camp are egocentrics, irreconcilables and other mumbo jumbo used by those who castigate them- showed political maturity, pragmatism and unwavering commitment for peace, the various protocols embodied by the final agreement between the national congress party led by Omar Al-basher and SPLM substantiate that al-basher´s camp made some bold and remarkable concessions for the sake of peace in sudan.al-basher´s government invested huge efforts on exploring Sudan´s oil wealth with the help of among others, Chinese and Malaysian owned oil companies, after Sudan´ oil was exported to world markets, Sudan economy flourished and the living conditions of Sudanese improved and for the first time Sudan´s current account entered surplus in 2000-2001. Sudan´s oil would not have been discovered and exported with out the sincerity of al-basher´s government because previous governments and oil companies operating in Sudan before 1989 were creating systematic obstacle aimed at to deny Sudan´s people to benefit their natural resources.
The failed assassination attempt of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in Ethiopia 1995, heralded a turning point for the relations between Sudan and it´s Arab counter parts, al-basher, for his belief that improving relations with Arab countries particularly the neighboring Egypt after years of isolation will best serve for the people of Sudan, he took several constructive steps to ease the tension between Khartoum and the Arab world. This heroic decision was followed by improving relations with the United States after 11/September to dismiss claims that Sudan harbors terrorist and say to the whole world "Al-Qaida will not get a foot hold in Sudan".
It is palpable that Sudan government´s poor management for Darfur conflict triggered the killing of civilian villagers, rape and massacre of Darfur women. Sudanese government did not react swiftly to crack down on and dismantle janjaweed militias to contain the conflict but I do believe that circles with in the international community fueled The flames of Darfur war or acted politically and militarily not only to perpetuate the suffering of Darfur people but to spill the conflict over the entire Sudan for regime change agenda.
At the political level, the international community did not pressure Darfur rebel leaders to renounce violence and act positively to the peace process but unfortunately became a staunch defender of the warmongers like the unscrupulous Abdulwahid Mohmed Nur and Khalil Ibrahim while UN and EU criticize and issue diktat for Sudanese government .Former UN envoy to Sudan Jan Prok published on his blog in 2006 a libel denouncing Sudanese government and glorifying rebel leaders, Jan Prok, the UN diplomat, went beyond his mandate when he claimed that government ´s army has been defeated in Darfur and its morale is law in a clear massage to embolden rebel leaders to continue their fight against the government. Jan Prok wrote in his blog "The morale in the government army in north Darfur has gone down - some generals have been sacked; soldiers have refused to fight ". Lack of impartiality on the side of UN and the reluctance of the mushrooming rebel groups exacerbated the situation but the government´s side has been always blamed on the human causalities of the conflict.
At the military level; Many UNMIS troops where killed in Darfur after rebel groups blatantly attacked their garrisons, UN did not take concrete measures to curb the marauding militias of Darfur rebels but constantly pinned blame on Sudanese government. In 2007 10 AU peacekeepers have been killed and 50 others gone missing when Darfur rebels attacked their base in southern Darfur. AU spokesman said "Our camp has been completely destroyed. As many as 1,000 armed men in at least 30 vehicles stormed the base in Haskanita, South Darfur just after sunset in a deliberate and sustained assault".
At The legal level, UN and ICC recruited rebel militias as witnesses and the arrest warrant was issued based on their testimony, at a time UN envoy to Sudan urges the government to review sentences of rebel militias captured after their attack on Omdurman on the pretext they might not get fair trail, Alraed newspaper also published that the current head of UN mission in Sudan Ashraf Gazi admitted that UNMIS leaked information related to Sudan to the international criminal court, in clear violation of the mandate of UNMIS. The leaked information might be used as an evidence against President Al-basher.
In a recent interview with the international criminal court persecutor Luis Moreno –ocampo by foreign policy FP, Mr. Acampo showed his indifference to the disheartening problems of Sudanese folks after ICC orders the arrest of Al-basher, he said when asked the implications of the arrest warrant to Darfur "no. for people in Darfur, nothing could be worse. We need negotiations, but if basher is indicted, he is not the person to negotiate with. Mr. should not be an option for negotiations for Darfur or in fact for south. I believe negotiators have to learn how to adjust to the reality. The court is reality."
The subsequent decision taken by Sudanese government to expel and revoke the licenses of 13 humanitarian organizations and its adverse consequences to the people of Darfur shows the impracticability of Mr. Ocampo´s for mentioned allegations. He is not taking into account that the arrest warrant could plunge the whole country a new era of fragmentation and civil war because northern Sudanese will ardently support Al-basher and will not abandon him. In the worst scenario, Sudan might became a failed state like Somalia, Ocampo and his benefactors will take the responsibility.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27621&Cr=Darfur&Cr1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Sudan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6074808.stm
http://www.darfur.pl/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=295
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4698&page=1
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