To prosecute or not to prosecute?

President Bashir of Sudan is facing potential charges before the International Criminal Court. His government doesn't recognize the ICC's jurisdiction, but that doesn't seem to make a difference to the ICC. Does this remind you of a certain other head of state who's alleged to be guilty of war crimes but who doesn't recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC? It should.



Some say that would not be politic at the present moment in Sudan. I respect Alex de Waal very much for his knowledge of the area and his writings about it. Here's what Alex and Julie Flint said about it recently:

The chief prosecutor's timing could not be worse. There has been more movement on the north-south Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which provides a blueprint for the democratisation of Sudan, in the past two months than in the past three and a half years; a deal has been signed to end a dispute over the flashpoint oil-rich region of Abyei; and an election law has been passed. In the interests of the people of Sudan, Ocampo should reconsider. It is not too late.

Others are weighing in for various reasons. The AU

expressed its strong conviction that the search for justice should be pursued in a way that does not impede or jeopardise efforts aimed at promoting lasting peace"

but then they also

reiterated the AU's concern with the misuse of indictments against African leaders

so they could be dismissed as just another dictators' trade union, like the OAU.

Even worse, Bashir has asked the Arab League for support. Playing the ethnic card, effectively asking the Arab League to certify that genocide is OK (at least if Arabs do it - don't expect them to OK anything Israel does to the Palestinians) is a new low even for the Bashir regime. But since when has the Arab League even done anything about Moroccan occupation of the Western Sahara? Arab on Arab oppression they are silent about, Ajam (non-Arab) oppression of Arabs they can't stop talking about, but when Arabs oppress some other people? They're all for that! That's what the Arab League is all about, Arab ethnic nationalism, what other African peoples call "tribalism" - a sentiment that should have been left behind in the 20th century.

I would like to propose something that is uncharacteristically politic for me. I would like to propose dual indictments. If Bashir is guilty of breaking International Law, so is Bush. Bush doesn't recognize the ICC, but then neither does Bashir, so they're equally outlaw regimes. There should be dual indictments handed down. There is certainly growing support in the US for indicting Bush. It would put pressure on his domestic opposition to finally do something about him instead of just waiting out his term. This would take care of the Arab charge of double standard and conspiracy against the mythical Arab nation. It would end the charge of hypocrisy. It would kill two birds with one stone. And it might create a precedent for justice in the world. Not victors' justice, the complaint about Nuremburg. Not losers' justice, which has been slow in coming to the victims of the Bosnian Civil War. But justice for all. Which I always pledged allegiance to.