On March 4, 2009, a Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced its historic decision to issue an arrest warrant charging Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes for his leadership role in orchestrating the conflict in Darfur.

The charges against Mr. Bashir include murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, rape, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, and pillaging. Notably absent from the warrant is the charge of genocide.

This decision marks the first time the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for a sitting head of state.

Some have contended that an ICC indictment of the President of Sudan, which enforces international law and holds him accountable for his crimes, is necessary for sustained peace. Others are concerned that such an indictment could negatively impact the peace negotiations, prolonging war or perhaps even accelerating it – resulting in more deaths, sexual violence, destruction, and misery. These debates intensified in July 2008, when the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo presented evidence of crimes to a panel of ICC judges and asked them to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President al-Bashir on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for his leadership role in orchestrating violence in Darfur.

The Sudanese government has said it will resist the ICC request, contending that Bashir is innocent. Two others in Sudan – Ahmad Harun, Minister in charge of security, and Ali Kushayb, a janjaweed militia leader – were indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the ICC in 2007. They were not considered senior enough to impact peace negotiations.

Following the announcement of the arrest warrant, the Sudanese government expelled several humanitarian aid agencies from Sudan, jeopardizing the lives of millions.

On March 5, 2009, the Museum issued a press statement, decrying the eviction of aid agencies in Darfur and Southern Sudan.

Podcast Interviews with Experts

Click here for a podcast interview with Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, formerly a judge and president of the ICTY, who discusses the significance of the ICC’s March 4 decision.

Click here for a podcast interview from July with international law expert William Schabas, who discusses the decision of the prosecutor for the ICC to request an arrest warrant for President Bashir.

Background on the International Criminal Court

Based in The Hague, the Netherlands, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent judicial body established to try individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It prosecutes individuals when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so. The Court emerged from the 1998 Conference in Rome and came into force in 2002, after the 60th nation ratified the treaty. Presently, 108 state parties have joined the treaty.

Heavily engaged in ICC negotiations, the United States signed the Rome Statute under the Clinton administration in 2000, but identified certain aspects of the treaty requiring further negotiation. President Clinton recommended that the Senate delay ratification until U.S. concerns were met about the treaty’s jurisdiction over nationals of states that were non-parties for acts committed on territory of states party to the treaty and the prosecutor’s authority to initiate cases on his/her own. Citing these objections, the Bush administration effectively deactivated the U.S. signature on the Rome Statute in 2002.

Since 2002, the Court has received one referral from the United Nations Security Council for Darfur, Sudan and has accepted three state referrals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and the Central African Republic.

In 2005, the Security Council referred allegations of crimes in Darfur to the ICC. The council referral exempted the nationals of nonparties from any claim of jurisdiction on the part of the court and consequently the U.S. abstained from vetoing the resolution. The ICC subsequently opened an investigation into the crimes committed in Darfur.

Background on President Bashir

Born in 1944, Omar al-Bashir orchestrated a military coup in 1989 that overthrew President Sadeq al-Mahdi’s democratically elected government. He assumed control by banning all political parties and cracking down on the press and other rights. Shortly after attaining power, Bashir appointed himself chief of state, prime minister, and minister of defense.

In 1999, President Bashir consolidated his dictatorial control when he removed his chief threat: once ally and former leader of the National Islamic Front, Hassan al-Turabi, who was then serving as Speaker of the National Assembly. That same year, Bashir declared a state of national emergency, suspended the constitution, and disbanded the National Assembly.

In 2004, Bashir’s government negotiated an end to the two and a half decade civil war between north and south Sudan that killed at least 2 million people, mostly civilians, and displaced more than 4 million people. Around that same time, Bashir’s government started receiving criticism for its role in Darfur, Sudan’s western province where hundreds of thousands have died and millions have lost their homes since 2003. In July 2008, the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court to issue an arrest warrant for President Bashir, charging him several counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for the government’s role in orchestrating violence in Darfur.

As the nation approaches the swearing in of America’s 44th president, and as the 114th Congress gets underway, a group of bipartisan leaders joins the Genocide Prevention Task Force’s call for the new administration and congressional leaders to make preventing genocide and mass atrocities a national priority.

The Genocide Prevention Task Force, co-chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, was jointly convened by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The American Academy of Diplomacy and the United States Institute of Peace. Its recently released report, Preventing Genocide: A Blueprint for U.S. Policymakers, offers practical recommendations on how to prevent genocide and mass atrocities.

“We are keenly aware that the incoming president’s agenda will be daunting from Day One. But preventing genocide and mass atrocities is not an idealistic addition to our core foreign policy agenda. It is a moral and strategic imperative,” said Secretaries Albright and Cohen.

A number of influential individuals have lauded the Genocide Prevention Task Force report.

Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III said of the report, The Genocide Prevention Task Force is right: When it comes to responding to genocide, the choice should not be between doing nothing and large-scale military action. The former is unconscionable; the latter is often politically impossible. But developed countries working with the United States can cooperate to agree upon early prevention strategies. An ounce of prevention may be worth a pound of cure. The task force's blueprint for preventing genocide appears to be a reasonable approach that American political leaders should consider because one thing is evident, mass atrocities and the regional instabilities sparked thereby can threaten American values and interests.”

Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher commended the report, calling it a “unique blueprint for preventing genocide rather than relying on military force which always seems to come too late.”

Justice Richard Goldstone, who served as Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, said: “This is a superb report. It convincingly demonstrates that the prevention of genocide is consistent with the core values and in the national interests of the U.S.”

Preventing Genocide: A Blueprint for U.S. Policymakers has also been praised by officials from a number of foreign embassies and several non-governmental organizations. The release of the report has been widely covered in national and international media.

This month, the Genocide Prevention Task Force continues to brief key figures and other audiences on its findings and recommendations. The task force was funded by Humanity United and other private organizations. About the Convening Organizations:

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, a living memorial to the Holocaust, inspires citizens and leaders to confront hatred, promote human dignity and prevent genocide. Federal support guarantees the Museum’s permanence, and its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by donors nationwide.

The American Academy of Diplomacy is dedicated to strengthening the resources and tools America brings to managing its diplomatic challenges, and accomplishes this through outreach programs, lectures, awards, and writing competitions. In doing so, the Academy promotes an understanding of the importance of diplomacy to serving our nation and enhancing America’s standing in the world.

The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established and funded by Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and development, and increase peacebuilding capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide. The Institute does this by empowering others with knowledge, skills, and resources, as well as by directly engaging in peacebuilding efforts around the globe.

For more information on the Genocide Prevention Task Force, and to download a copy of the report, see:

http://www.ushmm.org
http://www.academyofdiplomacy.org
http://www.usip.org

The Genocide Prevention Task Force today released its final report on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The report makes the case for why genocide and mass atrocities threaten core American values and national interests, and how the U.S. government can prevent these crimes in the future.

Jointly convened by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The American Academy of Diplomacy, and the United States Institute of Peace, the Task Force began its work last November with the goal of generating concrete recommendations to enhance the U.S. government’s capacity to recognize and respond to emerging threats of genocide and mass atrocities.

“The world agrees that genocide is unacceptable and yet genocide and mass killings continue,” said Madeleine K. Albright, former Secretary of State and Co-Chair of the Genocide Prevention Task Force. “We believe that preventing genocide is possible, and that striving to do so is imperative both for our national interests and our leadership position in the world.“

“This report provides a blueprint that can enable the United States to take preventive action, along with international partners, to forestall the specter of future cases of genocide and mass atrocities,” said William S. Cohen, former Secretary of Defense and Co-Chair of the Genocide Prevention Task Force. “There is a choice for U.S. policymakers between doing nothing and large-scale military intervention. We hope this report will help us utilize those options.”

Other Members of the Genocide Prevention Task Force include: John Danforth, Thomas Daschle, Stuart Eizenstat, Michael Gerson, Dan Glickman, Jack Kemp, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, Thomas R. Pickering, Vin Weber, Anthony Zinni, and Julia Taft who passed away earlier this year.

The report, which is entitled “Preventing Genocide: A Blueprint for U.S. Policymakers”, asserts that genocide is preventable, and that making progress toward doing so begins with leadership and political will. The report provides 34 recommendations, starting with the need for high-level attention, standing institutional mechanisms, and strong international partnerships to respond to potential genocidal situations when they arise; it lays out a comprehensive approach, recommending improved early warning mechanisms, early action to prevent crises, timely diplomatic responses to emerging crises, greater preparedness to employ military options, and action to strengthen global norms and institutions.

“We are keenly aware that the incoming president’s agenda will be massive and daunting from day one,” Secretaries Albright and Cohen noted. “But preventing genocide and mass atrocities is not an idealistic add-on to our core foreign policy agenda. It is a moral and strategic imperative.”

The Task Force calls for the development of a new government-wide policy on genocide prevention, which would include the following specific actions designed to better equip the U.S. government to prevent genocide and mass atrocities:

* Having the president himself demonstrate that preventing genocide is a national priority, for example by an early executive order, and continuing public statements on genocide prevention.
* Creating an interagency Atrocities Prevention Committee at the National Security Council to analyze threats of genocide and mass atrocities and consider appropriate preventive action.
* Making warning of genocide or mass atrocities an “automatic trigger” of policy review.
* Developing military guidance on genocide prevention and response and incorporating it into doctrine and training.
* Preparing interagency genocide prevention and response plans for high-risk situations.
* Investing $250 million in new funds for crisis prevention and response, with a portion of this available for urgent activities to prevent or halt emerging genocidal crises.
* Launching a major diplomatic initiative to create an international network for information-sharing and coordinated action to prevent genocide and mass atrocities.
* Providing assistance to build capacity of international partners-including the UN and regional organizations-to prevent genocide and mass atrocities.
The report concludes that “a core challenge for American leaders is to persuade others-in the U.S. government, across the United States, and around the world, that preventing genocide is more than just a humanitarian aspiration, but a national and global imperative.”

The Task Force was funded by Humanity United and other private organizations.

About the Convening Organizations:

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, a living memorial to the Holocaust, inspires citizens and leaders to confront hatred, promote human dignity and prevent genocide. Federal support guarantees the Museum’s permanence, and its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by donors nationwide.

The American Academy of Diplomacy is dedicated to strengthening the resources and tools America brings to managing its diplomatic challenges, and accomplishes this through outreach programs, lectures, awards, and writing competitions. In doing so, the Academy promotes an understanding of the importance of diplomacy to serving our nation and enhancing America’s standing in the world.

The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established and funded by Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and development, and increase peacebuilding capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide. The Institute does this by empowering others with knowledge, skills, and resources, as well as by directly engaging in peacebuilding efforts around the globe.

The report may be downloaded for free at:

http://www.ushmm.org
http://www.academyofdiplomacy.org
http://www.usip.org