Damanga Responds to Arab League’s Defense of Al-Bashir

July 30, 2008

     The Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy has closely followed the reaction of the Arab League to the decision by Luis Moreno-Ocampo, lead prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, to charge Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Arab leaders had extensive meetings to look for a way to prevent the ICC from indicting al-Bashir. They have been using their powerful influence to pressure the ICC to drop its charges. They even accused Moreno-Ocampo of having political motives and of undermining possible peace in Sudan. The Arab League believes an ICC indictment of al-Bashir will make the humanitarian situation in Darfur even worse; al-Bashir has said an indictment would cause him to force the peacekeepers and humanitarian workers out of Sudan, causing a further deterioration of the situation in Darfur.

Damanga appreciates all of the efforts of those trying to solve the Darfur crisis. The Arab League had to know that al-Bashir was is guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the people of Darfur. These targeted people include tribes such as the Fur, Massalit, Zaghawa, and others. This systematic campaign has continued since 1993 until the present day. The same Arab League, and all leaders of Arab governments, have completely ignored al-Bashir’s actions against the people of Darfur. Some of them have even denied what is going on in Darfur simply because al-Bashir is an Arab, making it acceptable. This is why they have never taken the initiative to stop the genocide in Darfur.
Now it is far too late to ask the ICC to change its charges against al-Bashir and Sudanese government ministers Ahmad Haroun, and militia leader Ali Kushaib. The indictment should go through, it must go through. This has nothing to do with al-Bashir’s current changing behavior that he is putting on for the public, we cannot let him get away with what has happened and what will continue to happen. Samir Hosni, head of the Africa Department of the pan-Arab organization said today, “In light of the plan approved by the Sudanese government, I can say that the Sudanese government is now moving along a good path (to find settlement to the crisis.)” Unfortunately, it is too late. Al-Bashir should have paved this “good path” long ago when all of the international community pleaded, asked, and begged him to stop the killings, accept the peacekeepers, and allow humanitarian aid. Unfortunately, he has never listened. because his intention is to wipe out Black-Africans from Darfur, and replace them with Arab families, relatives of the Janjaweed militias. Most of these missions have indeed been supported by these Arab leaders!
Those who have been killed by al-Bashir in Darfur number almost over half a million, regardless of the United Nation’s humble estimate of 300,000. Also there have been 3.5 million displaced, thousands of women and girls raped, not to mention incomprehensible and uncountable numbers of horrible crimes committed. Everything has been well documented, and al-Bashir MUST pay for the lives he has taken. Whether or not the situation has begun to change since the indictment, the damage has already been done and will continue. The ICC must follow through with its indictment and bring justice to the people of Darfur. The plan the Arab League designed on July 19 to help al-Bashir resolve the problems of Darfur was actually a plan to help him escape punishment for his crimes. The Sudanese government claims to be committed to enacting new laws soon “to guarantee that crimes of genocide, ethnic purging, and war crimes be enumerated in the Sudanese civilian penal code so that their perpetrators could be punished by law.” That will never serve as an alternative to the charges by the ICC simply because that this new law would be made by the perpetrators of the crimes against Darfuris, who will never charge themselves with anything! This is a desperate attempt by Sudan to get the international community off of its back. The only way to bring justice and peace to Darfur and the rest of Sudan is to truly hold the criminals accountable.