The ENOUGH Project is
applauding the charges filed Monday by the International Criminal Court
prosecutor against Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The organization,
part of the Center for American Progress, has been calling for tough
international action to end the violence in Sudan's Darfur region.
Executive
Director John Norris says the charges are a cause for celebration. "I think the
chief prosecutor is to be congratulated for recognizing what has been long
obvious. That what is taking place in Darfur, the crimes that have been
committed there, the crimes against humanity can be traced in a very bright
line directly back to Khartoum and directly back to President Bashir. I think
in a lot of ways the prosecutor has done something quite basic. He's recognized
the elephant in the room and let the world know what was clear to Sudanese, to
people on the ground in Darfur, to the humanitarian community, to reporters, to
activists and everyone else that President Bashir really is the person most
directly culpable for the tragedy that has been Sudan in recent years," he
says.
Norris
also addresses those who say an indictment against the Sudanese leader will
only make matters worse and possibly destabilize the country. He says, "I think
it's really quite incredible that we've got people worried that the indictments
might upset President Bashir's rather delicate sensibilities. I think if you look
at the picture on the ground, the situation speaks for itself. We have over
300,000 dead. We have millions displaced. There's no credible peace process in
sight."
ENOUGH
co-founder John Prendergast expects resistance from the Sudanese government.
"There is an major opportunity here to introduce a point of leverage that
didn't exist before. Yes, it's going to be very messy and ugly over the next
month or two while Bashir tries to use the ICC action to justify a number of
things…I'm sure we'll see it all. You know, restricting humanitarian
assistance, undermining the deployment of these peacekeeping forces further.
Maybe even suspending the peacekeeping force in both the south and in Darfur."
Prendergast
also says President Bashir may try to undermine the North-South Comprehensive
Peace Agreement.
Richard Dicker, director of the
International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch, also praised the charges
brought Monday. He says, "It is a very big step, a very important step in
ending the impunity for the horrific crimes that have occurred in Darfur since
2003. I think requesting a warrant for the head of state, the president of
Sudan, sends the message that no one is beyond the law for crimes that have
occurred there."
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