So I've been sick for about two and a half weeks now. Sorry about the lack of posts, but the mind hasn't been functioning all that well. I've prepared one for today (written yesterday on the train), and plan to continue with my everyday routine, so please keep checking in. Here it is:
I feel that I should write a post about Sudan. It’s been in the news for so long, and is such an important topic that I would be doing a disservice to my readership, however small, if I did not discuss it.
Recently, the International Criminal Court (ICC), arguably one of the more progressive branches of the United Nations, issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Bashir. My immediate reaction was a positive one – finally, a branch of the world government established particularly for the purpose of fighting acts of the inhumanity like the ones taking place daily in Sudan was doing something to stop these atrocities. What could have been a moment of triumph for everyone at the world government has turned into an utter debacle.
While the ICC has more independence than many of the other bodies of the UN, it lacks any means military means to pursue its desires. Thus, although it set a new precedent by issuing a warrant for a sitting president, the ICC cannot pursue his arrest. This presents a significant issue, especially given Mr. Bashir’s response. Instead of laughing at the warrant (which may have been appropriate), Mr. Bashir responded angrily – throwing out all foreign aid workers from the country. Estimates are that the expulsion of aid workers could result in several million refugees losing access to basic food, clean water, shelter, and medicines.
The ICC has done its job. Mr. Bashir should be arrested. He should be tried. And when found guilty, he should be put in prison for life, if not executed. Unfortunately, the rest of the world government – namely, its least effective body, the Security Council – has not picked up where the ICC left off. Rather than understanding the consequences of inaction in Sudan, the Security Council has pretended it doesn’t support what the ICC has done. In this case, much of the blame falls on China and Russia, but there have been other instances in which American interference has prevented the Security Council from acting when it should have.
Through its inaction, the Security Council could indirectly cause the deaths of these several million refugees in Darfur, and perhaps Eastern Chad as well. Some reports have suggested that Mr. Bashir has instructed the rebel forces (under Sudanese control) in Chad to attack the refugee camps there as the Sudanese flee the camps in Sudan due to diminishing supplies of food and water.
Unfortunately, it seems the world economic collapse has taken the focus off of international relations and the great inhumanity abroad. Instead of waking up, reading in the newspaper about the refugees in Sudan who are now starving, we are reading about middle class families in this country whose homes have been repossessed and who are living in motels. I’m not taking anything away from the struggles of those families. Their situation is most unfortunate, and highly distressing. Yet as our contributions to charities abroad decrease, it is important to remember the struggle of families in rural Africa surviving on our aid.
I’m writing this post sitting on a train, and etched into the rock wall alongside the tracks, we just passed a piece of creative graffiti that read, “we shall overcome.” Yes, we shall, but it will be much easier if the Security Council steps up and does the job for which it was created.
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