Darfur Genocide Charges Filed
This Monday, the International Criminal Court
in The Hague charged the President of Sudan,
Omar Hassan al-Bashir, with three counts of genocide in Darfur,
which is the worst crime in international law.
The charges come after a long legal process,
during which al-Bashir was reelected for another term as president. He was also charged in March 2009 with two
counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity, and in
response, al-Bashir expelled ten international
aid organizations from Sudan. Al-Bashir says he will not turn himself in,
but the prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo believes that he
will “face justice” eventually. It is
estimated by the United Nations that 2.7 million have fled their homes and
300,000 have died since 2003.
To
better understand the genocide in Darfur, look
no further than Ben Kiernan’s Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and
Extermination from Sparta to Darfur. Kiernan identifies four major the
mes in the
history of genocide: conflicts over agriculture and agricultural land, the
influence of cults of antiquity such as Sparta,
conflict over race, and conflicts over territory and power, all of which had
their basis in ancient history. Kiernan
studied many of the genocides throughout history, starting with some of these
ancient origins, telling the stories that surround them and finds the four
themes in these stories. He addresses
the conflict in Darfur late in the book, describing a 1987 letter which was a
clear precursor to the 2003 start of the conflict, when Janjaweed militias
began serious attacks on agricultural tribes in Darfur. Blood
and Soil offers a comprehensive look at genocide of value to anyone looking
to better understand the week’s events and their place in history.
That sounds like an awesome book, one in which people can learn more about what is going on. I heard that NYIFF awarded Attack on Darfur as Best International Film, and rightfully so! It’s about time people were made aware that lives in Darfur are still endangered and EVERYTHING IS NOT OK.