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Bashir charges stoke controversy

War crimes charges filed Wednesday against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is the first against a sitting head of state, but it may backfire to stoke conflict in the troubled African region.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for Bashir stemming from an ethnic campaign in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan.

“He is suspected of being criminally responsible … for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population … murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing, and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property,” said ICC spokeswoman Laurence Blairon.

Bashir in 2003 signed a peace accord and a power-sharing agreement to end a ten-year civil war that left millions dead. Experts fear the situation in Sudan may turn violent if the government of Bashir collapses in the wake of the charges, however.

Arab and African leaders, for their part, are working to delay any indictments in order to allow peace talks to gain momentum. Meanwhile, many African leaders are wary of the charges, saying the international court seems capable only of filing charges against leaders of failed or failing nations.

“It’s easy to target Bashir because of Darfur, but then you have an illegal invasion of Iraq, where thousands of civilians have been killed and the country has been effectively destroyed,” said Adam Habib with the University of Johannesburg.

 

Author

Daniel Graeber

Daniel Graeber is a writer for United Press International covering Iraq, Afghanistan and the broader Levant. He has published works on international and constitutional law pertaining to US terrorism cases and on child soldiers. His first major work, entitled The United States and Israel: The Implications of Alignment, is featured in the text, Strategic Interests in the Middle East: Opposition or Support for US Foreign Policy. He holds a MA in Diplomacy and International Conflict Management from Norwich University, where his focus was international relations theory, international law, and the role of non-state actors.

Areas of Focus:International law; Middle East; Government and Politics; non-state actors

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