"No More International Aid Inside Sudan"

This is a speech that Omar al- Bashir gave, saying that he will not allow foreign aid to come into Darfur anymore. If they wish to give their aid, they must leave it at the airport and let it be distributed by the Sudanese government. It says that Bashir does this because he believes that the aid agencies are helping the International Criminal Court. I think Bashir believes that doing this is helping protect him, but really it makes it look more suspicious. Since he is not letting any outsiders in Darfur, it makes it look like he has something to hide. Also since the aid is not being distributed by the agencies, how do we know that it is getting the people who need it? There are millions of people who rely on this aid for survival, and if it’s not getting to them, they could die. I think this shows Bashir’s harsh and evil side even though he is trying to make it look like he is trying to defend himself against the ICC. This effects the people of Darfur more than anyone because their resources are being cut off. It’s unfair to see them have to suffer because Bashir won’t let outsiders in to protect himself. I think the United Nations should intervene and make sure that the aid is getting to the people who need it, and make sure that it is being distributed equally. 

"Omar Al Bashir Interview- Sudan"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5ywKAZLuOw

In this interview with Omar al- Bashir, the interviewer asks him many questions about Darfur. One questions that was asked frequently is if Bashir had any regrets of what he has done. He does not address this question any time it was asked, he talks about a different aspect. Which this leads to believe that he does not have any regrets about what he has done with the situation in Darfur. He also claims that the number of people that were actually killed is not nearly as high as what is said in the media. He says that a lot fewer people were killed and that the numbers are seriously exaggerated. I believe that he is saying this because of government controlled propaganda. He wants to control what people believe and make them think it is not as bad as it really is. He also claims that he is only being brought to the International Criminal Court because of political issues and that it has nothing to do with justice. He believes that everything thing that the ICC is saying, are lies. I believe that he won’t surrender himself to the court because he knows that if he goes to trial he will be prosecuted. If he pushes it off by saying to the media that it is all lies, then he won’t have to go to court. During this entire interview Bashir was very careful not to admit to the responsibility or say that he regretted anything that he did. He did this so that his own words couldn’t be used against him when he said that everything was a lie. If he would have said that he regretted it, than he would be admitting that the ICC was right.

"Omar al-Bashir Dances in Darfur"

In this video, Omar al-Bashir went to Darfur to prove that he had support from everywhere in Sudan, even in the place that he has been accused of killing many people. The narrator of the film believes that this joyous moment has been planned out by the government to make the appearance that the people love Bashir. I believe that this is true because the government believes if they can convince others that the people in Darfur support Bashir, then the charges for crimes against humanity and the blame for all that is happening will disappear. At the end, the narrator draws attention to a certain point that is very important to understand,“Are these people driven by affection or fear?” I believe that the people are driven by fear because it has already been proven that if they disagree or protest against the government, they can be killed. Many people have already been killed in Darfur for protesting, and the Janjaweed militia was sent after them. If they don’t cooperate again, then who knows what could happen to these people this time. So instead of speaking out, they show support for the government to save their lives. It is a clever mask that the government is putting on because the appearance is that Bashir is not to blame for this. He is dancing and celebrating with a crowd of people right after he has been charged for the crimes. It’s all a diversion to get the people to believe that he shouldn’t have been charged. 

Omar al-Bashir

President Omar al-Bashir

Omar al-Bashir was born in 1944 and joined the army at an early age. He has had two wives but no children. Not much about his private life is known by people because he is a very secretive man. He started out his military career when he fought in war between Egypt and Israel in 1973. Then in 1989, Bashir led “the Salvation Revolution” which was when he suspended trade and political parties. He appointed himself president of Sudan in 1993. He was the first president to be charged with war crimes by the international criminal court for crimes against humanity. He was charged for murder, extermination, and rape of the people in Sudan. In 1998, Bashir accused Bill Clinton for the destruction of a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant. This is just the beginning of Bashir’s reputation becoming known to be a mean guy with evil intentions. Also it is the beginning of the United States and Great Britain turning against Bashir for criticizing us. He is trying to make the United States and Great Britain to seem like the bad guys in the situation by saying, "Regarding us, they [the US, Britain and France] were trying to change the regime in Sudan since 20 years.” He says this even though that there was evidence that Sudan provided and supported Al-Qaeda, a training camp for terrorists that caused nine-eleven. For the first decade and a half of his presidency, his main focus was on trying to end the war between north and south Sudan that began in 1983. When he finally ended that war, another battle in Darfur started in 2005. 

International Criminal Court Symbol

It began in 2003 when the people in Darfur rebelled against the favoritism showed by the government towards the Arabs over the African population in Sudan. Bashir sent the Janjaweed militia to control the people in Darfur. "Any government in the world, when facing an armed rebellion, has a constitutional, legal and moral obligation to resist those militants," says Bashir. He doesn’t believe that he did anything wrong by 

Map of Sudan

sending a militia into Darfur to control the rebellions forming from the people who lived there. He thinks being the President, it was his duty to do something about the conflicts happening and that any measures taken to resolve the conflicts are acceptable. The United Nations estimates that 300,000 Darfurians were killled and that 10,000 Janjaweed members were killed.This is why people believe that he is to blame for everything since he is the one who sent the Janjaweed in the first place.There were accusations that the Janjaweed were killing and raping many people, and charges were forming against Bashir. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has charged him with three counts of genocide in Darfur. He is also accused of trying to eliminate ethnic groups in Sudan. He denied the responsibility for what was happening.  Luis Moreno- Ocampo accuses Bashir of keeping people in camps like Auschwitz. Omar al-Bashir is still currently president of Sudan, and avoids and resists against any international pressure on the issue. He clearly avoids addressing it directly because he knows that the evidence is circumstantial. If asked any specific question about the topic, he denies all the accusations and everything that people say he did. Bashir says, “The Darfur problem is just traditional conflict over resources.” He doesn’t clearly address the issue of what is happening, because he wants to keep the South and North together.  The International Criminal Court judges believe, “that there are reasonable grounds to believe [Bashir] responsible for three counts of genocide.”He is being held accountable for the actions taking place in Darfur.  The arrest warrant said, “there were reasonable ground to believe Sudanese forces attempted genocide against the Darfur tribal groups Fur, Masalit and Zanghawa.” Even though they have an arrest warrant, the International Criminal Court can’t arrest him. The only reason why Bashir has not been arrested yet is because the ICC has no police force, and he has been careful to not travel to places that might take action against him. The people in Darfur welcome the International Criminal Court because it is their only way of possibly getting justice. The Sudan government gets angry with the ICC because they think that what they are claiming is wrong. 

Presiden Bashir Making a Speech in Darfur

When his term of presidency is over, Bashir said that he will not be running for president again. He claims that it has nothing to do with the revolts that are happening in Sudan. John Prendergast, has visited Darfur many times and is an anti-genocide activist says, “In my eight trips to Darfur since 2003, the overwhelming evidence demonstrates that a government-sponsored counter-insurgency targeted non-Arab civilian populations by destroying their dwellings, their food stocks, their livestock, their water sources and anything else that would sustain life in Darfur.” This is proof from someone who has been to Darfur that everything that is happening is controlled by the government. Bashir has finally claimed responsibility for what is happening but in a general way. He claims that since he is the President of Sudan, that he is responsible for everything that is happening in his country. This is a way of showing that he is willing to take blame, but not getting in trouble for it. He is trying to get the people on his side, and they want him to admit that he is responsible. The only way he can do that without being arrested is to say a general statement like that. If he were to specifically claim responsibility for the genocide in Darfur than he would be arrested. A peace treaty has finally been made to hold a cease fire. Although Justice and Equality Movements continue to report attacks from the government supported militias. 

Genocide in Darfur

Omar al-Bashir is the one to blame for the genocide in Darfur. He is the core of all the actions taking place, and denies it. Once his presidency is over, the sooner the life for the people in Darfur will get better. Hoa-politicalscene.com says that, "Nothing is worse for people of Sudan. They are dying slowly, 5,000 people are dying in the camps each month.” As the president of Sudan, it is Bashir’s job to make sure things like this does not happen and if it does, to end it. This is another reason why he should be punished, because he knows about what is happening and is not doing anything about it. This is an example of association to the crime, he could be considered as supporting what is happening because no action from him is being taken against it. Even though he has been described as a man who seeks power and will do anything to keep it, he is finally giving up his power. It will be interesting to see what happens when his term comes to an end, and a new president will take power. Most people believe that the conflict in Darfur will end over a period of time. That will surely prove that Omar al-Bashir was the reason for the genocide. Then he will finally be punished for his crimes that he committed. The justice for the people in Darfur will happen! 

Picture Sources:

http://clubs.calvin.edu/chimes/issue_images/104/27/Omar%20al-Bashir.jpg

http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/ff/ada5d9769b5a31.jpg

http://www.icc-alliance.org/icca_logo.gif

http://organizations.missouristate.edu/stand/Darfur-Map.gif

http://www.genocidepreventionmonth.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Genocide-in-Darfur.gif

Other Sources:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1883213,00.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/12/bashir-charged-with-darfur-genocide

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/20/omar-al-bashir-darfur-responsibility?intcmp=239

http://news.maars.net/blog/2011/04/21/omar-al-bashir-conflict-in-darfur-is-my-responsibility/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703503804575083442189896232.html

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1916107,00.html

http://www.hoa-politicalscene.com/omar-al-bashir.html

http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2010/07/omar_al-bashir

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7502973.stm

"Ghosts of Rwanda" 4/15/11

• Gen. Romeo Dallaire- head of UN peacekeeping in Rwanda
• August 1993
• Hutus- ethnic majority- perpetrators
• Tutsis- ethnic minority- vicitms
• Paul Kagame- leader of RPF, Tutsi rebels
• Interrehamway- Hutu army that keads genocide
• January 1994
• Dallaire gets info that genocide is being planned
• Dallaire informs UN
• Kofi Annan- head of UN peacekeeping
• UN didn't believe Dallaire and orders him not to use force
• Mogadishu, Somalia
• US doesn't want to get involved in ethnic conflicts in Africa again
• Carl Wilkens- American missionary, only American to stay in Rwanda during genocide
• April 6, 1994
• Hutu president's plane shot down
• Col. Bagasora- lead Hutu extremist genocide
• Mme. Agathe- acting Hutu PM (moderate)
• Hutu extremists kill 10 Belgian soldiers
• Belgium pulls support from UN peacekeeping mission

Convention on Genocide

Article 2
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
-Killing members of the group;
-Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
-Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physcial destruction in whole or in part;
-Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
-Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Article 3
The following acts shall be punishable:
-Genocide;
-Conspiracy to commit genocide;
-Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
-Attempt to commit genocide;
-Complicity in genocide.

Every UN member nation has promised to intervene and stop genocide wherever and whenever it occurs- 1948