Daily Darfur: Weak Knees at the UN

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir continues to show the world that he earned that arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) --- and thus far, the international community has done a miserable job of putting a lid on his campaign against humanitarian aid operations in Darfur.

A special meeting of the UN Security Council adjourned on Friday after members failed to agree on a statement demanding Bashir readmit 13 aid agencies expelled from Darfur in the hours after the ICC announcement. To no big surprise, China was the main spoiler of the resolution, despite the country's assertion that all parties should make "positive contributions" towards peace.

Apart from the UNSC meeting, US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice has a "forceful conversation" on Friday with her counterpart from Sudan:

"‘The United States is gravely concerned by the reckless decision of the Sudanese government,' Rice told reporters after the meeting. Rice said that her Sudanese counterpart told her that U.N. relief agencies and others could easily ‘pick up the slack and that his government will do its part to protect its civilians. I noted that that was hardly a credible proposition in light of the last five years' history.'"

Aid groups also met with the White House last week to discuss US efforts to pressure Bashir to reverse the decision.

From the Peanut Gallery

The Justice and Equality Movement, the most prominent Darfur rebel group, is threatening to oust Bashir if the international community fails to intervene:

"If the international community fail to act ... we will go to Khartoum and topple the regime ourselves - we are quite capable of that," said Ahmed Hussein, spokesman for the organisation and a member of JEM's Executive Leadership Office.

Dear Ahmed,

Actually, I don't think that you are capable of that, but I admire your chutzpah. If my memory serves me right (and, it does), your past attempts to attack Khartoum brought nasty reprisals against the people of Darfur, which leads me to speculate that similar action now would be less than helpful. But I can see that you're in a touch spot: From my perspective, I'd say the JEM should lay down its arms and let Bashir be the sole perpetrator, the lone villain --- his justification for his campaign in Darfur is that he's engaged in counterinsurgency, against you. If there's no counterinsurgency, his argument loses any shred of legitimacy. However, I can see how you would be frustrated with the rest of the world, and feel the need to go it alone. The RPF had to drive the Hutu extremists out of Rwanda 1994 ...but I really don't think it will play out that way this time. Think about it.

Hugs.

Michelle

Showing His True Colors

Bashir spent his weekend rubbing a bit of salt in the collective wounds of Darfuris, by staging a huge anti-ICC/anti-West rally in El Fasher, North Darfur. (Note, in the photo above, that someone didn't get the memo that the US has had a slight change in administrations.) From a radio program in Australia:

"MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: But Melissa McCullough from the Darfur Australia Network says sources in Sudan have told her organisation this morning that the rally is no indication of local support for the Sudanese President.

MELISSA MCCULLOUGH: He said the protestors were largely comprised of the security personnel wearing civilian clothing and that government officials have shutdown local schools and are now using force and the threat of violence to demand that the youth participate in these rallies.

MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: Omar al-Bashir went on to tell the crowd that he would throw more aid workers, peacekeepers and diplomats out of the country if they didn't obey Sudanese law."

...which would be fine and dandy if the aid worker actually were violating Sudanese law. Bashir accused humanitarian agencies of supporting the ICC investigation when he through 13 of them out of the country last week --- a charge which they vehemently deny. In all of their global operations, humanitarian organizations are neurotically carefully about remaining apolitical, for the express purposes of rising above such accusations and focusing purely on the assistance of those in need.

In his op-ed in yesterday's New York Times, Nick Kristof offers:

"My hunch is that Mr. Bashir's calculation is twofold. First, he hopes that if there's enough suffering in Darfur, the United Nations Security Council will approve a one-year delay in the court's proceedings (he miscalculated, for that won't happen). Second, he has long wanted to get rid of aid workers in Darfur, partly because they are the world's eyes and ears there."

But in what is hopefully a bit of reliable good news, the secretary general of the Arab League said this weekend that no additional groups would be expelled.

And, despite the turmoil over the aid group expulsions, UNAMID reports that the military situation in Darfur remains calm.

Other items of note...

The Boston Globe wrote yesterday that reservations over the arrest warrant are "outweighed by the need for justice" --- and not justice for its own sake, but to end the decades of impunity that continue to fuel Bashir's violent regime.

Congressional statements on the ICC announcement, courtesy of the Genocide Intervention Network.

"War: Through the Eyes of a Child" by Kristen at the Orange County for Darfur blog.

Finally, the  i-Act team at Stop Genocide Now is getting ready to embark on yet another trip to the Chad/Darfur border, and they need your help.

[Photo: Thousands of Sudanese listen to President Omar al-Beshir as he speaks to the crowds during his visit to the North Darfur state capital of el-Fasher. Beshir, on his first visit to Darfur since an international warrant for his arrest, on Sunday warned peacekeepers and aid groups to obey Sudan law or face expulsion. (AFP/Khaled Desouki) ]