Sudan
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.
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.
* Click here for a podcast interview with Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, formerly a judge and president of the ICTY.
* Click here for a podcast interview with international law expert William Schabas.
* Click here to read the full decision by the International Criminal Court.
Posted By:
Michael Graham | March 04, 2009 |
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UPDATE: See at bottom of post for a list of humanitarian organizations expelled and the expected impact on the ground.
In the wake of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, the Sudanese government has expelled at least twelve major aid organizations working in Darfur, and sources suggest it plans to expel even more.
The groups have been responsible for delivering lifesaving aid to millions of Darfur civilians caught up in violence over the past 5 years.
The groups expelled include Oxfam, CARE, MSF-Holland, Mercy Corps, Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council, the International Rescue Committee, Action Contre la Faim, Solidarites and CHF International.
According to the Sudan Media Center two Sudanese organizations were also expelled, supposedly for cooperating with the ICC: the Khartoum Center for Human Rights and Environmental Development and the Khartoum Amal Center for the Rehabilitation of the Victims of Violence.
This retaliation against humanitarian relief groups, whose work is non-political and independent from the ICC, will cut off millions from health services, food and other lifesaving care.
Operational director of MSF Holland, Arjan Hehenkamp, expressed outrage and stressed the impartiality of the humanitarian relief groups. “It is absurd that we as an independent and impartial organization have been caught up in a political and judicial process. MSF has worked tirelessly to deliver medical aid to the people of Darfur since the beginning of the crisis. It is completely unacceptable that the people of Darfur are being deprived of essential medical care.”
The Museum has issued a statement strongly condemning the expulsion of the aid groups.
Expulsion of 13 Darfur Aid Groups & Repercussions
Groups Expelled:
1. Oxfam GB
* Program in Darfur is group’s biggest in the world.
* Operates in rural and refugee camps.
* Provides clean water and sanitation services.
* Its expulsion affects 400,000 people in Darfur, 200,000 elsewhere in Sudan.
2. CARE International
* Has worked in Sudan for 28 years.
* Key food distributor in Darfur.
* Also provides emergency nutrition and primary health care for refugees and villagers.
* Serves nearly 1.5 million people.
3. Medecins Sans Frontieres – Holland
* Operates in south Darfur, often only health provider in rebel-controlled areas.
* Handles a recent meningitis outbreak in a refugee camp housing more than 90,000 people.
* Says its expulsion leaves more than 200,000 sick Darfurians without medical care.
4. Medecins Sans Frontieres – France
* Operates in west and central Darfur, single medical provider in most rebel-held areas there.
* MSF-France also handling recent meningitis outbreak in central Darfur.
5
* Mercy Corps – US
* Active in Sudan for five years.
* Trains health workers, builds schools and provides skill training for women.
* Assists nearly 200,000 people uprooted from their homes by the violence and living in displacement camps.
6. Save the Children Fund – UK
* Protects more than 45,000 children from violence and abuse in Darfur.
* Provides education for over 15,000 refugee children.
* Treats malnutrition in 1,000 children under the age of five.
7. Save the Children Fund – US
* Largest international relief group for children in western Darfur.
* Started a program two years ago.
* Distributes food, runs a malnutrition clinic.
* Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
* Works in Sudan since 2004, assists refugees in starting a new life.
* Mainly works with refugees living in Khartoum and returnees to South Sudan.
*. International Rescue Committee (IRC)
* In Sudan since 1981.
* Has four projects in Darfur, including:
* Refugee resettlement
* Health work training
* Education programs for about 1.75 million Darfurians.
10. Action Contre la Faim – France
* Distributes food.
* Provides water and sanitation services in south and northern Darfur.
11. Solidarites – France
* Works in south and west Darfur.
* Provides clean water and distributes food for 300,000 people.
12. CHF International
* Has two projects in northern and southern Darfur.
* Provides shelters for the most recent refugees
* Distributes fuel-efficient stoves.
13. PADCO – US
* Works on a USAID-funded program on revitalizing communities and deepening the local population’s understanding of Sudanese peace agreements.
* Provides in-kind and cash grants.
Groups Left in Darfur & What is Being Done
* The expulsion has removed 40 percent of the aid workers in Darfur, roughly 6,500 national and international staff.
* About 76 international groups had been operating in Darfur, (along with all major U.N. agencies), but the 13 aid groups ordered to leave did most of the work.
* The U.N. is consulting with the remaining NGOs about filling the aid gaps.
What/Who is Being Left Vulnerable:
* According to Catherine Bragg, UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator
* The 13 aid organizations were responsible for at least half of the humanitarian operations in Darfur and are vital partners for U.N. agencies in delivering food and water and providing health care, education and other services.
* 1.1 Million will be without food aid
* 1.1 Million will be without health care
* Over 1 Million will be without potable water
Some camps where aid workers are no longer present:
* Zamzam Camp (Northern Darfur)
* Kalma Camp
* “The Kalma camp is a very dire situation because the NGOs that are providing water and sanitation to that camp are amongst those being expelled. We are looking at the possibility that come next week we will have difficulty of providing water and sanitation in that camp.” -Bragg
Posted By:
Michael Graham | March 05, 2009 |
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This guest post is part of a series on southern Sudan by Enough Project policy assistant Maggie Fick, who is currently conducting research for Enough in the region.
I was recently sitting on the bank of the Nile River in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan. I am in Juba to research some of the myriad challenges facing Sudan and the international community in the next 19 months—before the “interim period” of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, or CPA, ends, and southern Sudan votes in a self-determination referendum for “unity” with or “separation” from northern Sudan. It would be untruthful to say that the situation in southern Sudan is anything other than very grim. The recent violence and death tolls in the South have surpassed the deaths this year in Darfur, and the number of risks and dangers threatening the fragile peace (fostered by the CPA when it was signed in 2005) between Sudan’s North and South are poised to multiply in the run-up to Sudan’s general elections in 2010 and the 2011 referendum to determine whether Sudan will remain as one country or split into two.
When I was sitting by the Nile, I was thinking about some of these dangers and becoming increasingly depressed by what I had learned during my research in Juba. I was absentmindedly watching an old, decrepit barge struggle upstream in the direction of the Nile’s source in Uganda. The barge moved slowly as it fought a rather strong current, and I observed the sorry state of the boat, its hull covered in rust and a torn flag of southern Sudan flying from its mast. Then I noticed that there were about eight men on a small, high platform where the flag was flying. They were dancing up a storm. I couldn’t hear the music, but it was clear that they were enjoying it, because they didn’t stop dancing for as long as I was able to see the barge making its slow progress on the Nile. They were just having fun on an ordinary afternoon of work on their barge.
These men may not know where their next meal is coming from, and their families may have been affected by the recent violence across southern Sudan, from Unity to Jonglei to Lakes states and beyond. I think it is fair to generalize and say that many people in southern Sudan also likely face a great deal of obstacles in their every day lives that would be hard for outsiders like me to fathom, much less grapple with myself. But they were still enjoying themselves that afternoon as they cruised down the Nile. I felt lucky to have witnessed this small moment of joy in the midst of broader circumstances that seem so grim. Witnessing this scene reminded me not to forget the human side of every “charged political climate” or “complex humanitarian emergency.” People are more than “IDPs,” and “inter-communal violence” is more than arms and proxy militias. Sometimes it takes having an unexpected, random experience like this one to remind oneself of the humanity we all share.
Posted By:
Michael Graham | June 22, 2009 |
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This guest post was written by Enough Project staffer Ledio Cakaj. Read more posts about Sudan at Enough’s blog, Enough Said.
“Tell them about our suffering here,” said the Bishop of Yambio of the Sudanese Episcopal Church. “The LRA is killing, raping and looting in our communities and the world does not know about it,” he added.
Bishop Peter’s words came at the end of a meeting I had with Episcopalian pastors from various Western Equatorian districts in South Sudan. Packed in the All Saints Church in Yambio, the capital of Western Equatoria State, or WES, I heard many hours-worth of testimony from people who had been victims of the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, most of them in the past two months.
The village of Yubu, for instance, which is 4 km away from Yambio, was attacked at the end of September. Many people were abducted, some were released but at least six were killed. The remnants of their bodies were collected only a few days before my visit. These events have become common in WES. A report by the U.N. coordination agency estimated 202 LRA related deaths and 131 abductions in September alone.
LRA attacks on the civilian population have been particularly brutal and frequent in and around Ezo, a town close to Sudan’s border with Congo, where the LRA attackers are coming from. As a result, many people have been internally displaced, moving to areas as far as Yambio – a 7 to 10 day trek on foot – trying to escape the LRA.
The displaced people I spoke to in Yambio described how the LRA had destroyed most of their villages around Ezo in search of food. Stories of killings, rape, and looting are again, all too common. There are at least 1,500 displaced people around Yambio living in squalid conditions without much help. An estimated 25,000 people in WES are displaced and most are thought to have fled LRA attacks.
The number of refugees from Congo and Central African Republic are also on the rise. The refugee camp of Makpandu, 45 km northeast of Yambio town, currently houses over 2,500 refugees, and at least 50 people arrive each week, according to the U.N. refugee agency. At least 3,000 refugees are stuck in Ezo town where food distribution is rare due to LRA attacks, but relocation of these refugees to the Makpandu site is on hold until the security situation improves.
In the meantime, LRA attacks in Western Equatoria continue. On October 7, the LRA attacked the village of Nimba near Yambio town. Two women were mutilated and killed.
The attacks have prompted more displacement, misery, and hunger. Food supplies for the local population and the displaced are dwindling because of the looting and destruction. On Wednesday, Governor Jemma Nunu Kumba of Western Equatoria appealed on Radio Miraya FM for swift humanitarian aid to the people of WES. The governor’s plea echoed the words of the director of the Sudanese Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Committee in our meeting: “We had never had people dying of starvation in Western Equatoria until the LRA came.”
Posted By:
Michael Graham | October 26, 2009 |
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“Below is a guest post from the Enough Project‘s southern Sudan field researcher, Maggie Fick, who is based in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan.”
JUBA, Southern Sudan—“We can’t always judge a student as ‘traumatized,’” said Mother Jina, the headmistress of Usratuna Basic Education School, a Catholic primary school in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan. “But their behavior—active, quiet, stubborn—is sometimes difficult for teachers to deal with.” Mother Jina spoke to me about the students at her school who were orphaned during the devastating civil war between Sudan’s North and South, which ended in 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Usratuna opened in 1989, when Juba was a garrison town for the North’s army, the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF. The school remained opened through the most brutal periods of the war, when U.N. planes attempting to bring relief supplies into Juba were shot at regularly by the southern army, or the SPLA, troops surrounding the town. Today, Usratuna has 1,000 students, and is known as one of the best primary schools in Juba.
Despite its strong reputation, the school faces many constraints such as overcrowded classes (between 50 and 85 students per class) and a dearth of resources—the school has no library, few textbooks, and Mother Jina lamented that it can be dangerous for the children to run around the open schoolyard because of soil erosion, poor irrigation, and large ditches in the school’s grounds.
Posted on trees in the schoolyard are wooden painted signs with messages to encourage and advise the students: “Pray Always,” “God Loves You,” “Do Your Homework,” “Don’t Cheat on Exams.” The most meaningful sign to me was one that spoke to the history of the place where these students come from: “Be Educated for a Better Future.”
At first glance, this sign is not out of the ordinary. It could appear on any poster printed by the U.N. or by a development or education organization supporting the message of education and empowerment in any number of countries. But the message struck me as particularly significant in this school in this part of the world. As Mother Jina said, many of her school’s students are clearly traumatized by the direct or indirect effects of the civil war, by decades of conflict and violence in southern Sudan. Even those children whose families fled the South during the war—and who were perhaps born in a refugee camp in neighboring Ethiopia, Uganda, or Congo, or in a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, if they were lucky—are living with the reality of their country’s history. It is not an exaggeration or an insult to say that this history is tortured, painful, and traumatic. However, despite this history, and often even because of this struggle, the people of southern Sudan are also proud. They are hopeful for a better future and they are working towards it.
When I asked a southern army general recently how he felt about the challenges of the current, critical period in the run-up to the nationwide elections and southern self-determination referendum, he said, “A freedom fighter is always hopeful.” This hope is evident in the eyes of some people I have met in Juba, like Mother Jina, who works hard every day to make her school a safe and positive environment for her students. Sadly, some of her students’ young faces seem less hopeful. These children have already witnessed enough of war and its effects to lose hope. It may well take years of peace to change these faces and bring hope back into them.
A special thanks to Mother Jina for her assistance in editing this blog post.
Posted By:
Michael Graham | November 16, 2009 |
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