I welcome today’s history-making announcement of an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Bashir.  Since 2003 I have been part of Amnesty International’s global quest to put an end to Bashir’s policies that have hurt hundreds of thousands of Darfuri civilians.  Since 2005 Bashir has prevented Amnesty from entering Darfur – but still we found a way to pull of this attempt at a blindfold over our eyes- by taking  to the skies to tell the stories and exposing the truth.  Now one day Bashir will tell his own story in the Hague.

For the Darfuri victims of widespread rape, murder, torture and forced expulsions, today’s prosecution of Bashir is an important step to stop their suffering and move toward peace and security in this conflict-ridden region.  And with this history-making gesture toward a sitting head of state, the International Criminal Court has told abusers everywhere there is no ‘get out of jail free card’ for simply being in power.

So President Bashir, stop the vitriol, drink the bitter pill and do us all a favor, and opt to have your day in Court.  Because we will not rest until you do, the 2 million Amnesty International members voices globally who will assert our pressure on you, the government of Sudan, and any member of the United Nation who’s soil you may enter as a fugitive.

Check out my article on the Atlantic Community for more on Bashir’s prosecution.

The ICC’s pre-trial chamber has issued an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, the head of state of Sudan. Already, the government in Khartoum has rejected the court’s decision.

The government of Sudan must comply with the arrest warrant. The ICC case against al-Bashir and already-issued arrest warrants against Ahmed Haroun and Janjaweed leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman must proceed without delay. The United States–no traditional friend of the ICC–joins the ranks this morning of states and peoples around the world who demand justice for violations of the most inviolable prescriptions of international law.

Irene Khan, the Secretary General of Amnesty International echoed the legal obligations of Sudan: “The law is clear. President al-Bashir must appear before the ICC to defend himself. If he refuses to do so, the Sudanese authorities must ensure he is arrested and surrendered immediately to the ICC.”

Amnesty has long campaigned for justice for Darfur, and campaigned for Khartoum to cooperate with the ICC. Omar al-Bashir’s war crimes, steadfast obstruction of justice, and evident crimes against humanity have placed him rightly among other indicted international criminals. His role as head of state of Sudan is not a shield against the law; while he has been happy to use his power to violate the law and create an a climate of impunity, that power must–and will–bend to the most fundamental notions of justice.

Stay tuned here as news and analysis continues to develop throughout the day…

In the next few weeks, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to hand down its decision about indicting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.  Organizations such as the African Union and the Arab League are lobbying the UN Security Council to implement Article 16 of the Rome Statute, which would suspend any deliberations on the case against Bashir for a year with the possibility of an annual renewal.

We need to be wary of using the possibility of International Criminal Court indictments as a carrot and stick in seeking to end the conflict in Darfur.  Deferring the case of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir sets up a catastrophic precedent whereby politics dictates the course of justice.  Amnesty International has advocated against such interference in the ICC from the court’s inception.

More importantly, we must not forget what Darfuris directly affected by nearly six years of state-sponsored terror want – justice.  Tens of thousands of Darfuris have signed petitions asking that the case against Bashir not be deferred.  We must listen to them.

Dear President-elect Obama,

As a candidate for president, you clearly stated how you will respond to mass atrocities and genocide:

“The United States has a moral obligation anytime you see humanitarian catastrophes. We are the most powerful nation in the world. We have the most stake in creating an order in the world that is stable and in which people have hope in opportunity. And when you see a genocide, whether it’s in Rwanda, or Bosnia, or Darfur, that’s a stain on all of us. That’s a stain on our souls. (…) We can’t say ‘never again’ and then allow it to happen again. And as President of the United States, I don’t intend to abandon people or turn a blind eye to slaughter.”

With your victory in the presidential elections, you will soon have a chance to put your words into action. And that’s not where the good news ends. To tackle the challenges ahead, the Genocide Prevention Task Force, a group of experts including staff from Amnesty International, worked for a year to develop a practical framework to assist you in responding to genocide and mass atrocities. The task force, jointly convened by the United States Holocaust Museum, the American Academy of Diplomacy, and US Institute of Peace, released its final report today. Co-chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, the report makes several key recommendations in the areas of early warning, preventive diplomacy, the use or threat of force and the power of international action.

However, all these areas are topped by one priority: “Nothing is more central to preventing genocide than leadership – from the president, Congress and the American people. Making progress requires leaders to summon political will not only after a crisis strikes, but also before one emerges.“ Coming from a country in which genocide was perpetrated more than 60 years ago, I could not agree more.

In addition to carefully studying the report’s recommendations, I urge you to recall the following quote by Martin Luther King: “The greatest sin of our time is not the few who have destroyed but the vast majority who’ve sat idly by.”

I hope you get a chance to take a look at the report soon – I’d be happy to send you a copy. Let me know what you think!

Best,

Christoph