WASHINGTON, March 4, 2009 The following release was issued today by the Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan
Sudan strongly condemns the decision of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Judges. We reject this decision on the basis that it has no jurisdiction over us, as we are not a party to the Rome Statute that established it. We reject its pretension to authority over our sovereignty on the same principle that the United States, India, China and many others who aren’t signatories stand on. We reject it because our own judicial institutions are as capable and independent as those of any other well functioning democracies in the world.
We are greatly concerned of the consequences of this politically motivated action and the security implications it portends for our people and country. For how else can such a pronouncement be perceived but as an attempt to derail our efforts? It’s a decision that will only work to escalate the immense suffering in Darfur as it, without a doubt, undermines the essential ongoing peace process in Doha. Compounding to this is the negative impact it will have on significant achievements so far made by the Sudanese, most saliently, on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. It jeopardizes the current UN-AU Peacekeeping mission. Above all, this decision, to the rebels, is a gesture that only emboldens them to continue employing violence against civilians to achieve political ends. It is a signal of encouragement for them to abandon the current negotiations for peace as clearly illustrated by rebel groups who’ve already stated their intention to storm the capital and now await this decision fully armed and ready to wreak chaos.
Sudan deems the court guilty of double standards in making decisions regarding the cases it goes after. Its pursuits to date are localized in Africa despite the fact that far more egregious crimes are being committed outside the continent. Iraq and Gaza suffice as examples. Some of the more powerful non-signatory countries have gone as far as adopting measures that would allow the use of force to retrieve nationals detained by the Court. This reality alone is worrisome and unfortunate for it renders the ICC as a body that can only pursue cases selectively. Its credibility as an objective and impartial body is instantly weakened. Its case against Sudan is only an exercise of flexing muscles by targeting those it perceives as easy prey, those whose sovereignty, integrity and authority it can violate and override without international bother. It is a reality that exposes the court as a tool of the more powerful countries while typifying the appalling and misguided notion that Africans are incapable and must be patronized.
Sudan reiterates its traditional commitment to protect the UN Mission, diplomats and International community members. We are committed to resolving the outstanding issues and we reach out to those who seek peace in Darfur to support efforts currently underway to bring about a semblance of stability in the country. Security for our citizens is a chief concern and ICC’s decision is an impediment to this agenda. It should be cautious that its actions do not contribute to the suffering of our people. We reiterate that Sudan is not a party to the court. We retain our own very capable and vital institutions that have in the past prosecuted individuals deemed to have acted unlawfully in the course of this tragedy and will continue to render justice in the future. We will steadfastly oppose any attempts to infringe on our sovereignty. The fair minded people of the world standing with us now will continue to stand with us in support of our efforts for Peace and Justice.
CONTACT: Embassy of The Republic of the Sudan – Washington, Information Office, +1-202-338-8565
SOURCE Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan
Sudan revokes aid agency licenses
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan revoked the licences of at least six foreign aid agencies on Wednesday, hours after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, aid officials said.
They said Sudan’s State Humanitarian Aid Commission in Khartoum had called in managers from the groups, including major Western aid agencies, and told them their operating licences were revoked. They were not told of the reason for the decision. “This is very serious. This will have a major impact on humanitarian work in Darfur,” said one aid official, who declined to be named.
(DW) – International Criminal Court (ICC) judges have issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir over alleged atrocities in Sudan’s western Darfur province. It is the first time that the Hague-based war crimes tribunal has sought the detention of a serving head of state.
The court alleged that al-Bashir commited five counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, torture and rape, as well as two counts of war crimes. No charges were filed on genocide. The Sudanese leader has denied all charges.
The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since rebels in Darfur rose up against the Khartoum government in February 2003.
US urges ‘restraint’ in Sudan after Beshir warrant
(AFP) — The US State Department called on Wednesday for “restraint” from all groups in Sudan, after an arrest warrant was issued for President Omar al-Beshir for war crimes in Darfur.
“The United States believes that those who have committed atrocities should be brought to justice as the ICC (International Criminal Court) process continues,” State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.
“We urge restraint on the part of all parties including the government of Sudan. Further violence against civilian Sudanese or foreign interests must be avoided and will not be tolerated.”
He added that Washington was “determined to pursue an immediate ceasefire and a long-term peace in the region,” in a statement to journalists during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s first official visit to the Middle East.
The State Department also said the US would continue to help the Sudanese people and support UN efforts to end the conflict.
“The United States will continue to support efforts to ease the suffering of the Sudanese people and to promote a just and durable peace,” it said in a statement in Washington.
Convincing evidence needed to charge al-Bashir with genocide
(DPA) Amsterdam – The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague on Wednesday, did not include a count of genocide against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for alleged atrocities in Darfur as had been widely expected.
The ICC listed only five counts of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes, but left the door open for amendments to the charge sheet to include genocide if more evidence is gathered in the case against him.
Speaking after the ICC announcement in The Hague on Wednesday, a Dutch expert on Sudan and the United Nations said it was never going to be easy to bring a charge of genocide against al-Bashir.
Genocide is the most serious charge in international law, requiring convincing and unequivocal evidence, said Dick Leurdijk of Clingendael Institute for International Relations and Diplomacy in The Hague.
“Apparently the evidence ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo presented the court was insufficient to substantiate this allegation,” Leurdijk said.
“Former US secretary of state Colin Powell was the first to refer to a “genocide” in Darfur in September 2004,” he added.
“But the European Union and the United Nations always consistently refrained from using that term. They may have been proven right by the court today,” Leurdijk said.
However, he did not exclude the possibility that the charges against al-Bashir could actually be amended at a later stage.
Leurdijk said it was “too bad” that Moreno-Ocampo did not explain why Sudan would be obliged under international law to arrest al- Bashir even on its own territory.
“After all, Sudan has not recognized the authority of the International Criminal Court,” he noted said.
“The ICC was established through political negotiations, not on the basis of a UN Security Council resolution like the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,” he said.
Amnesty International Says Sudanese President Must Surrender to Face Trial
In reaction to today’s decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, Amnesty International said that President al Bashir must surrender himself immediately to face trial.
“The law is clear. President al Bashir must appear before the ICC to defend himself. If he refuses to do so, the Sudanese authorities must ensure that he is arrested and surrendered immediately to the ICC,” said Irene Khan, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
Today’s arrest warrant for the Sudanese head of state is an unprecedented move in the history of a conflict that has seen more than 300,000 killed, thousands raped, and millions forcibly displaced.
Amnesty International USA Executive Director Larry Cox said: “For years, the government of President al Bashir has subjected the people of Darfur to horrific human rights abuses. Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese have been slaughtered, starved, tortured, torn from their homes, or otherwise savagely punished and abused. Civilians were attacked, killed or uprooted by the very people meant to protect them. Under international law, these are crimes that require that al Bashir be prosecuted.”
Amnesty International said that should President al Bashir leave Sudan, the government of any country in which he finds himself has an obligation to deny him safe haven by arresting him immediately as a fugitive from justice and surrendering him to the ICC.
“No one is above the law. If you are charged with a crime, you must stand up and face those charges in a court of law. President al Bashir will have the opportunity to do this before the International Criminal Court,” said Irene Khan.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
Ethiopian regime’s head of propaganda (chief liar) Bereket Simon is among those who are outraged by Tesfaye GebreAb’s tell-all book, “The Journalist Memoir”
There is no doubt that Tesfaye GebreAb’s book, “The Journalist’s Memoir” (YeGazetegnaw Mastawesha), went under the skins of Woyanne regime officials in Ethiopia. The latest reaction is a 24-page letter to Ato Tesfaye from a {www:Woyanne} insider, probably Bereket Simon, who accuses him of attempted murder, among numerous other things.
The writer repeatedly talks about how insignificant Tesfaye GebreAb is, but goes on to write 24 pages full of accusations that are intended to destroy his credibility before the book reaches Ethiopia. Currently the book is available mostly in the U.S. and Europe.
Tesfaye seems not to have been bothered by the letter. He is more interested in showing Woyanne’s outrage by forwarding the letter to Ethiopian Review. Indeed, more than any thing, the letter exposes the Woyanne mindset. Click here to read the letter to Tesfaye GebreAb.
The voices of the Western world concerned with human rights routinely make clear that Ethiopia’s government is one of the most oppressive on earth. From sources as varied in perspective and interest as the U.S. State Department Human Rights Report and that of Human Rights Watch World Report that is the case.
Private organs like HRW do so, often with passion, in keeping with their mission but have little power. Public organs like State do so, usually with a sense of boredom at having to bother, and fail to exercise any power. However, as HRW says about the European Union’s reaction to the closing of the sole independent, though largely symbolic, sources of civil power in the country, the Western world provides not tacit but overt support for Ethiopian suffering:
“The EU should have condemned one of world’s worst laws on NGOs. Instead, it gave Ethiopia €250 million.
On 30 January, European Union policymakers sent a clear signal to Ethiopia: no matter how repressive the government becomes, vast sums of aid will continue to flow. This is emerging as a case study in bad donor policy.”
HRW has it wrong though. This is not an emerging case study of bad donor policy – this has been Western policy since 1991 when Meles Inc. took power. The basic approach was originally one of welcoming ‘anyone but Mengistu’ but over time that matured to a further embrace of low expectations.
For Europeans that became appreciating in Meles ‘an African we can deal with’ and for Americans seeing in him ‘our man in Africa’. Of course, seeming to be of use can cause many sins to be forgiven but even as reports and accounts of endemic human rights violations pile up the dictator’s words are accepted at face value. Meles is rewarded with status at G-8 summits and more importantly billions in unaccounted for aid that secure him in power and fill his personal coffers.
If not low expectations how else to explain a government with no basic institutions of civil society, not to mention democratic society, being so tolerated? There is a parliament, courts, elections, election board, etc. that only exist to give a patina of respectability to a government of thugs. None of those institutions matter – Meles makes decisions in concert with his slavish revolutionary nobility. Yet Meles’s words are heard as though they originated from any civilized process recognizable to any democrat – and Western governments eat it up.
The issue of bad donor policy extends beyond human rights to the intimately related sphere of economics. Ethiopia is one of the most desperately poor nations on earth with little prospect of improvement given the absence of every factor that made the West rich and so much else of humanity escape suffering as a tradition. Ethiopia has also, not by coincidence, one of the most corrupt governments on earth.
There is no right to own private property in Ethiopia – the people meaning the government meaning ultimately Meles own all of the land. The whole economy at every level from the debt bondage of fertilizer sales to poor farmers, local grain markets and all aid grain distribution, import-export businesses, agribusiness, construction, road building, to the absurdity of the commodities exchange are all united grasping tentacles of Meles Inc.
Every one concerned knows that no economy on earth has ever developed under those circumstances – yet the game goes on of pretending to believe what Meles says about democracy or economic growth. So far apart from Ethiopians who are on occasion heard because the West can’t pretend to ignore them any longer and apart from the support of friends of Ethiopia in places such as the US Legislature and the EU Parliament – the consequences of Western policy to Ethiopia are ignored.
This is not a ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ issue or one that finally demands that ‘Ethiopians finally get their act together’. The West has made itself an active partner in support of Ethiopia’s dictatorship. As we have so often said before the Ethiopian Civil Contract is between Meles and Western governments. Ethiopians are just spectators and hostages.
You see the West occasionally threatens and begs Meles to treat Ethiopians better (at least those known to them and those withing sight of Embassies). Meles only pretends to do so and when that does not work only has to renew his eternal threat to drag tens of millions of them even further down into the depravity of his own reality before the West gets back in line.
All of the give and take is between Meles and Westerners. Ethiopians are bit players in the drama. But … the only semi-civilized actor who may even consider the interests of Ethiopians are Westerners. Ethiopians have nowhere else to turn for help. They can only appeal to the better natures of Meles’s partners in crime in Washington and Brussels because Meles is the murderous, bratty, viceroy of the West in every way possible.
So how can the West take responsibility for its own actions and serve its own interests? The struggle against Islamic Fascism puts Western Strategic Dilemma in Eastern African into stark relief. The foreign policy of every country is based on self interest. Self interest and projections of self interest over time can combine with occasional frank altruism to bring about policy beneficial to countries like Ethiopia. Why not?
The donor nations seem to be in the process of making decisions for the future that are no longer based on wishful thinking about personalities and rhetoric. It is valuable to examine a similar situation in recent history for instruction. Once again we will ask our readers to take part in a familiar thought experiment. Close your eyes and imagine Ethiopia’s revolutionary nobility and its ruler were White and and not Black.
Especially given the foundation of the Ethiopian government de facto and de jure on ethnic / regional divide and rule where one’s tribe defines how anyone participates in society – very naturally one would make a comparison to Apartheid era South Africa or a nation fallen victim to colonialism long past its expiration date. Blacks in Apartheid era South Africa had far more political and economic rights than Ethiopians do today.
When White Africans mistreat Black Africans it seemed to matter quite a bit but when Black Africans mistreat other Black Africans that is accepted as a part of the world’s natural order. Indeed, the West is willing to finance the latter evil with no questions asked. The comparison to Apartheid era South Africa is apt. Wonder along with us why any dictator should be given credit just for looking like his victims?
There has long been an assumption that Bush was a key Meles ally solely because of the War on Terror and that the end of the Bush Presidency would mean more responsible Western policy towards Ethiopia. According to one senior State Department official quoted by HRW in 2003
“Ethiopia’s human rights record is ‘not a factor’ in the bilateral relationship.”
But … how about Clinton before Bush and his just as close alliance with Meles? Obama’s Secretary of State was decidedly not ushering in a new era of respect for human rights when she said of China’s dictators that
“We have to continue to press them. But our pressing on those issues can’t interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis.”
That is diplo-speak for beat on the Chinese as long and as hard as you like. It is hard to think that where there are security interests to be pursued that Ethiopian suffering is going to count for more than the Chinese variety where there are financial interests to be considered. From China to Ethiopia the general Western attitude is wrongheaded and ultimately harmful to the West. But those facts are either not appreciated or at best they are simply inconvenient.
In this post we will explore the nature of the Western Strategic Dilemma in Ethiopia and explore how it can be dealt with while keeping the West firmly on the side of basic morality and civilization – while serving Western interests too.
Following a critical report by the U.S. Department of State last week, the Woyanne tribal regime in Ethiopia has lifted its blockade on all news web sites such as Ethiopian Review, EMF and opposition web sites such as Ginbot7.org.
DebreTsion GebreMichael, Ethiopia’s Information Technology chief, has unblocked news web sites after a 3-year ban
The Woyanne regime’s propagandist (Liar-in-Chief), Bereket Simon, had persistently denied that there is a restriction on access to web sites.
The official in charge of the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation, Ato DebreTsion GebreMichael, who carried out the decision to ban web sites, also denies any such blockade.
Under DebreTsion’s watch, Ethiopia ranks lower than Somalia in Information Technology (IT) usage. As chief of Ethiopia’s IT, DebreTsion’s main focus is to limit people’s access to information, not to build the country’s IT infrastructure. As a result, Ethiopia with a population of 80 million has only 30,000 Internet subscribers, according to the State Department report.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Ethiopian and Somalis who drowned and died were trying to escape the hell on earth created in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa by the U.S.-financed Tigrean People Liberation Front (Woyanne). According to the U.N., so far 32,000 Ethiopians made it safely to Yemen, but thousands have perished trying to cross the deadly Gulf of Aden.
YEMEN (Yemen Post) – In the second accident in a week, at least 45 African migrants, mostly Somalis and Ethiopians, died as their boat capsized off the Gulf of Aden. The Yemeni Interior Ministry said the boat which was carrying about 46 displaced people overturned 95 kilometers southeast of the Mukala seaport. The ministry Media Center reported that an Ethiopian and three human smugglers made it to land.
The Yemeni authorities became aware about the accident through one of the survivors, a Somali sailor aged 35. Later Authorities in coordination with the Yemeni Fishermen Association seized the boat owners and investigated them. The arrestees confessed their boat capsized off the Mukala port while they were trying to make a shortcut to smuggle 46 displaced African people into Yemen.
They said all who were onboard drowned except an Ethiopian who could swim until he reached Yemeni coast. On February 24, six Somali refugees died and 11 others were missing when human smugglers forced them to jump overboard in deep water.
The boat was one of seven boats that carried African displaced people to Yemen of which six had already arrived in Yemeni coasts. While the seven refused to sail closer to shore with its crew forcing its passengers to swim in deep waters.
In January, the UNHRC reported that 168 boats carried 9449 African refugees to Yemen of whom 47 Somali refugees died on way. In January, two ferries carrying more than 300 Somali and Ethiopian migrants capsized off the Bab El-Mandab strait. Hundreds were rescued and dozens were missing presumed dead. Somali refugees continue to arrive in Yemen almost in daily numbers, with the number of those, according to last figures, who have already arrived in Yemen exceeding 800.000 people.
