Yesterday, President Bashir of Sudan was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity for playing an “essential role” in the murder, rape, torture, pillage and displacement of large numbers of civilians in Darfur. This appears to be a great move forward for justice on behalf of the victims of Darfur, but unfortunately justice for the victims does not always entail prosperity for them. As soon as the International Criminal Court—which was established in 2002 to convict crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity—made their decision regarding Bashir, nearly all aid organizations operating in Sudan were ordered to shut down and leave.
To give you an idea of what that will do for the people of this region, I will list some important organizations that currently work there and the extent of their aid. To begin, Oxfam was ordered to leave, which might harm the 600,000 people that currently use its services in that region. The Dutch section of MSF was closed, which offers health care to people in South Darfur—the numbers of people that will be affected by their absence is unknown for the moment. The International Rescue Committee, an organization that also provides medical care—was closed, which currently aids 1.75 million people. Also, Mercy Corps will not be allowed to continue their work in the region, and they assist 200,000 people. Other groups that have been expelled include, but are not limited to, the Norwegian Refugee Council, CARE, and Save the Children (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/world/africa/06sudan.html?ref=world).
As you can see, the effects of the President’s choice to remove international humanitarian aid will be dramatic. The Sudanese people are dependant on it, and very little will remain after the next few weeks. The Christian Science Monitor and others have been asking the question of whether the courts ruling was actually counter productive. If the point of convicting a felon is to ensure he can’t cause more harm, then as of now, it seems the conviction has done very little. In fact, the president now appears to be less likely to speak of peace negotiations and the people will surely suffer more in future months without the humanitarian aid that he has banished.
But, the hope is that with Bashir convicted, the future for Sudan could be brighter. Furthermore, having strong stance now toward corrupt state leaders could offer incentives for future leaders to not misuse their power. Though this is not a completely parallel example, imagine how people would act in individual societies if there did not exist a justice system that could regulate behavior through bad incentives like prison. If we are to be an international community committed to the laws we create for ourselves—such as human rights, rules of war, and crimes against humanity—then I do think we must stand against perpetrators of those crimes. Though it is terribly horrifying that the charges aimed at helping the Sudanese people might actually harm them, the fact that Bashir is reacting to his charges by pulling aid that his people are dependant upon only further shows that the charges the ICC made were correct. For this reason, despite the consequences, I do support the conclusion of the ICC.
Linked below are articles from the Christian Science Monitor. The discussion is very interesting.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0306/p12s01-wogi.html?page=1
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0305/p99s01-duts.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0305/p01s02-woaf.html
To give you an idea of what that will do for the people of this region, I will list some important organizations that currently work there and the extent of their aid. To begin, Oxfam was ordered to leave, which might harm the 600,000 people that currently use its services in that region. The Dutch section of MSF was closed, which offers health care to people in South Darfur—the numbers of people that will be affected by their absence is unknown for the moment. The International Rescue Committee, an organization that also provides medical care—was closed, which currently aids 1.75 million people. Also, Mercy Corps will not be allowed to continue their work in the region, and they assist 200,000 people. Other groups that have been expelled include, but are not limited to, the Norwegian Refugee Council, CARE, and Save the Children (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/world/africa/06sudan.html?ref=world).
As you can see, the effects of the President’s choice to remove international humanitarian aid will be dramatic. The Sudanese people are dependant on it, and very little will remain after the next few weeks. The Christian Science Monitor and others have been asking the question of whether the courts ruling was actually counter productive. If the point of convicting a felon is to ensure he can’t cause more harm, then as of now, it seems the conviction has done very little. In fact, the president now appears to be less likely to speak of peace negotiations and the people will surely suffer more in future months without the humanitarian aid that he has banished.
But, the hope is that with Bashir convicted, the future for Sudan could be brighter. Furthermore, having strong stance now toward corrupt state leaders could offer incentives for future leaders to not misuse their power. Though this is not a completely parallel example, imagine how people would act in individual societies if there did not exist a justice system that could regulate behavior through bad incentives like prison. If we are to be an international community committed to the laws we create for ourselves—such as human rights, rules of war, and crimes against humanity—then I do think we must stand against perpetrators of those crimes. Though it is terribly horrifying that the charges aimed at helping the Sudanese people might actually harm them, the fact that Bashir is reacting to his charges by pulling aid that his people are dependant upon only further shows that the charges the ICC made were correct. For this reason, despite the consequences, I do support the conclusion of the ICC.
Linked below are articles from the Christian Science Monitor. The discussion is very interesting.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0306/p12s01-wogi.html?page=1
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0305/p99s01-duts.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0305/p01s02-woaf.html
1 comment:
Another tragic situation that is unfolding is with the Baha'i religious minority in Iran.
For an overview of the current critical conditions see:
http://news.bahai.org/story/702
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