In my postings, I have often emphasized the role of the international community in halting genocide in Darfur, and in preventing its recurrence elsewhere. Recent events show both the promise and the continuing pitfalls of advocating this global responsibility.
In a landmark move, the International Criminal Court (ICC) last week announced the indictment of a former Sudanese interior minister and a Janjaweed militia leader for war crimes and crimes against humanity. As the first step in holding the architects of the Darfur genocide accountable before the international community, the indictment represents an achievement for the rule of law and the cause of human rights. However, it also betrays the frailty of international capacity to deal with threats such as genocide; the two men are unlikely to be tried, since Sudan refuses to hand them over to ICC prosecutors, and the Court has no enforcement capabilities.
Indeed, the UN peacekeeping force that has been proposed for Darfur (and which might be the only hope of enforcing the ICC indictments) was rejected by the Chadian government. According to its Foreign Minister, Chad refuses a military peacekeeping force on its eastern border, and would accept only one consisting of police.
Sadly, Chad is likely to get its way. Yet the increasingly brazen attacks on Darfurian refugees in Chad and the Central African Republic, not to mention the military firepower brought to bear against Darfuris in Sudan, illustrate that a substantial military peacekeeping force is necessary to bring peace to north-central Africa. Chad's intransigence may well not only pervert the course of justice in bringing perpetrators of genocide to account, but also lead to even more pain for a long-suffering people. The scorched earth pictured above has long been all too familiar to many Darfuris; it is a scene that now haunts Chad as well, and, without the action of the international community, is likely to become ever more common.
No comments:
Post a Comment