Save Darfur: reported Al-Bashir genocide charges underscore need for security council action
EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, July 11, 2008/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition, today responded to the Washington Post report that International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will charge Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir with genocide and crimes against humanity.
Fowler: ‘The world at-large, primarily the Security Council, has allowed al-Bashir to continue his reign of destruction, recalcitrance and violence with utter impunity. Moreno-Ocampo has acted. Now the Security Council must as well.’
“Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo’s pending charges against al-Bashir underscore the need for the U.N. Security Council to finally act decisively with a comprehensive strategy for Sudan. The world at-large, primarily the Security Council, has allowed al-Bashir to continue his reign of destruction, recalcitrance and violence with utter impunity. These pending charges must now sober al-Bashir’s international apologists who continue to shield and protect the Khartoum regime from meaningful measures with meaningful consequences.
“For those concerned about how the pursuit of justice impacts the pursuit of other critical efforts in Darfur and Sudan – we point to the critical passage in Moreno-Ocampo’s report last month to the Security Council wherein he urged the world body to adopt a ‘comprehensive strategy’ in addressing Darfur. That is key. The pursuit of justice has indeed taken a significant step forward. It is now time for the pursuits of peace and protection to advance commensurately.
“The focus now shifts not to the ICC tribunal judges, but to the U.N. Security Council which has refused to act on standing ICC arrest warrants, failed to provide the necessary equipment, and has allowed the Sudanese to both obstruct peacekeeper deployment and continue to use violence and destruction against its own population. Moreno-Ocampo has acted. Now the Security Council must as well.”
SOURCE : Save Darfur
