President of Sudan to Be Charged With Genocide

This is the first time that the International Criminal Court will bring charges against a sitting leader for genocide and crimes against humanity.

UNITED NATIONS, July 10 -- The chief prosecutor of the Internationals Criminal Court will seek an arrest warrant Monday for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, charging him with genocide and crimes against humanity in the orchestration of a campaign of violence that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in the nation's Darfur region during the past five years, according to U.N. officials and diplomats.

There are concerns from some U.N. officials that this move will lead to increased violence as the Sudanese Army responds, undermining ongoing peace efforts.

"Bashir will certainly use the indictment to justify some awful reactions, such as humanitarian aid restrictions and further barriers" to the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur, said John Prendergast, co-chairman of the Enough Project, an initiative to end crimes against humanity. "But if the international community stands firm and makes it clear that these kinds of responses will only make matters worse for Bashir . . . then he will relent."

Other human rights groups think that an indictment by the ICC can aid the peace process.

ICC advocates contend that such court actions contribute to peace efforts. Previous indictments of world leaders -- such as former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic and former Liberian president Charles Taylor -- by other U.N. tribunals have ultimately contributed to stability in those countries, said Richard Dicker, director of the international justice office at Human Rights Watch.

Despite the risks, this is crucial step in bringing an end to the violence and pursuing justice.

Of course the flipflopping BushCo, against the ICC, is making an exception in this case:

The Bush administration has long opposed the International Criminal Court, fearing it would conduct frivolous investigations of alleged crimes by U.S. service members. But the United States allowed the Security Council to authorize the court to investigate war crimes in Darfur.

May justice be done.

And may there be peace.