The Websites of War Criminals

categories: Darfur & Sudan, Rwandan Genocide, War Crimes & Crimes Against Humanity

Published October 30, 2009 @ 08:00AM PT

What's a misunderstood war criminal to do when he feels the world is unjustly against him? Create a website, of course.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, currently wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, recently launched a website complete with a dove, olive branch, and upbeat headlines about the supposedly-peace-loving dictator's latest activities. Interestingly, as Bec Hamilton notes, the website is in English as well as Arabic: "It's not the regular Sudanese voter he's pitching to."

Bashir is not the first to use a glossy and misleading website for an international PR campaign, of course. According to Laura at the Enough Project and Jason at Congo Siasa, the diaspora leaders of the FDLR, the Congo-based militia led by former Rwandan genocidaires, have thus-far resisted attempts to shut down their website by simply changing hosts. According to Jason, the site is currently hosted in the US -- which means that we need to figure out who it is, and harass the bejeezus out of them. (Instead of E-cards for Dictators, maybe E-cards for the Morally Depraved?)

Not to be left out of all the fun, Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has its own multi-language propaganda site, which conveniently leaves out headlines about its use of child soldiers, among other less-than-upstanding activities.

So when will this unsavory cast of characters discover the magic of Twitter?

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Comments (2)

Call in the anti-atrocity geeks, I say!

Posted by Una Vera on 10/30/2009 @ 11:47AM PT
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I am outraged by this! I cannot believe this sadistic man had the nerve. Is there any way that people can boycott this or put pressure on officials urging them to take a stand and bring to light the atrocities this man has and still is committing?

Posted by Chasity D on 11/09/2009 @ 08:30PM PT
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Author

Michelle became involved in the anti-genocide cause at a young age, and has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns, ever since.