… posed to a council of International Criminal Court judges as the ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has accused Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of genocide in Darfur. The U.N. doesn’t seem to be particularly thrilled with this idea, with China, South Africa and other nations concerned that if Bashir is indicted it could damage the peace process that is going on to end the conflict in Darfur which has been going on for five years now.
Sudan says he is being politically motivated and of course they will ignore any warrant. But this guy isn’t getting any love from the U.N. either.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered a different view, saying the ICC also must consider ramifications of its work. “We must seek to strike the correct balance between the duty of justice and the pursuit of peace,” he said.
Source: Reuters
The ICC prosecutor plans to go forward despite the criticism and questioning that is being directed at him and at the implications of such an indictment.
I’m no great fan of the ICC. Any respect I had for them went out the window with the Slobodan Milosevic trial. I do think Bashir is being rightly accused. I’m kind of perplexed by Secretary-General Ki-moon’s statement though. What is the correct balance between “the duty of justice and the pursuit of peace”? Can you build lasting peace with a man who likely, at the very least, partly responsible for direct death of 35,000 and indirectly of 100,000 more due to famine and illness? Should you?
How does this measure up to the summation of the Old Testament Law seen in Micah?
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God, (Micah 6:8, ESV)?
Is ignoring an indictment good, even if it endangers the peace talks (which are currently stalled)? Is this doing justice? How kind is it to those who have been victimized during his presidency?
What do you think?