AFTER FOUR years of genocide
in Darfur, something—other than
fruitless talk—has finally happened: The International Criminal Court has named two Sudanese as suspects in its investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity. For too long the world has wrung its hands over Darfur but done little else. Officials and celebrities have called repeatedly for effective action. Editorials like this one have been written and written again. But little has been done. The growing numbers of the murdered, the raped and the displaced have occasionally tugged at the world’s conscience, but it’s been all too easy to ignore them, to look away from the horror.
With the accusations against Ahmed Muhammed Harun and Ali Mohammed Ali Abd-al-Rahman, the world at large has served notice that, for all its dithering, it’s capable of some official action—pitifully inadequate as it still is. These aren’t even formal indictments, just the identification of a couple of suspects. And any further judicial proceeding against them will be hindered by the unwillingness of the Sudanese government to turn the accused over to prosecutors for the court in the Hague.
But so much more needs to be done. The Arab government of Sudan has been complicit in the attacks on the black Africans of Darfur, but it is still treated respectfully. More than 200, 000 have been killed and some 2. 5 million have been forced out of their homes, many into refugee camps along the border with Chad. Others who might have planned and carried out the crimes against Darfur have yet to be named. This is scarcely justice.
The world knows what justice would look like in and for Darfur. Naming those suspected of responsibility is only a first step. They must ultimately be brought to trial. They can be if the world will pay attention.
There are others who must be brought to justice. As with these two, the identities of others must be made public—so that the world can put names on what happened in Darfur. Without names, it’s too easy to treat Darfur as just another example of Man’s Inhumanity to Man—as if it were some kind of natural calamity for which no one is responsible, for which no one will ever pay and which will just go on and on.
Who are the two who have now been identified ? Mr. Harun is a close adviser to the Sudanese president. He’s accused of overseeing atrocities, ferrying arms and ammunition to the janjaweed militia, and providing these killers with funds. He was previously a junior interior minister for the western part of Darfur. These days he’s got a new government position, junior minister for Humanitarian Affairs. That’s right: Humanitarian Affairs. These people are masters of irony, aren’t they ?
The second suspect, Mr. Abd-al-Rahman, is a reputed leader of the janjaweed—which has carried out so much of the ethnic cleansing in Darfur. Talk about irony: Doesn’t Rahman mean Merciful One in Arabic ? Our suspect also goes by the name of Ali Kushayb. Witnesses describe him as taking part in summary executions and inspecting women before their mass rape by men under his command.
In addition to identifying the higherups who have been involved in the atrocities, much more remains to be done. If the suspects cannot be apprehended for trial, stiff sanctions should be enforced against the Sudanese government. United Nations peacekeepers should be deployed to Darfur even over the objections of Sudan, which has delayed the arrival of the troops far too long. A no-fly zone should be enforced over Darfur, and its border with Chad secured to keep out roving bands of killers. No representative of the Sudanese regime should be able to travel outside his country, open a foreign bank account, or appear at international forums without questions being raised and protesters materializing.
Identifying a couple of suspects in one of the great crimes of this still young but already bloody century is a start, but only a small one.
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