Tuesday, July 15, 2008 (Washington,
DC) – Yesterday, International Criminal
Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked ICC judges to
charge Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with 10 counts of crimes
against humanity, war crimes, and genocide for the violence
against civilians he has helped orchestrate in Darfur. 
Many
analysts have responded by shrilly condemning this tactic as
obstructive to current peace, security, and humanitarian efforts,
a perception that Khartoum
has fueled through threats of reprisal. In contrast, Africa
Action applauds the ICC’s effort as a step the rest of the international
community should seize as both a refreshing opportunity to impose
consequences on those most responsible for genocide, and a pressure
point to promote civilian protection and fresh peace negotiations.
The pending issuance of an ICC warrant for Bashir
can provide the UN Security Council with vital leverage on Khartoum. The notion that, in this case, the pursuit of justice will
scuttle a peace process for Darfur is misguided.
At present, over five years after the government of Sudan began its ruthless strategy
of counterinsurgency by genocide, there is no political peace
process for the region, to speak of. 
A
failure to address justice and accountability was among the
key factors that doomed the 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA)
from its inception.
“The people of Darfur are
strongly supportive of holding those responsible for genocide
and crimes against humanity accountable, and the ICC is the
only mechanism capable of fulfilling that role at this time,”
said Gerald LeMelle, Executive Director of Africa Action. “That
Khartoum may use this announcement as an
excuse to clamp down on humanitarian operations or wreak new
atrocities on its own people just underscores the importance
of a strong, comprehensive and coordinated response by the different
actors in the international community to Sudan’s
crises.”
While Sudan
is not a party to the Rome Statute, in March 2005, the UN Security
Council adopted Resolution 1593, referring the situation in
Darfur to the ICC. On June 16, 2008, the
Security Council reiterated this commitment, urging “the government
of Sudan
and all other parties to the conflict in Darfur
to fully cooperate with the court.”
A panel of ICC judges must consider Moreno-Ocampo’s
request before any arrest warrant is actually issued. 
This
provides a window of up to several months for the UN Security
Council to decide whether it should support the indictment.
An alternative possibility would be to invoke Article 16 of
the Rome Statue, temporarily suspending prosecution, in exchange
for compliance by the government of Sudan
with the unobstructed deployment of the UNAMID peacekeeping
force and full implementation of the Sudan’s
North-South Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
“While many actors, including rebels, have committed
atrocities during the Darfur conflict and must be held accountable,
it is the government of Sudan
that continues to bear the largest responsibility for the current
humanitarian crisis and the gravest human rights abuses,” said
Michael Swigert, Africa Action’s Associate Director for Policy
and Communications. “Last week’s militia attack in government-controlled
territory that killed seven UNAMID peacekeepers accentuates
this point.”
For further resources on how to end genocide
in Darfur and promote sustainable peace for Sudan,
please visit http://www.africaaction.org,
or contact Michael Swigert at 202-546-7961.
For
additional news and analysis concerning social justice in Africa
visit Pambazuka
News (www.pambazuka.org).
