- Article by DESMOND TUTU
- Published: March 2, 2009
THE expected issuance of an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan
al-Bashir of Sudan by the International Criminal Court tomorrow presents a
stark choice for African leaders — are they on the side of justice or on the
side of injustice? Are they on the side of the victim or the oppressor? The
choice is clear but the answer so far from many African leaders has been
shameful.
Because the victims in Sudan are African, African leaders should be the
staunchest supporters of efforts to see perpetrators brought to account. Yet
rather than stand by those who have suffered in Darfur, African leaders have so
far rallied behind the man responsible for turning that corner of Africa into a
graveyard.
In response to news last July that Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the court’s chief
prosecutor, was seeking an arrest warrant for President Bashir for genocide,
crimes against humanity and war crimes, the African Union issued a communiqué
to the United Nations Security Council asking it to suspend the court’s
proceedings. Rather than condemn the genocide in Darfur, the organization chose
to underscore its concern that African leaders are being unfairly singled out
and to support President Bashir’s effort to delay court proceedings.