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invite commentaries from writers all over. The subject is about
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but we are not necessarily responsible for the opinions expressed
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Will Africa Let Sudan Off the Hook?
By DESMOND TUTU
THE expected issuance of an arrest warrant for President Omar
Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan by the International Criminal Court
tomorrow presents a stark choice for African leaders — are they
on the side of justice or on the side of injustice? Are they on
the side of the victim or the oppressor? The choice is clear but
the answer so far from many African leaders has been shameful.
Because the victims in Sudan are African, African leaders should
be the staunchest supporters of efforts to see perpetrators
brought to account. Yet rather than stand by those who have
suffered in Darfur, African leaders have so far rallied behind
the man responsible for turning that corner of Africa into a
graveyard.
In response to news last July that Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the
court’s chief prosecutor, was seeking an arrest warrant for
President Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity and war
crimes, the African Union issued a communiqué to the United
Nations Security Council asking it to suspend the court’s
proceedings. Rather than condemn the genocide in Darfur, the
organization chose to underscore its concern that African
leaders are being unfairly singled out and to support President
Bashir’s effort to delay court proceedings.
More recently, the Group of 77, an influential organization at
the United Nations consisting of 130 developing states and
including nearly every African country, gave Sudan its
chairmanship. The victory came after African members endorsed
Sudan’s candidacy in spite of the imminent criminal charges
against its president.
I regret that the charges against President Bashir are being
used to stir up the sentiment that the justice system — and in
particular, the international court — is biased against Africa.
Justice is in the interest of victims, and the victims of these
crimes are African. To imply that the prosecution is a plot by
the West is demeaning to Africans and understates the commitment
to justice we have seen across the continent.
It’s worth remembering that more than 20 African countries were
among the founders of the International Criminal Court, and of
the 108 nations that joined the court, 30 are in Africa. That
the court’s four active investigations are all in Africa is not
because of prosecutorial prejudice — it is because three of the
countries involved (Central African Republic, Congo and Uganda)
themselves requested that the prosecutor intervene. Only the
Darfur case was referred to the prosecutor by the Security
Council. The prosecutor on his own initiative is considering
investigations in Afghanistan, Colombia and Georgia.
African leaders argue that the court’s action will impede
efforts to promote peace in Darfur. However, there can be no
real peace and security until justice is enjoyed by the
inhabitants of the land. There is no peace precisely because
there has been no justice. As painful and inconvenient as
justice may be, we have seen that the alternative — allowing
accountability to fall by the wayside — is worse.
The issuance of an arrest warrant for President Bashir would be
an extraordinary moment for the people of Sudan — and for those
around the world who have come to doubt that powerful people and
governments can be called to account for inhumane acts. African
leaders should support this historic occasion, not work to
subvert it.
Desmond Tutu, the former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town,
received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. |
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party officials to the new administration. ....More
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Will Africa Let Sudan Off the Hook?
Commentary, March 3, Ghanadot - THE expected issuance
of an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of
Sudan by the International Criminal Court tomorrow presents
a stark choice for African leaders — are they on the side of
justice or on the side of injustice?.....
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