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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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:
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This was a very informative blog. After reading it, I learned a lot more about President Bashir.... and how terrible of a person he is. It's hard to imagine that someone could be so cruel and show absolutely no remorse. One thing I really liked how you incorporated many pictures. These pictures helped me learn more about Bashir and see what he looked like. I also liked how you were able to make the blog very neat and readable (including your websites). A third thing I liked was how you were able to voice your opinions throughout the blog. This was a very nice job.
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ReplyDeleteI really learned a lot by reading your blog. I also did my blog relating to Darfur and so it was interesting to read about your opinion on the problems there as well. I also like how you compared this to the Holocaust and the camps in Auschwitz. If I didn't know anything about the Darfur genocide, the referance to the Holocaust would have really helped me understand. You had a great use of pictures which were also very helpful and I could tell you really knew what point you were trying to get across. Good work!
-Haleigh
I had heard about Omar al-Bashir and the genocide in Darfur before today, but did not know very much about it. Your blog made me understand what had happened and what the circumstances were. You did a really job, especially because your blog was very informative and I learned a lot from it, but it might have been helpful to have added a couple more pictures that depict what the genocide and victims of the genocide looked like. I liked how you included what the situation in Darfur is like today; like when you mentioned that Bashir is still the president of Sudan, but avoids and resists against any international pressure on the issue”. I also think it’s unfortunate that he won’t let any more foreign aid enter the country anymore.
ReplyDeleteNice work!!
I hadn't heard about the events in darfur until this term and your blog was very helpful for me to start understanding the situation. Your visual aids were helpful and the information was nicely presented. -megan
ReplyDeleteTaylor, this was a really well constructed blog. I haven't been really pay attention to the Genocide in Darfur, but this makes me want to research it more. President Omar al-Bashir seems (and is) a terrible man and I can't even imagine killing innocent people over there ethnicity. There was a wide variety of pictures, which made me visualize what it must be like in Darfur. It was a very neat blog and was easy to read, despite not knowing anything about Darfur before reading it. Great blog, Taylor!
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