Commit Genocide, Get a Great New Job!

by Martha Heinemann Bixby · 2008-11-15 08:37:00 UTC
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Over at Voices on Genocide Prevention, Brigit Conley-Zilkic of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Committee on Conscience has an interview with Adeeb Yousif, a Darfuri human rights activist.

This is a particularly important interview to listen to, because Adeeb's work focuses on the plight of Internally Displaced Persons - people who have been pushed from their homes, but haven't made it out of Sudan.  As Adeeb emphasizes:

"Unfortunately, the internally displaced persons [IDPs], there is nobody responsible for them. The internally displaced persons [IDPs] are supposed to receive the security and protection from their government. But unfortunately, unfortunately indeed, the government of Sudan, they are the ones who made this genocide for the internally displaced persons. And they force them to run to the camps. So, now they are in a situation where they need protection. They are in a situation where they need services like water, education, health, nutrition."

Adeeb elaborates:

The people in the camps they are feeling insecurity. Not only insecurity, but there is a real attack on the internally displaced persons. In August of 2008, just like 2 months ago, the government of Sudan and militias they attacked a camp called Kalma, this is in south Darfur, 18 kilometers south of Nyala where they killed 55 persons in one day; they injured 118 persons in 1 day; and they abduct some of the children. The same incidents happening in Nertity in North Darfur. The same incidents happen in Zum Zum, in South Darfur, and in most of the internally displaced persons camps. The government and the militia come there, attack the displaced persons, and they took whatever they have.

Learning more about the plight of IDPs in Darfur is germane given all the recent discussion on Change.org about the International Criminal Court and justice vs. peace (see Michael's position, and Michelle's).  What's the connection?  Just look at the story of Ahmed Haroun, Sudan's Minister for Humanitarian Affairs (photo at right). Formerly Sudan's Minister of the Interior, he was indicted by the International Criminal Court for his contributions to the "counter-insurgency campaign" in Darfur.  Instead of turning him over to the ICC, the Sudanese government put Haroun in charge of providing for and protecting the Internally Displaced Persons in Darfur. As we learn from Adeeb, those IDPs aren't doing so well under Haroun's tender loving care.

The question is: what's the answer?  Does Haroun's new job mean that the Sudanese government will take out its frustrations with international justice on the innocent civilians of Darfur?  Or does it show that it's even more important to get indicted criminals out of positions of power and into the hands of the International Criminal Court?

Map of IDP camps courtesy of USAID, photo of Ahmed Haroun from WantedforWarCrimes.org

Martha Heinemann Bixby
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