gprime
April 26th '06, 01:24 AM
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United States said it was likely to call for a vote Tuesday on a resolution to impose the first-ever sanctions on participants in the Darfur conflict in western Sudan, despite opposition from Russia and China.
The two opposing nations reiterated Monday that sanctions on the four men could complicate peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, to end the three-year conflict in Darfur. The African Union, which is mediating the talks, has set an April 30 deadline for a peace deal.
If approved, the sanctions would be the first imposed by the U.N. Security Council since it adopted a resolution in March 2005 authorizing an asset freeze and travel ban on individuals who defy peace efforts, violate international human rights law, or are responsible for military overflights in Darfur.
On paper, that sounds good. But then one glances at the list of individuals facing such a threat. Two of the men, Gaffar Mohamed Elhassan and Sheikh Musa Hilal, deserve much of the blame for the ethnic clensing of Darfur's non-Muslim populous. So at the very least, this would be the first step in helping to crush them. But the other two men standing trial are innocent men, and indeed arguably heroes for their efforts to bring democracy and religious freedom to the Sudan. Those men are Adam Yacub Shant and Gabril Abdul Kareem Badri. Shant is a key figure in the SPLM and Badri is a high ranking member in the National Movement for Reform and Development. If anything, these two have saved countless thousands of innocent Sudanese residents from the brutal, govenment-sponsored Janjaweed Militia.
But most disturbing is its failure to do anything about Omar el-Bashir. Let us review his history. As a career military man, he fought in the Yom Kippur War (a brutal war started by hardline Islamic nations in 1973 against Israel on the most important holiday of the Jewish faith). Then, in 1989, he overthrew the democratically elected Prime Minister Sadeq al-Mahdi in a military coop. Al-Bashir immediately banned all political parties, cracked down on the press, and dissolved Parliament. Then he seized control of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation, allowing him to declare himself the chief of state, prime minister, chief of the armed forces, and minister of defense. In 1993 he became president too after disbanding the council. But disregarding the circumstances of his power, looking at his actions suggest that he not only should be the focus of any international effort, but should be tortured to death on world tv. He imposed Sharia law on all of the Sudan in 1991. He helped the National Islamic Front (a radical group) expand their power, and gave refuge to Osama Bin Laden and other al-Quida members. He also hosted the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory, which was a front for a chemical and biological weapons program being developed by Islamic terror groups. Furthermore, he has helped to foster an explosion in the Sudanese slave trade of non-Muslim citizens by the northern Arab elite. And through his suppression, human rights abuses, ethnic cleansing campaigns, and other clearly illegal and Hitler-like activities, he caused civil war which has left the nation in shambles and had an incalculable impact upon the size of the nation, believed to have killed well over a million people. He's also raped Southern Sudan of its resources while discriminating against and undermining its people. Also important though is his support for the terrorist group the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) in an attempt to overthrow the Ugandan government. He has behaved similarly in Chad, attempting to kill its leader and to start a civil war. Its no surprise that in 2006, David Wallechinsky [Parade Magazine] ranked al-Bashir #1 in its list of the world’s ten worst dictators.
Thoughts?
The two opposing nations reiterated Monday that sanctions on the four men could complicate peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, to end the three-year conflict in Darfur. The African Union, which is mediating the talks, has set an April 30 deadline for a peace deal.
If approved, the sanctions would be the first imposed by the U.N. Security Council since it adopted a resolution in March 2005 authorizing an asset freeze and travel ban on individuals who defy peace efforts, violate international human rights law, or are responsible for military overflights in Darfur.
On paper, that sounds good. But then one glances at the list of individuals facing such a threat. Two of the men, Gaffar Mohamed Elhassan and Sheikh Musa Hilal, deserve much of the blame for the ethnic clensing of Darfur's non-Muslim populous. So at the very least, this would be the first step in helping to crush them. But the other two men standing trial are innocent men, and indeed arguably heroes for their efforts to bring democracy and religious freedom to the Sudan. Those men are Adam Yacub Shant and Gabril Abdul Kareem Badri. Shant is a key figure in the SPLM and Badri is a high ranking member in the National Movement for Reform and Development. If anything, these two have saved countless thousands of innocent Sudanese residents from the brutal, govenment-sponsored Janjaweed Militia.
But most disturbing is its failure to do anything about Omar el-Bashir. Let us review his history. As a career military man, he fought in the Yom Kippur War (a brutal war started by hardline Islamic nations in 1973 against Israel on the most important holiday of the Jewish faith). Then, in 1989, he overthrew the democratically elected Prime Minister Sadeq al-Mahdi in a military coop. Al-Bashir immediately banned all political parties, cracked down on the press, and dissolved Parliament. Then he seized control of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation, allowing him to declare himself the chief of state, prime minister, chief of the armed forces, and minister of defense. In 1993 he became president too after disbanding the council. But disregarding the circumstances of his power, looking at his actions suggest that he not only should be the focus of any international effort, but should be tortured to death on world tv. He imposed Sharia law on all of the Sudan in 1991. He helped the National Islamic Front (a radical group) expand their power, and gave refuge to Osama Bin Laden and other al-Quida members. He also hosted the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory, which was a front for a chemical and biological weapons program being developed by Islamic terror groups. Furthermore, he has helped to foster an explosion in the Sudanese slave trade of non-Muslim citizens by the northern Arab elite. And through his suppression, human rights abuses, ethnic cleansing campaigns, and other clearly illegal and Hitler-like activities, he caused civil war which has left the nation in shambles and had an incalculable impact upon the size of the nation, believed to have killed well over a million people. He's also raped Southern Sudan of its resources while discriminating against and undermining its people. Also important though is his support for the terrorist group the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) in an attempt to overthrow the Ugandan government. He has behaved similarly in Chad, attempting to kill its leader and to start a civil war. Its no surprise that in 2006, David Wallechinsky [Parade Magazine] ranked al-Bashir #1 in its list of the world’s ten worst dictators.
Thoughts?