Daily Darfur: Desmond Tutu Lays it Down

Much to cover this morning, as we are now one day away from the ICC's announcement on the possible arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir: Desmond Tutu slams African leaders for failing Darfuris in the New York Times, Khalil Ibrahim displays his foolish peacock feathers to the AP, and Rob Crilly reports on the plight of those recently displaced by clashes in Darfur. Read on.

Smack Down, Arch-Style

My love for Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate and former Archbishop of the Anglican Church in South African (referred to by many there as "The Arch"), grew exponentially this morning, with this piece in the New York Times:

"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."

Tutu slams the African Union and the Group of 77 for their support of Bashir, and speaks out against the oft-repeated claim that the ICC has a biased focus on Africa:

"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."

(Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Gaddafi.)

Justice is for the victims, Tutu writes --- and without justice, there can be no peace. Impunity is what got us into this mess in the first place.

Enough with the Bravado, Khalil.

Khalil Ibrahim issued an incredibly unhelpful threat to the government, warning that his rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) will retaliate if Khartoum takes out its vengence on Darfuri civilians after the ICC announcement:

"If they harm civilians, JEM will react," Ibrahim said. "Even in Khartoum, JEM is ready to protect the civilians - it is our historical responsibility," he told AFP by telephone.

<Slap palm to forehead.> This might sound heroic, but in reality, a violent reaction by JEM will only serve to fuel more government violence against civilians --- this is the "historical" pattern: Civilians are targeted by the government's counterinsurgency campaign against the rebels, and the JEM can't do a thing to protect them from Antonov bombers. And threatening to invade Khartoum, well...that's what got a bunch of your fellow countrymen in a bit of trouble last May.

Mounting Tension On-the-Ground

The AP reports that UNAMID peacekeepers are "prepared" (whatever that means) for a violent backlash if the ICC issues an arrest warrant for Bashir tomorrow, should one occur. Alain LeRoy, the UN's peacekeeping chief, said the UN was "rather reassured" by recent discussions with Khartoum over the need to protect peacekeepers from reprisals, but that he is concerned by troop build-ups along the Chadian border:

"'There are increasing tensions, more military forces from the Chadian side on the Sudanese border ... probably Chadian rebels,' he said.

While the U.N. has no proof that the 'drastically increased' build-up on the border with the Darfur region is linked to the ruling by the court, Le Roy said the timing was probably "in the head" of those involved in beefing up the force."

Rob Crilly has a devastating dispatch from Darfur in the Christian Science Monitor; in the piece, he speaks to one of the 50,000 Darfuris displaced by last month's fighting around the South Darfur town of Muhajiriya:

"Suleiman, a father of 30, gathered up the seven children he still had living at home as gunmen on camels and horses swept through the town just as dawn was breaking.

They walked for two hours to a neighboring village before venturing back the next day to salvage what they could.

'There was nothing left. All my animals were gone, my goats, everything,' he said.

His home had been torched."

Other items of note...

Sean Brooks, writing for the Save Darfur blog, reports on government retaliation against Sudanese human rights groups ahead of the ICC decision.

Also from the Save Darfur blog: Demonstrations are planned in NYC and DC tomorrow and Thursday, respectively.