Misery in Darfur
(DAWN.com May 9, 2009)
According to the UN, some 300,000 lives have been lost in the six-year-long conflict in Darfur, either on account of violence or through starvation and disease. Most, if not all, independent observers have come away from Sudan convinced that the death and destruction unleashed in Darfur has enjoyed the backing of the government in Khartoum.
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Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir became the first sitting head of state to be issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court at The Hague. He is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, charges which in Beshir’s case, according to his critics, appear to be in accordance with the reality on the ground. But here’s the rub.
Several African leaders had warned all along that an indictment by the ICC would prove to be counterproductive, and it seems that they have been proven right. In the current global climate it is unlikely that Beshir will be taken from his homeland. Nor can it be hoped that he will set foot outside of Sudan in the near future and run the risk of being arrested by a government that opts to follow international law and the norms of common decency.
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Omar al-Beshir may well be guilty of all that he is accused of, perhaps even more, but he cannot be brought to trial. As such the ICC indictment will do little else but inflict more misery on the people of Darfur.
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