Darfour: fitting case of inadequate justice
Wanted: 51 counts of war crimes against ex-Sudanese minister Ahmed Harun (picture) and militia leader Ali Kushayb. Photo: AP
Friday, March 2, 2007
THE wheels of justice grind slow, especially when the UN is involved. Four years after the event, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has named two Sudanese as being implicated in the Darfur war crimes.
It has taken this long to determine if there was indeed a war crime perpetrated in Darfur and, if so, who was behind it. Although it is claimed more names will be disclosed in due course, the chances of the two named so far — a state humanitarian affairs minister and a commander allegedly of the Janjaweed militia — actually coming to trial are remote.
If the accused are to stand trial in The Hague, then the problem arises of getting them there, for the Sudanese government has already rejected the charges and is unlikely to assist in the deportation of its own citizens. Sudan has also dismissed the charges against the two as being a concoction of lies; therefore it is obvious it will not conduct its own trial against the accused.
So it looks like another ICC "success" — as with Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, the men still wanted by the ICC to answer Balkan war crimes.Gulf News
It has taken this long to determine if there was indeed a war crime perpetrated in Darfur and, if so, who was behind it. Although it is claimed more names will be disclosed in due course, the chances of the two named so far — a state humanitarian affairs minister and a commander allegedly of the Janjaweed militia — actually coming to trial are remote.
If the accused are to stand trial in The Hague, then the problem arises of getting them there, for the Sudanese government has already rejected the charges and is unlikely to assist in the deportation of its own citizens. Sudan has also dismissed the charges against the two as being a concoction of lies; therefore it is obvious it will not conduct its own trial against the accused.
So it looks like another ICC "success" — as with Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, the men still wanted by the ICC to answer Balkan war crimes.Gulf News
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