Daily Darfur: Don't Worry, Bashir, Mbeki's Got Your Back

by Michelle

category: Daily Darfur

Published March 20, 2009 @ 04:27AM PT

This is amazing:

"A newly-formed high-level African Union panel has been assigned the task of developing a formula that would reconcile calls for justice in Darfur with the need to heal the wounds of war. Panel chairman Thabo Mbeki is looking for inspiration in the reconciliation process that brought an end to apartheid in his native South Africa."

Mbeki was one of the most vocal critics of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, primarily because of the reports findings that the African National Congress, of which he is a member, was also responsible for atrocities against civilians in its struggle against apartheid. Add this to his support of Robert Mugabe's violence regime in Zimbabwe, and his support of Bashir and Sudan, and it hardly seems that Mbeki is the proper statesman to negotiate even-handed peace and reconciliation. I agree with Mia Farrow:

"...former South African President Thabo Mbeki's legacy is a disgraceful one."

Also interesting: Mbeki said that the panel will not consider evidence gather by the ICC against Bashir, but will " meet with Sudanese government, rebels and other officials to assess how to bring about peace while punishing those guilty of war crimes in Darfur." How about talking to the people of Darfur --- the ones caught in the middle of this mess, and with the most to lose? (Given Mbeki's track record with Zimbabwe, I doubt the thought even crossed his mind.)

(If you still aren't sure exactly how I feel about this, see my post from yesterday.)

Who are you calling a racist?

An editorial in the Boston Globe came out swinging against comments made by the president of the UN General Assembly that the International Criminal Court is a racist institution:

"The victims of Bashir's crimes against humanity in Darfur are members of black African ethnic groups: the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa peoples. The regime behind the massacres, as well as its proxy militias, known as the Janjaweed, are Arab. Victims and perpetrators alike are Muslim.

If there is racism in the Sudan case, it lies not with the International Criminal Court but with the leaders of a government that kills, rapes, and uproots innocent civilians for belonging to the wrong ethnic groups."

Other items of note...

UNAMID placed another appeal for UN members to contribute adequate resources --- the world's failure to do this, over a year and a half after the force was authorized, is nothing short of shameful.

From the ENOUGH Blog: "It’s clear that the humanitarian crisis in Darfur has reached a desperate point when the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum issues statements like the one it put out today." See the post for the statement.

Congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said that military options, such as a no-fly zone, should not be ruled out of the U.S.'s policy options for Darfur.

The Genocide Intervention Network posted a profile of Obama's newly-appointed Special Envoy to Sudan, Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration.

[Photo from AFP: Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir waves his cane in the air as he is greeted by supporters in the village of Sabdo, near the South Darfur town of el-Dain, March 18.]