In her guest post last week, ami reported on the celebration outside the Sudanese embassy in London when the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan Al Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to the genocide in Darfur.
Since then the government of Sudan has reacted as any self-respecting genocidal regime would react: it expelled 13 aid organizations providing desperately-needed assistance to the people of Darfur.
The New York Times reported:
In Darfur’s camps, the effects were already being felt. The International Rescue Committee, for example, said it was forced to close medical clinics in three camps, leaving more than 200,000 without medical assistance. Michael Kocher, the organization’s vice president of international programs, said the agency was appealing the government’s decision, as were the other groups.
“Our biggest worry is about the humanitarian situation — some 50 to 70 percent of the humanitarian assistance has stopped,” said Philippe Conraud, of Action Against Hunger.
So who is standing in solidarity with President Al Bashir and his government at this trying time for him?
Fortunately an article in The Yemen Times provides a handy list. In addition to the government of Yemen, which organized a pro-Al Bashir demonstration in Sana’a, those supporting the Sudanese stand against the ICC include:
–The governments of Iran and Syria, as well as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which sent representatives to Khartoum to express solidarity.
–The government of Venezuela.
“Venezuela questions the intrusion into the legitimate internal affairs and sovereignty of Sudan,” said Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Reinaldo Bolivar.
–An outfit called ICC Watch, which lists Marc Glendening and its director and John Laughland as its external advisor.
Glendening is the campaign director of the anti-EU Democracy Movement. Laughland, who has defended Slobodan Milosevic and the former repressive government of Ukraine, will be familiar to longtime Harry’s Place readers.
“The courageous decision of Sudan signaled an important and much needed resistance to the dangerous phenomenon of undemocratic transnational institutions such as the ICC,” wrote ICC Watch in a recent press release.
It’s times like these when a practitioner of genocide finds out who his true friends are.
David T adds:
Nobody will be surprised to hear that the the Muslim Association of Britain, the British section of Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood, also supports Al Bashir:
The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) expresses its profound rejection of the ICC position, regarding its decision to level charges against the Sudanese president, Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, in issuing a warrant for his arrest; a step that reflects mismanagement on the part of the international order in dealing with the Darfur crisis and its repercussions.
…
While we emphasise that international justice should not be open to political abuse nor selective standards, we consider that the standards of the international order, and the values promoted by Western States in particular, are today in the eyes of many nations and peoples being put to the test, to prove the extent of their balance, objectivity, and fairness.
But of course!
