Daily Darfur: Jeers in Kampala, Cautious Hope in the U.S.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir may be making an international display out of his busy travel schedule, but at least one other member of his regime did not experience similar hospitality.
Presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ishmael was booed by an audience of university students in Kampala, Uganda on Saturday, while speaking at a conference titled, "Is international jurisdiction in emergent democracies possible or desirable?" Ishmael, predictably, argued that the International Criminal Court was conspiring to thwart Bashir's "good leadership."
The students didn't buy it:
"The presidential adviser's speech was full of concoction and distorted information. Bashir will face the mighty hand of justice," said David Aleer, a Sudanese law student at Makerere University.
"The arrest of Bashir is overdue. The atrocities he has committed are crystal clear," remarked Rick Doar James, a law student at Kampala University.
Tim Twesigye of Uganda Christian University said the African Union could not stop the atrocities in Sudan.
"The sooner Bashir is prosecuted, the better," he said, amid applause.
Hopeful?
"In some cases, some of the very same people will go back, wearing a different title, but providing the same service. ... They will work it out," Kerry (D-MA) tells NPR's Robert Siegel. "The key is to get the humanitarian assistance back as fast as possible up to 100 percent capacity, and under the agreement there is a joint evaluation by the United States and the government of Sudan."
Kerry also said that, during his trip to Sudan last week, he "found a government that is far more willing to move on other issues that are important to the United States," but also said that "if they hope to establish a new relationship with the United States," Khartoum needs to follow through with the agreement on the resumption of aid.
The optimism is certainly refreshing, after the last two months of doomsday predictions --- this is only the beginning of a long and difficult engagement, but hopefully it's at least a step in the right direction (and not a blind-folded move towards a cliff).
Other items of note...
Fire damaged the headquarters of the UNAMID peacekeeping force in El Fasher, North Dafur, causing an estimated $4 million in damage.
Discussions over Darfur featured into the drama at the UN racism conference in Geneva:
"Gibreil Hamid, president of the Darfur Peace and Development Center, told the meeting in Geneva Sunday that while Islamic and Arab governments wanted to speak about the Palestinian issue at Durban II, they would not discuss Darfur.
Darfuris, who although Muslims are not Arabs, were treated as second-class citizens, Hamid was quoted as saying."
[Photo: Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir waves his cane to supporters during his visit to the western Darfur town of Zalengi, Sudan Tuesday, April 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Abd Raouf)]
Michelle .
has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
COMMENTS (1)