Daily Darfur: Arab and African Complicity in Crimes Against Humanity

by Michelle

category: Daily Darfur

Published March 27, 2009 @ 04:06AM PT

The protective circle of unqualified support that's wrapped around Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in recent months continues to baffle me.

To an extent, I can understand --- or at least not totally dismiss the validity of --- some elements of African and Arab resentment towards the West. But the blind fervor with which so many African and Arab leaders defend Bashir, without a word for the millions of victims of his 20 year rule-by-thuggery regime goes so far beyond any sense of reason, that it has the appearance of pure vindictiveness potentially at the cost of the lives of millions.

As Maggie Fick wrote on the ENOUGH blog yesterday, voices of dissent are growing among African and Arab civil society, though they have yet to trickle up to the top. Maggie cites an editorial in Lebanon's Daily Star, which argues that Bashir deserves to be "ostracized," not welcome in regional capitals as he has been in recent days:

"But those who have welcomed the Sudanese president in their countries should ask themselves, what is there to celebrate about Bashir? Regardless of whether one believes that the warrant was a sign of bias on the part of the ICC, it must be conceded that Bashir's presidency has been an example of failed leadership.

Perhaps Bashir's defiance toward the West has restored a sense of shattered pride among Arabs and Africans, but he is far from being a hometown hero. Heroic leadership requires making sacrifices for the benefit of one's people. But what has Bashir done for his country and for the Sudanese? Has he left any legacy other than death and destruction?"

Similarly, Savo Heleta points out the hypocrisy of those who vehemently protested the killing of civilians in Palestine while completely ignoring Bashir's victims in Darfur, despite the fact that most of them are fellow Muslims:

"Even in the grimmest moments in Darfur, in 2003 and 2004, when entire communities were brutally destroyed by the government forces and their militias, very few in the Arab and Muslim world protested the killings. To this day, not one Arab or Muslim leader has publicly criticized Sudan's actions in Darfur."

The reason, Savo postulates, is the reluctance of Arab governments to criticize one another --- that Arab leaders actively condemn atrocities committed against Muslims by non-Muslims, but are largely silent when the same deplorable activities are carried out by one of their own:

"Even though millions of innocent Muslims have become victims in Darfur over the past six years, the fact that they are victims of an Arab regime seems to prevent the Arab public from even acknowledging the humanitarian catastrophe."

No amount of protest over the imbalance of world power, at the UN and elsewhere, justifies the exoneration of one of the world's most brutal dictators. After the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity, many leaders cried foul over "the West's" perceived willingness to target Bashir while not giving similar treatment to Israel for the bombings in Gaza. (It should be noted that a UN human rights investigator concluded that Israel did commit war crimes in Gaza, in a report submitted earlier this week.)

But pointing to one case of overlooked war crimes does not absolve another --- it is completely untenable to argue that, because one aggressor has yet to see repercussions for its crimes, that another should get off scot-free. Just because Israeli leaders have not been indicted for their war crimes does not mean that Bashir does not deserve to account for his. This is not "leveling the playing field," it's complicity in crimes against humanity.

Rather than pointing the finger of blame elsewhere and further entrenching a destructive regime out of a sense of historical injustice, attention should be re-focused on the atrocious acts of violence suffered by the civilians in Darfur at the hands of Bashir's government of thugs. Even more, this rally of support has provided cover for Bashir to ramp up his destruction of Darfur --- to tighten his stranglehold on innocent civilians and say, "Look at what you're making me do!"

This is not an issue of the "imperialism" of Western notions of human rights and justice, this is an issue of basic human decency, of moral tenets that find commonality throughout world cultures and religions. No amount of bemoaning over the imbalance in international relations changes the fact that, when considering the entirety of his rule and his aggression in other regions of Sudan, millions have died and millions more have suffered at the hands of Bashir's government --- and for this, he should be made to account.

Other items of note...

For a dose of righteous sarcasm, to steal Martha's wonderful terminology: A letter to the editor in the Salem News wonders why people seem to have forgotten about Darfur:

"I was driving through Marblehead the other day and noticed that all the ‘Save Darfur' signs were gone. This came as a surprise - that somebody must have saved Darfur recently."

TIAA-CREF, on of the U.S.'s largest pension funds, may soon divest all holdings from Sudan.

[Photo from AP: A displaced Sudanese youth flies a kite at Abu Shouk refugee camp, outside the Darfur town of al-Fasher, Sudan Thursday, March 26, 2009.]