Lessons from Serbia …

Responding to a Guardian article written by Steve Cranshaw, entitled “Serbia’s lessons for Sudan”, Mr. Cranshaw writes on the 24th July, 2008:

… “Western politicians were initially reluctant to bring to justice those who presided over the crimes in Bosnia, just as some are now reluctant to see Bashir indicted”.

Writing in response:

Yes, the legitimacy of the ICC, and to some extent the UN, is being put to the test. With the UN International Criminal Court being replaced in the next two years, Karadzic’s arrest came at a rather fortuitous time as he had probably hoped to have escaped extradition to The Hague.

There are, of course, stark similarities between Bashir and Karadzic, both having been charged with genocide – the ultimate grave crime against humanity. Karadzic was actually indicted on such charges, despite him being on the run, for almost 13-years. Equally, Bashir (64), a General like his co-conspirator Mladic, remained determined in holding onto power despite the scorched-earth policy of ethnic cleansing he employed.

The west has to be careful in how it engages with Bashir’s Sudan because it could be seen to be taking sides. Where the west can offer help, it should try to mediate through negotiation in preventing any further bloodshed in Darfur. The west could have sent in a military force in curbing the malicious and violent acts of the Janjaweed, government backed militias who continue in reeking havoc on Darfur.

With genocide, though, it has to be proved that a clear plan existed in wiping out an entire nation and culture. Clearly, the evidence against Karadzic is substantial having had a plan that nearly wiped-out three generations of Bosnian Muslims. With Omar al-Bashir, call it genocide or mass murder; the Sudanese despot must be arrested to take account of some of his vile crimes that has claimed the lives of over 400,000 people.

 

© Mark Dowe 2008: all rights protected

 

Reference:

•  Steve Cranshaw, “Serbia’s lessons for Sudan”

… “The fact that Radovan Karadzic will face trial has important ramifications for the case against Omar Bashir, which must not now be delayed”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/24/radovankaradzic.serbia

 

Supplementary:

• Tom Fawthrop, “No justice for East Timor”

… “In the absence of demands for an international trial, Indonesian generals still enjoy impunity for their crimes against humanity”

Writing in response:

Yes, a tangible example that clearly highlights the need in removing double-standards. The International Criminal Court (ICC) must do all in its power to bring those suspected of human culpability, wherever and whenever it happened, to book. War crimes never expire and are unlikely that one man alone, Suharto, would have been responsible for the mass slaughter of up to one million people in East Timor after the 1975 invasion by Indonesia.

 

• Paddy Ashdown, “Europe needs a wake-up call. Bosnia is on the edge again”

… As the arrest of Radovan Karadzic is celebrated, we ignore warnings that the politics of his country are increasingly fractured [Observer, Sunday 27 July 2008]

 

• Ian Bancroft, “The post-Karadzic world”

… “Lord Ashdown’s scaremongering about Bosnia and Herzegovina’s future misses the real reasons for the state’s fragility”