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Genocide in Darfur: Your thoughts on the Indictment of Sudanese President al-Bashir

The International Criminal Court indictment of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is perhaps the biggest news out of Africa this year. The Sudanese president is the first sitting head of state charged with genocide. As Codrin states in a follow-up article after breaking the news of the indictment:guilty of genocide and rape or victim of western crusade?

” Mr. Al-Bashir thereby becomes the first international leader accused of the highest crimes against humanity. Mr Moreno-Ocampo [the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court] declared he has found ‘reasonable grounds’ to accuse the Sudanese president on ten different counts which include three counts of genocide for killing members of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups; five counts of crimes against humanity for murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape; and two counts of war crimes for attacks on civilian populations in Darfur. ‘Al Bashir failed to defeat the rebels, so he went after the people’…”

The African Union (AU) has called on the ICC to suspend indictments against the Sudanese president; fearing the charges “would not only possibly destabilize the country, but would also endanger the lives of foreign aid workers there”.

Several days earlier, the world watched as the AU grappled to sanction Mugabe during its summit in Egypt. At the end, all it could do was issue some incoherent statements on Mugabe’s tyrannic display of power in Zimbabwe.

  • Is the AU concern valid, or just one of its typical ‘lame duck’ modus operandi, and tendency toward maintaining the status quo when faced with a challenge?
  • Is the ICC indictment a subtle demonstration of AU ineffectiveness addressing and responding to regional conflicts on the continent?
  • What are the implications of al Bashir’s indictment on the geopolitics and stability of the African subregions?
  • Is there more to al Bashir’s indictment…could it be a western crusade against al Bashir? Watch this video clip from Al jazeera
  • At the end, would al-Bashir resort to ’saber-rattling’ and lash out at the international community or quietly settle for peace?

Your thoughts?

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