This is a guest post by ami
I have just got back from the demo outside the Sudanese Embassy where we gathered to await the announcement of the ICC International arrest warrant of Al Bashir. This would be the first time such a warrant has been issued for a ruling head of state. While we waited, a roll call was read out of names of hundreds of murdered relatives of the gathered Darfuris, while the crowd held up pictures of their relatives and other victims.
Across the road was a Stop the War in Sri Lanka demo, with signs reading Don’t let it become another Darfur, Bosnia or Rwanda. Yet there was not a single STWC person there; the people interested in stopping that war looked to be exclusively from the region. There was a sign saying the Sri Lankan Government had killed 2,000 innocent civilians in the past 6 weeks, but I know little of the rights and wrongs of those events, as there hasn’t been a 10 minute play about it.
When the news of the warrant was announced, the Darfur crowd erupted with joy, hugging and handshakes. A Darfuri man alongside me stood with tears running down his cheeks.
Contrast that with the first response already on The Times site:
“It seems that the International criminal court is a form of neo-colonialism. Its interference and no less.”
Tell that to the ullulating women around me, tell that to the man in tears.
