Omar al-Bashir to ICC: "Eat it!"

The hordes of judges, lawyers and bureaucrats of the International Criminal Court sat down at their breakfast tables this morning and discovered via the local news a helpful message from indicted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir: "Eat it!"*

"I think he meant the Eggs Benedict," said one lawyer, "which I was thinking of ordering anyway."

"I wasn't even hungry yet," said another ICC official, "but Mr. al-Bashir is right: a healthy breakfast is the most important part of a good day."

And what a day it is, as the ICC will formally issue an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president on charges of war crimes for the ongoing Darfur thingy. A defiant Omar al-Bashir is preparing to dodge the summons, readying the Sudanese military to act against any domestic support for the ICC ruling.

For example, Sudanese officials told Doctors Without Borders operating in Sudan to find a border quickly and cross it.

Refugees and aid groups in Darfur fear a surge in attacks if the ruling is handed down against al-Bashir today. Will the ICC eat its words?

*What al-Bashir really said was "immerse it [the arrest warrant] in water and drink it," which is a common Arabic derision; whereas "eat it" is obviously an idiomatic translation for the benefit of those Westerners who, unlike the Sudanese, are accustomed to having plenty to eat.

[Update: The arrest warrant has just been formally announced.]

George Clooney saves Darfur, might run for President of Sudan

George Clooney, quite dashing

The dramatic, psycho-thriller rivalry between actor George Clooney and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir took a Soderberghian twist recently as the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir--the alleged mastermind of the 6-year-long genocide in Darfur--after Clooney met U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House to discuss the ongoing conflict.

Coincidence? We think not. To wit:

TIMELINE OF RELEVANT EVENTS IN THE DARFUR GENOCIDE
June 2003 - Government of Sudan begins arming and deploying Janjaweed militias against rebel factions in the Darfur region.

June 2003-February 2009 - Janjaweed and other government-backed militias attack and destroy hundreds of villages, displacing as many as 2.5 million people. At least 300,000 civilians (and some say the number might be over 1 million) in Darfur are killed either by the militias directly or from starvation due to displacement and famine. Meanwhile, the international community is powerless to stop the massacre and ease the suffering of millions of lives.

Omar Bashir,  quite confused

February 2009 - Actor George Clooney returns from Darfur and meets with U.S. President Barack Obama to discuss the situation in Sudan, urging immediate action to stop the genocide.

March 2009 - International Criminal Court issues controversial indictment and arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on allegations of committing war crimes and genocide.

See? Actors do matter.

(The actual news: After formalizing the indictment last week, the ICC is expected to officially issue the arrest warrant for al-Bashir this Wednesday: a historic moment as no sitting head of government has ever been summoned for arrest by the ICC.)

Canada mum on Darfur militant in Sudanese government

There’s been no official word yet from the Government of Canada in response to the Sudanese Arab government naming Musa Hilal – a janjaweed militia leader with known ties to the atrocities in Darfur – as a special advisor to the government in the Ministry of Federal (i.e. internal) Affairs.

First reported by the London-based Arabic daily asharq alawsat January 19, Musa Hilal’s official position in the government remains ambiguous, but his very presence underscores the level of commitment (or lack thereof) that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has toward resolving a conflict that has left more than 200,000 people dead in an ethnic cleansing in Darfur since 2003.

Human Rights Watch and international observers in Darfur accuse Musa Hilal of organizing raids on civilians and refugees in Darfur, and there is proof from eyewitness accounts that Hilal has been present at the scene of Darfur atrocities, as reported in the New York Times.

Hilal has also been implicated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the atrocities in Darfur, though not formally charged with war crimes.

According to the online edition of the English Sudan Tribune, Musa Hilal is a convicted felon (armed robbery, 1998) who was released from prison in 2003 by top Sudanese government officials, apparently (one may only infer) to provide his services to the government in suppressing the uprising by the Sudanese Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement, both non-Arab parties from the Darfur region struggling for more autonomy in western Sudan.

The last official word from Canada about Sudan came only two weeks ago, when Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier commented (“Canada urges all parties to negotiate in a spirit of compromise conducive to ongoing dialogue and reconciliation…”) on the third anniversary of the Naivasha Agreement, which ended the 20-year Second Civil War between Sudan’s Arab government and the black-African (ethnic Dinkas and others) Sudan People's Liberation Movement in the south of the country.

The anniversary, January 9, came a day after suspected janjaweed units attacked a UN supply convoy in western Darfur.

Should someone with Darfur’s blood on his hands be advising the Sudanese government about its policy toward, er, Darfur?