No peace for Darfur without justice: Arrest warrant is the signal for Europe!

The warrant of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague for the arrest of the Sudanese President, Omar Hassan al Bashir, is a signal for the international community to at last take more energetic action for peace and human rights in Darfur and in the whole of Sudan. This was the call made on Wednesday by the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV). "However difficult it is to carry out the warrant, it does send out an important message”, said the GfbV Sudan expert, Ulrich Delius. Sudan has suddenly entered into the view of many governments and the general public throughout the world. "The international community must keep the promise made long ago and make sure that the civilian population is given proper protection”, said Delius. It must also reinforce its attempts to prevent the peace talks in South Sudan from breaking down.

The GfbV will today at 3.30 p.m. at the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin be honouring the 400,000 victims of the genocide in Darfur. At the human rights demonstration there will be on placards hundreds of Arab names of victims of the genocide and in front there will be a black coffin with candles.

"There can be no lasting peace in Darfur without justice”, said Delius. So the arrest warrant is an important sign for the fight against impunity for the most evil violations of human rights.

The fact that a sitting president is wanted on an arrest warrant is something which must be placed at the door of Sudan itself. For four years the Sudanese government has systematically refused to work with the ICC. For almost two years now it has been covering the present Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Ahmed Haroun, and the militia leader Ali Kushayb. Two years have now passed since the issue of a warrant (27th April 2007) for their arrest. The Sudanese authorities gave Minister Haroun false documents to enable him to take part in a pilgrimage to Mecca. Both men are accused of crimes against humanity.

"The international community has to date given the International Criminal Court very little support in the prosecution of those responsible for the atrocities in Darfur”, criticised Delius. The arrest warrant for Bashir could have been avoided if the international community had taken more energetic action concerning the arrest of Haroun and Kushayb. "If governments now criticise the procedure of the Court against Bashir they must be prepared to answer to answer the question as to why they did not act earlier in pressing Sudan to cooperate with the Criminal Court”, said Delius.