Arrest Warrant Issued For Sudan's Thuggish President

This should have happened years ago, but it is a step in the right direction. Sudan's regime in Khartoum has been a willing and capable participant and enabler of the Darfur genocide and ethnic cleansing. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has repeatedly thwarted international efforts to assist the millions of Darfur refugees, whether it was the United Nations or the African Union. An arrest warrant was issued for Bashir.

The Netherlands-based International Criminal Court on Wednesday announced an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Darfur region — a move that could provoke a violent backlash.

But the three-judge panel said there was insufficient evidence to support charges of genocide.

"He is suspected of being criminally responsible ... for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property," court spokeswoman Laurence Blairon said.
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Many observers are nervous about the fallout over the ICC's first warrant against a sitting head of state since it started work in 2002.

ICC prosecutors accuse al-Bashir of ordering war crimes in Sudan's western region of Darfur, where the Arab-led government is trying to put down a rebellion by the ethnic African population. At least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million driven from their homes in fighting since 2003.

The arrest warrant was issued by the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands but it falls short of indicting him on charges of genocide. I don't see much coming from it and the Sudanese thug will simply shrug this off, just as he has watched hundreds of thousands murdered and millions displaced by the janjaweed and his own militias throughout Western Sudan. Sudan doesn't recognize the court's jurisdiction.

Actually, Bashir did more than just shrug it off. He said that the ICC could eat it.

Campaigning for his National Congress Party (NCP) outside Khartoum on Tuesday, President Bashir discounted the importance of the ICC's looming decision, saying that the Court could "eat" the indictment. Vice President Salva Kiir, a former southern rebel leader who now shares power with Bashir in a coalition government, struck a more conciliatory line.

"In the event of the court agreeing with the chief prosecutor," Mr. Kiir said on Tuesday, "the [Sudan People's Liberation Movement] will work with its partners in the NCP on how to politically and diplomatically handle the decision of the court." He urged the international community to remain engaged in Sudan, whatever the decision, warning, "The collapse of peace in Sudan shall not only hurt the Sudan itself, but shall also have serious repercussions in the region."

In Khartoum, some foreign embassies beefed up security for fear that Sudanese thugs might engage in some kind of demonstration or violence against governments that back the ICC efforts to bring the murderous thugs in Sudan to justice.

Sudan has done little to provide stability in the region, and the Darfur genocide and ethnic cleansing has meant that there are more than 2 million refugees scattered in the region and neighboring countries that are ill equipped to deal with the situation.

Of course, there are others who think that the ICC indictment will actually lead to greater woes for Darfur and Sudan. They're worried that it might lead to a renewal of the civil war that resulted in more than 2 million dead.

UPDATE:
Sudan expels an aid group that was helping Darfur refugees. Classy.