From Gaza to Sudan, Ban Highlights Crises Confronting Arab World

From Gaza to Sudan, Ban Highlights Crises Confronting Arab World

From The Widening Fallout of The Global Economic Crisis to The Suffering of Victims of Armed Conflict, The Arab World Faces Insecurity Today and The Potential for More Tomorrow, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon <"http://www.Un.Org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/statments_full.Asp?statid=455">told The Summit of The League of Arab States in Doha Today.
"the Toll in Human Lives and Deferred Development Has Been Tragically High," He Said in His Address to The Gathering. "the Region's Large Groups of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons Continue to Live With Their Dignity Under Attack and With Little Ability to Plan for Their Futures."
mr. Ban Said He Remained Gravely Concerned About The Situation is Gaza, Which is Dealing With The Aftermath of The Three-Week Offensive Launched By Israel in Late December 2008.
"the People of Gaza are Suffering, and The Situation At The Crossings is Intolerable," He Stated, Asserting That The Way Forward is a Durable Ceasefire, Open Crossings, and Palestinian Reconciliation.
on Sudan, The Secretary-General Urged The Government Once Again to Reverse Its Decision to Expel Key International Non-Governmental Organizations (ngos), and Suspend The Work of Three National Ngos That Provide Life-Sustaining Services for More Than One Million People.
the Sudanese Government Took That Decision on 4 March, Immediately After The International Criminal Court (<"http://www.Icc-Cpi.Int/menus/icc/home">icc) Issued An Arrest Warrant for President Omar Al-Bashir, Who Was Also Present At Today's Summit in The Qatari Capital.
"despite The Efforts of Sudanese Line Ministries, UN Agencies and The Remaining Ngos, The Gaps Cannot Be Filled With Existing Capacities," Mr. Ban Noted Concerning The Humanitarian Crisis in The Western Darfur Region of The Country. "relief Efforts Should Not Become Politicized. People in Need Must Be Helped Irrespective of Political Differences."
turning to Another Hot-Spot on The Continent, He Said The Present Situation in Somalia Offers a "rare Window of Opportunity," and Urged Immediate Support for The New Government That Was Sworn in Last Month.
"those of US With Influence on The Groups Remaining Outside of The Peace Process Should Call on Them to Join for The Sake of National Reconciliation," Mr. Ban Said, Adding That More Must Also Be Done to Promote Security on The Ground, Including By Supporting The African Union Mission There (<"http://www.Africa-Union.Org/root/au/auc/departments/psc/amisom/amisom.Htm">amisom) and Somali Security Forces At An Upcoming Donor Conference.
the Secretary-General Also Highlighted The Multiple Elections Taking Place This Year in Iraq to Strengthen Democratic Representation, Advance The Political Process and Promote Stability, and Said He Looked Forward to Free and Transparent Polls on 7 June in Lebanon.
while in Doha, Mr. Ban Held Bilateral Talks Today With The Secretary-General of The League of Arab States, Amre Moussa, as Well as With The Secretary-General of The Organization of The Islamic Conference, The Foreign Minister of Norway and The President of The United Arab Emirates.
yesterday, He Held Separate Meetings With The Emir of Qatar and The Presidents of Lebanon, The Palestinian Authority, Somalia and Syria.
tomorrow The Secretary-General Will Open The International Conference on Afghanistan in The Hague, Which Will Assess The Current Political, Security and Development Issues in The South Asian Nation.source: United Nations

3 Part Post about Sudan, UN, US etc. With reply at the end.

I took some time to sit back and watch/read whats been happening feeling much like others -powerless, not knowing what to do, what the right move would be etc.... Well, here it is I have to speak/write. Sitting back is as good as doing nothing. Sure I've started a pledge here and there and sent it to others but there is so much more I could and will be doing.

One thing I'd like to point out at this time is Genocide, Darfur,Bashir, Chad, ICC, UN and many more are misunderstood mostly do to not knowing the history of the truth. Its like watching a movie starting in the middle. To many this can be confusing, misunderstood, not understood at all and etc. If you want a good way to learn about this and more please check out "Not on Our Watch" by Don Cheadle and John Prendergast or " In the Hot Zone" by Kevin Sites. You can even look them up on line Kevin Sites has a web-site that provides a mass amount of information. Although Kevin's book is "One man, One year, 20 Wars" it is insightful and helpful all the way around. There are many other great books out there so please I ask you just pick up one. Thanks.

First Post:

Defying warrant, Sudan's president visits Libya

TRIPOLI, Libya – Sudan's president visited his third country in four days Thursday, this time touching down in Libya, the latest nation to welcome the leader who's wanted by an international court on war crimes charges.
Omar al-Bashir met with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, praising Libya's support for Sudan following the March 4 arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. His visit Thursday came after a trip Wednesday to key U.S.-ally Egypt and a stop Monday in the isolated African nation, Eritrea.
The Sudanese leader has been emboldened by the decision of the 22-member Arab League to not enforce the warrant even though three of its member countries are signatories to the court's founding treaty.
The court accuses al-Bashir of orchestrating a counterinsurgency against Darfur rebels that has involved rapes, killings and other atrocities against civilians. His government has been accused of unleashing Arab militiamen against Darfur civilians in a drive to put down a revolt by ethnic Africans in the western region.
Up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been driven from their homes since 2003, according to the U.N. Sudan says the U.N.'s figures are exaggerated.
Al-Bashir responded to the arrest warrant by expelling 13 foreign aid groups from Darfur, exposing hundreds of thousands of people already suffering from the six-year conflict to an even greater crisis.
He has been greeted warmly in the countries he's visited.
But as al-Bashir was in Libya, the Libyan ambassador at the United Nations in New York, Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham said his country and the U.N. are urging the Sudanese leader to reconsider the expulsion of the aid organizations from Darfur.
Shalgham, who presides over the Security Council this month, said council members agreed Thursday that al-Bashir "should reconsider the decision on suspending the activities" of the aid groups.
On Wednesday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak received al-Bashir at Cairo's airport in a show of solidarity with the wanted Sudanese leader.
Al-Bashir's visits are designed to challenge the ICC and show that "he doesn't care about the arrest warrant," said Mohammed Aboul Fadl, an analyst with the Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram.
"This is the same agenda that Sudan has adopted ever since the indictment became public," Aboul Fadl said. "By visiting those countries, he is saying that his African relations are not being affected by the ICC ... All those messages confirm that Sudan is not retreating, despite all the political pressures being practiced by the West."
Another goal of the visits is to get Arab countries to help Sudan cope with the gap that was left by the departure of the aid groups, Aboul Fadl said.
The Sudanese president is also slated to attend the Arab League summit March 27 in the tiny Gulf nation of Qatar. However, there have been public calls in Sudan for him to stay away over concerns he might be taken into custody while there.
Neither Libya or Egypt are signatories to the ICC's founding treaty, and both countries as well as the Arab League have backed al-Bashir, arguing that the warrant could further destabilize the country.
The United States is also not a signatory to the ICC but has been strongly critical of al-Bashir following the arrest warrant.
(AP)

Second post:

U.N. council urges Sudan to let back aid groups

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council appealed to Sudan on Thursday to reconsider a decision to expel some aid groups in Darfur after an international court issued an arrest warrant for the country's leader.
Khartoum ordered out 13 foreign groups and shut down three local ones after the International Criminal Court issued the warrant on March 4 against President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of war crimes in the conflict-torn Darfur region.
In a statement, the council said its members "stressed the importance of continuing the distribution of humanitarian assistance to all the needy in Darfur."
They urged Sudan's government "to continue cooperating with the United Nations and humanitarian organizations and appeal to it to reconsider the decision on suspending the activities of some non-government organizations in Sudan."
The statement was read to media by Ambassador Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam of Libya, this month's council president. Diplomats said it had been agreed unanimously by all 15 council members, who include Libya, a neighbor of Sudan.
Bashir, defying the international arrest warrant, traveled to Libya on Thursday for talks with leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's government said.

(Reuters)

Third Post:

At least two dead in arson attack on Darfur camp

KHARTOUM (AFP) – At least two people were killed after assailants set fire to a camp for displaced people in Darfur, destroying hundreds of shelters, Sudanese and UN officials said on Wednesday.
"An unknown group burnt Abuzar camp" in the overnight attack, a local government official said, requesting anonymity. "The fire destroyed 600 shelters."
The UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said two people died in the blaze at the camp near the West Darfur state capital of El Geneina. It spread fast because of strong winds, affecting about 1,500 residents.
UNAMID military and police sent to probe the fire were informed that "two armed men in military uniform and two others in civilian clothes were seen entering the camp, starting a fire ... and then fleeing," it said.
A woman died at the scene and a 22-year-old man later died in hospital, UNAMID said in a statement. Three others were seriously hurt and are being treated at El Geneina hospital.
Amy Martin, in charge of a UN aid programme in West Darfur, said the fire destroyed the food distribution centre in the camp.
A spokesman for the Darfur rebel group Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) put the toll at three dead and three injured and blamed a pro-government militia for the attack.
Ahmed Hussein accused the Khartoum government of trying to "dismantle the refugee camps."
Abuzar houses more than 12,000 of the estimated 2.7 million people displaced by six years of fighting in Darfur. The camp also came under attack earlier this month, local sources said.
A Sudanese man working for a Canadian aid group was shot dead in West Darfur on Monday night, in the third murder of a member of the embattled relief operation in war-ravaged Darfur since the start of 2009.
The United Nations says 300,000 people have died -- many from disease and hunger -- after ethnic Darfur rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government, complaining of discrimination.
Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.

Reply:

This fills me with anger that can only be reduced when this genocide is halted and justice is served for the perpetrators, or at least those who orchestrated this madness. Until that happens, I will not stop sounding the alarm. In fact, I cannot stop. I hope many feel the same way. Two realities I'd like to share with anyone reading this would be....

1) If conflicts aren't resolved, efforts to support Africa's development will be underminded repatedly.

2) Political will for supporting positive agendas in Africa has a great deal of competition from many other pressing priorities, so unless we become much more vocal, little will change in how we respond to Africa.

So it is absolutely imperative that resolving conflicts and confronting mass human rights abuses be central objectives of U.S. policy of Africa. However, the U.S. government usually does not respond to cases of mass atrocities (particularly in Africa). When American people - or influential subsets of them - do not make noise, then it is highly unlikely that the U.S. government will do much more then express (or pretend to express) concern and call on the parties to lay down their arms. In the case of Darfur this is different. We have expressed great horror and DEMAND more action. So for those of you that have sat back speak up, write the government, tell your friends and family, make calls. Do what it takes!!!! If you don't know how ask, if you don't care then be on your way with your head turned away from the mass genocide that has and is still in full force.

What Exactly Does Michael Kleinman Think We Should Do About Darfur?
by Kevin Jon Heller
Two genocide bloggers at Change.org, Michelle F. and Michael Bear Kleinman, have been engaged for the past couple of weeks in an impassioned debate over the ICC’s arrest warrant for Bashir. (See here and here, for the most recent installments.) Michelle, though certainly not unaware of its dangers, supports the warrant. Kleinman opposes it, blaming the ICC — like many ICC critics — for Bashir’s decision to expel humanitarian aid agencies from Darfur.
The debate ratcheted up a few notches in the past few days, following Kleiman’s particularly nasty attack on Nicholas Kristof for having the temerity to suggest, in an editorial in the New York Times last Wednesday, that Obama should pressure the Chinese to stop selling weapons to the Sudanese government and might even consider destroying a Sudanese military aircraft on the ground the next time the government violates the UN ban on offensive military flights (read: bombings) over Darfur. Kleinman’s post, entitled “Ground Control to Nicholas Kristof” accused Kristof of writing like Jack Handey (of Saturday Night Live fame, soon of the US Senate) and claimed that he “just doesn’t get it.”
Michelle finally had enough of Kleinman’s constant criticism (which included an equally nasty attack on the anti-genocide group ENOUGH). So she issued the following challenge:
Ok, then, what would you have us do? Nothing? You either shoot down or disregard every option presented without coming up with an alternative of your own — and you assume that no one is fleshing out the list of hypothetical consequences for any particular action, but that’s all it is: An assumption. And speaking from the perspective of someone who works on the issues everyday, I can tell you, with authority, that it’s a baseless one.
Kleinman’s response is illuminating. Would he have us do nothing? Actually, yes:
I think the US, the UK and France should work with the Arab League, the AU and China to broker a deal - the Security Council suspends the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Bashir, and Sudan allows the expelled aid agencies to resume work.
That’s it. That is Kleinman’s “solution.”
In the short term, of course, deferring the warrant would be better for a significant number of Darfuris. No one, not even the most fervent defender of the ICC, denies that there are immediate costs — very real, very human costs — to the arrest warrant. But what about in the long-term? As one of the contributors to Alex de Waal’s blog Making Sense of Darfur pointed out yesterday, the massive amount of humanitarian aid poured into Darfur over the past three decades may have alleviated suffering, but it has done nothing to eliminate that suffering’s root causes:
The first impulse of the media and international community has been to focus on the urgent need for aid to continue. But I think many people should consider why aid needs to continue so desperately, despite years of work and billions of dollars invested. How can it be that after 28 years of being there (as one organisation proudly states), 2.2 million people are dependent on international aid agencies for basic needs? For me, this is the real tragedy.
We know, of course, what has caused the suffering of millions of Darfuris for the past 20 years: Bashir’s murderous government. Bashir has never seriously negotiated peace — not even when he knew that an arrest warrant was a very real possibility. Michelle again:
Bashir had over SEVEN MONTHS to show the international community that he was committed to peace, but as he went on an international media charm campaign to push for a suspension of the ICC investigation, he was busy escalating violence in Darfur — from attacking IDP camps to violating his own ceasefire two days after it was announced. This is not a man known for sticking to his word. Even more, the conflict was escalating and the humanitarian situation was deteriorating even before the ICC drama began in July, with no apparent opening for any kind of way out, messy or otherwise.
This recent history explains why Kleinman’s response to Michelle’s question was a non-answer: she was asking him to explain his long-term solution for Darfur, not his short-term solution. And his response was… silence.
That is an unacceptable position for someone who so savagely criticizes anyone who dares support the arrest warrant. Does Kleinman really believe that this time — unlike all the others — Bashir will pursue peace and help the Darfuris if the international community leaves him alone? If so, he should say so openly. But if not — if he doesn’t believe that doing nothing is enough — I think it behooves him to (1) tell us what actions the international community should take instead of pursuing Bashir’s arrest, and (2) explain to us why those actions will be more likely to influence Bashir’s behavior.
I would be very curious to see Kleinman’s answers, especially to the second question. Suggesting that the international community do nothing seems hopelessly naive to me — equivalent to Charlie Brown’s unwavering belief that one day Lucy will stop pulling the football away, to borrow a metaphor from Becky Tinsley, the director of Waging Peace, a human-rights group — but at least it has the virtue of consistency. The same cannot be said, however, of any more aggressive solution. If the international community gives in to Bashir’s blackmail over the arrest warrant because of (understandable) humanitarian concerns, why would Bashir ever take seriously any other threat? All he would have to do is threaten to expel the humanitarian aid agencies again for the chorus to start anew: “keeping the aid flowing is more important than neutralizing or eliminating the regime that makes the aid necessary.” Bashir remains in power, the aid keeps flowing, and nothing ever gets better — it just doesn’t get any worse. Maybe that is enough for Kleinman. It’s not enough for me.
In his attack on Kristof, Kleinman wrote that “what’s delusional — if not dishonest — is the refusal to admit that perhaps [the arrest warrant] wouldn’t work.” I would suggest that what is equally delusional, if not equally dishonest, is for Kleinman to refuse to admit that doing nothing won’t work, either.

Relpy to both Michelle and Michale's blogs.

Great points made Michelle. I agree!!!! We can't sit by and shoot down every idea. We can't wait for someone who is known for lies to stick to his word. We can't not stop making suggestions on what to do. We can NOT give up. Also, I agree that this should have been done a LONG time ago. It makes me sad that people want to just give up and walk away. These people need us more now then ever. Things may look endless right now but we will see things change if we stick together and fight together. I for one will not give up.
Posted by Andrea Mckeeby on 03/06/2009 @ 07:45PM PST

Michelle,

Thanks for this -- will post a response later today, in more detail, but you're right; simply carping from the sidelines isn't particularly constructive. So, my suggestion, bow to Bashir's demands and suspend the prosecution. And yes, I do understand the consequences, but right now I think resuming aid is far more important. Michael

Posted by Michael Bear Kleinman on 03/08/2009 @ 12:38PM PST

Michael, So your suggestion is to "bow to Bashir's demands and suspend the prosecution"? How might I ask will this do any good at all? He's very well known for not keeping his word over and over. What's to say he will if they do "bow to his wishes"? Very unlikely that he would allow Aid Workers back and then where are we???? Worse then ever. So I have to ask is it a matter of either don't do anything at all or do what he wants and hope he keeps his word? Now I have to point to Michelle's blog " If we give Bashir what he wants --- a suspension of the ICC indictment --- what makes you so sure that he will suddenly become more cooperative? Bashir had over SEVEN MONTHS to show the international community that he was committed to peace, but as he went on an international media charm campaign to push for a suspension of the ICC investigation, he was busy escalating violence in Darfur --- from attacking IDP camps to violating his own ceasefire two days after it was announced. This is not a man known for sticking to his word. Even more, the conflict was escalating and the humanitarian situation was deteriorating even before the ICC drama began in July, with no apparent opening for any kind of way out, messy or otherwise".To think he would do otherwise is naive. If we don't remove him now things are going to get far worse (if possible). I personally don't see any other way.
Posted by Andrea Mckeeby on 03/08/2009 @ 07:15PM PST

Andrea and others,Excellent points - I think we're in a situation of weighing and deciding between the least-bad option. For my full response to Michelle, see:http://humanitarianrelief.change.org/blog/view/ahem_-_ground_control_to_michael_kleinmanBest,Michael
Posted by Michael Bear Kleinman on 03/09/2009 @ 09:16AM PST

My latest reply to Michael Post:

As you put it "consequences":
1. But doesn't this mean Bashir wins?
If you want to see it that way, yes.(Hasn't he already and has been for years? He's like a spoiled child. What do you do with a child that is having a temper tantrum? Give them what they want? I don't think so.)
2. But doesn't this undermine - perhaps fatally undermine - the ICC, and make it that much harder to deter genocidaires in the future?
Perhaps. Certainly a possibility.(Not only possible but a guaranty. Let one do this you will let all. Whole new can of worms. Undermining the ICC is the same as saying ok never mind we didn't want you to look into this. The ICC is here for a reason.)3. Why do you think that Bashir would even honor such an agreement? After all, he is a war criminal - not a group noted for keeping their word.
Tough one. A risk I'm willing to take.(So your willing to take a risk that means no Aid, no support, no hopes? We all know what Bashir is and that he's never kept his word. Why would you think he would now? How can you justify willing to take a risk?
"You can't have your cake and eat it, too. "(Is this not what your saying we should give Bashir?) Peace and justice don't always move hand-in-hand.Sometimes you have to make a choice as to which is most important, at least in terms of deciding what to do next.Try looking at this from the other side. What outcome do you want. Work your way back the the problem and see what ideas might just be possible. Sometime when we look at things as overwhelming, scary or feel hopeless its best to step back and look outside of the "box". For me giving into the mad mans fits and actions of (yes I will say it ) Genocide!!!! There is not a chance I'd believe he'd ever allow Aid back in even if we said pretty please with a cherry on-top. While everyone sits around thinking of what to do things grow worse each hour there. We need to act now and not tiptoe around his feelings.
Posted by Andrea Mckeeby on 03/09/2009 @ 08:01PM PST

Court issues war crimes warrant for Sudan's Bashir

Court issues war crimes warrant for Sudan's Bashir

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant Wednesday for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. He is the first sitting head of state the court has ordered arrested.
Al-Bashir's government denounced the warrant as part of a Western conspiracy aimed at destabilizing the vast oil-rich nation south of Egypt. The U.N. said Sudan had ordered the expulsion of six to 10 humanitarian groups from Darfur including Oxfam, Solidarities and Mercy Corps, and seized assets.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the move a "serious setback to lifesaving operations in Darfur."
Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo had accused Sudanese troops and the janjaweed Arab militia they support of murdering civilians and preying on them in refugee camps. He said the militia also waged a campaign of rape to drive women into the desert, where they die of starvation.
But the three-judge panel in The Hague said there was insufficient evidence to support charges of genocide in a war in which up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have fled their homes.
"He is suspected of being criminally responsible ... for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property," court spokeswoman Laurence Blairon said. If al-Bashir is brought to trial and prosecuted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Blairon rejected accusations that the warrant was part of a political plot and said the decision was made purely on legal grounds.
But African and Arab nations fear the warrant will destabilize the whole region, bring even more conflict in Darfur and threaten the fragile peace deal that ended decades of civil war between northern and southern Sudan. China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil, supports the African and Arab positions.
Some African nations reportedly threatened to pull out of the court in retaliation for a warrant. Thirty African countries are among the court's 108 member states.
In a show of defiance Tuesday in anticipation of the decision, al-Bashir told supporters at a rally, "We are telling them to immerse it in water and drink it," a common Arabic insult meant to show extreme disrespect.
Hundreds of Sudanese waving pictures of the president and denouncing the court quickly turned out in a rally at the Cabinet building in Khartoum. Security was increased around many embassies, and some diplomats and aid workers stayed home amid fears of retaliation against Westerners.
The U.N., which has a joint peacekeeping mission in Darfur with the African Union, will continue to deal with al-Bashir, U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said at U.N. headquarters in New York.
"President al-Bashir is the head of state of Sudan, and United Nations officials will continue to deal with president al-Bashir when they need to do so," Montas said.
Al-Bashir denies the war crimes accusations and refuses to deal with the court. Sudan does not recognize its jurisdiction and refuses to arrest suspects and there is currently no international mechanism to arrest al-Bashir. The main tool the court has is diplomatic pressure for countries to hand over suspects.
U.N. peacekeepers and other international agencies operating in Sudan have no mandate to implement the warrant, and Sudanese officials have warned them not to go outside their mandates.
The United States is not a member of the international court, but Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told The Associated Press, that "the United States supports the ICC action to hold accountable those who are responsible for the heinous crimes in Darfur."
"Those who committed atrocities in Sudan, including genocide, should be brought to justice," she said.
The EU welcomed the court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for al-Bashir and urged Khartoum to cooperate "fully and provide any necessary assistance to the Court."
Ocampo suggested al-Bashir could be arrested if he flies out of Sudan.
"As soon as Mr. al-Bashir travels in international airspace, his plane could be intercepted and he could be arrested. That is what I expect," the prosecutor said.
"Like Slobodan Milosevic or Charles Taylor, Omar al-Bashir's destiny is to face justice," Moreno Ocampo said referring to the former presidents of Yugoslavia and Liberia who were indicted while in office and ended up on trial in The Hague.
Asked why judges, in a 2-1 split decision, did not issue the warrant for genocide, Blairon explained that genocide requires a clear intent to destroy in part or as a whole a specific group.
"In this particular case, the pretrial chamber has not been able to find there were reasonable grounds to establish a genocidal intent," she said.
She said prosecutors could ask again for genocide charges to be added to the warrant if they can produce new evidence. Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said he would study the ruling before deciding whether to keep pursuing genocide charges.
The war in Sudan's western Darfur region began in 2003, when rebel ethnic African groups, complaining of discrimination and neglect, took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum. In 2005, the U.N. Security Council asked Moreno Ocampo to investigate crimes in Darfur.
"With this arrest warrant, the International Criminal Court has made Omar al-Bashir a wanted man," said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch. "Not even presidents are guaranteed a free pass for horrific crimes. By ruling there is a case for President al-Bashir to answer for the horrors of Darfur, the warrant breaks through Khartoum's repeated denials of his responsibility."
The Rome statute that set up the International Criminal Court allows the Security Council to vote to defer or suspend for a year the investigation or prosecution of a case. It also gives the council authority to renew such a resolution.
The 52-member countries of the African Union and 26 states of the Arab League make up about a third of U.N. member states and they have said they would call for such a suspension.
But the council is sharply divided on suspending the case and is unlikely to take any action.

I'll say it again but in more detail:

Somewhat it gives me hope that things will be changing but only time will tell. I'm glad that the ICC and the U.N. has taken steps to establish what they deem to be going on even if it's war crimes and crimes against humanity ( better known as Genocide but deemed to hard to prove ) but it's one thing to talk the talk and another to walk the walk. With other countries turning their backs on what is happening in Darfur we have to make sure we hold the US,UN and ICC accountable for what it has promised and not allow them just to give him a slap on the hand. I truly hope that this is a start to the end of the nightmare these poor people have been living.

Truth be told there has never been a leader that has still been in power that has had these charges brought against him. With a mass of support from peoples this is a matter that will most likely see more terror before he's taken down and even when/if we do detain him the people that stood behind him are still going to rage war and terror. It maybe a start to an end but its far from over. My hope is that we haven't hit a hornets nest with a stone. The backlash could be far worse. "Al-Bashir denies the war crimes accusations and refuses to deal with the court. Sudan does not recognize its jurisdiction and refuses to arrest suspects and there is currently no international mechanism to arrest al-Bashir. The main tool the court has is diplomatic pressure for countries to hand over suspects".

It is a double edge sword here. These people (Darfur) need to see peace and an end to what has happened that never should have been. The fact it took so long to finally do something has made this much worse seeing as how his power got much stronger and his following larger. They are already starting to show that they won't give up power easily. Only time will tell what will happen next. I am glad however that Darfur is being heard now!!!!

PEACE ELUSIVE AS SECURITY WORSENS

The United Nations has described Sudan's western Darfur region as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Over 2.9 million uprooted
World's biggest relief operation
2006 peace deal failed to improve security
The conflict flared in 2003 when rebels in Darfur took up arms, accusing the government of neglecting the region.
Since then, civilians have come under attack from government troops, nomadic militia and rebel groups. The United Nations says as many as 300,000 people may have died. Khartoum puts the figure at 10,000.
The violence has also forced some 2.9 million people - mostly farmers and villagers from non-Arab groups - to flee their homes.
Khartoum denies accusations it has used Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, to crush the revolt.
But the International Criminal Court's prosecutor has charged Sudan's president with masterminding a campaign of genocide in Darfur.
The government and one rebel faction signed a peace deal in May 2006, but two others refused, and many new rebel groups have since formed. Relief agencies say the violence makes it difficult to deliver aid in parts of Darfur.
A combined United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force began deploying in 2008, taking over from a small, overstretched AU force. The deployment follows protracted wrangling between the international community and Khartoum.
The conflict has also spilled over Sudan's borders into Chad and Central African Republic.

KEY FACTS:

(Unless otherwise stated, data is for October 2008, taken from the Darfur Humanitarian Profile series issued by the United Nations)
Total no. of people affected by conflict in Darfur:
4.7 million
No. of internally displaced people in Darfur:
2.7 million
No. of Darfur refugees in Chad:
240,000 (UNHCR, December 2007)
Residential population affected by conflict:
2 million
No. of people receiving food aid:
3.4 million
Percentage of affected population accessible according to U.N. security standards:
65 percent
No. of humanitarians on the ground (national and international):
16,370
No. of humanitarian agencies supporting Darfur population:
85 NGOs (including Red Cross/Red Crescent); 16 U.N. agencies
Malnutrition (acute):
16.1 percent (2007) (U.N. report, Jan 2008)
Mortality:
0.29 per 10,000 people per day (2007) (U.N. report, Nov 2007)

UN's role in Gaza rises among the rubble

JEBALIYA REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip – Crouching against piled mattresses in a room crammed with refugees, Bissan Abu al-Eish focused on her homework, blocking out the relentless shrieks of dozens of toddlers and the stench of overflowing latrines.
"I'm so happy to be studying," said the 9-year-old girl, bent over the new textbook she received this weekend when classes resumed for 200,000 Gaza children at United Nations facilities.
Beyond being schooled by the U.N., Abu al-Eish and her seven siblings eat the agency's food, wear its clothing and now live in one of its buildings after their own house was leveled during Israeli bombardments on Gaza.
Hamas may be politically in charge of the Gaza Strip, but it's to the U.N.'s relief agency that the majority of the 1.4 million Gazans turn for health care, garbage collection, food assistance and just about every other service usually provided by a state.
With much of the territory devastated by Israel's latest military offensive, the agency's job is bound to get even bigger.
Many expect the U.N.'s agency for Palestinians to take the lead in reconstruction, though its role is currently limited to the refugee camps that house more than 1 million of Gaza's population. The U.N. spearheading efforts to rebuild Gaza could open a door to international donors, many of whom don't want to give Hamas money because the group doesn't recognize Israel and is considered a terror organization by the U.S. and European Union.
It is estimated that $2 billion is needed to repair the 21,000 homes damaged or destroyed, along with factories and government buildings, in the three-week Israeli attack to end Hamas' rocket-firing. Fundraising has hardly begun, and the question of how the money will be funneled remains unanswered.
"We're delivering the services of a state, until the state is established," John Ging, the head of Gaza operations for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, told The Associated Press this weekend.
At the same time, it must exist side-by-side with Hamas' government — and take care to maintain its neutrality, which some Israelis question.
In one classroom Saturday, when UNRWA schools reopened, a Palestinian teacher was filmed asking children about their trauma during the war. The unidentified teacher then told the children that Palestinians have to "wage war against them (Israelis) until they leave their land," and asked her students, aged about 8, how they should react.
Two children in the class suggested hurling stones or rockets back at Israel. "Okay," the teacher said, apparently summing up her class' position. "We throw rockets at them, we throw stones at them," she said.
Ging said such behavior is "completely unacceptable," and will be "dealt with in the most severest of fashions." He said the teacher would likely be removed once identified. Teachers have been fired from UNRWA in the past for incitement.
Ging said that following the latest war, which ended Jan. 17, UNRWA briefed teachers — themselves often victims of the fighting — on how to channel the children's grief away from revenge and violence. In schools across the territory, teachers led students in games to ease their trauma and encouraged them to talk about lost classmates to deal with their deaths.
"We're in a battle with extremism here in Gaza," said Ging, adding that UNRWA schools aim to "guide (children) to a civilized place."
Robert Blecher, the senior Middle-East analyst for the Washington-based International Crisis Group think-tank, says UNRWA's staff comes from a cross-section of society and it's "logical that this staff reflects the political spectrum of Gaza, of which Hamas is obviously an important component."
"But I've never seen any evidence of bias towards Hamas in any UNRWA actions or distributions," he said.
The 60-year-old agency has been in Gaza so long, and its institutions are so deeply entrenched, that it has been able to conduct its operations with little contact with the local government for years — even before Hamas came to power.
Israeli officials have in the past been critical of some aspects of UNRWA's operations, especially in the field of education, pointing to anti-Israeli content in past textbooks. The books have since been replaced, and 2003 and 2004 studies commissioned by the U.S. State Department found that the texts did not contain material promoting hatred of Israel.
Hamas praises UNRWA for providing Gazans what it can't. "We hugely appreciate their great efforts to help our people," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told AP.
UNRWA was created in 1949 to take care of Palestinian refugees and operates in camps across the Middle East. In Gaza, it has some 17,000 permanent or temporary staff. It has a budget of $350 million and provides services — including food distribution — in the camps. Many non-refugees also benefit, sending their children to its schools.
The organization is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from countries, its largest donors include the United States, the European Union, Sweden and Britain. Louis Michel, the European Union's humanitarian chief, said the EU is by far the largest overall donor to the Palestinians.
Ging says UNRWA is able to take on the daunting task of rebuilding Gaza refugee camps. But, he says, this will only be possible if Israel allows the blockaded territory to receive enough of the humanitarian aid already piling up at its border.
Israeli Cabinet Minister Isaac Herzog said Israel is adequately opening the crossings.
"Humanitarian aid is entering Gaza at a rate of 150 trucks a day, which is the maximum amount of aid that the Palestinians can absorb at this time," Herzog, who oversees what is allowed into the territory, told AP on Monday. Israel and Egypt have largely sealed their crossings into Gaza since Hamas took over the territory in 2007.
The American Near East Refugee Aid said it has delivered more than $2.5 million of food and medical supplies. On Monday, Michel announced euro58 million ($74 million) in emergency aid for Palestinians affected by the conflict, but insisted the money wouldn't go through the Hamas government.
"Hamas is a terrorist movement," he told reporters while standing in front of a food warehouse at UNRWA's main compound, funded by the EU and largely destroyed by Israeli shelling.
This leaves UNRWA to provide most emergency aid — and puts it in a key position when funding starts coming in for rebuilding.
How fast the border could open, however, remains unclear. Israel says any agreement to fully open Gaza's borders must include guarantees Hamas will be prevented from smuggling new weapons in.
Bissan Abu al-Eish seemed far from such concerns.
"I'm worried about all these new words," the little girl said, skimming through her new Arabic textbook in the U.N. youth community center where she now lives, crammed with 42 other families from Jebaliya refugee camp.
Thousands took refuge in UNRWA schools during the war. Most have since left. But Nofal Abu al-Eish, Bissan's father, said his family of 10 had nowhere to go since their house was destroyed. The $150 given by UNRWA to refugees to relocate in rentals aren't enough, he said.
"And anyhow, there's not a room left to rent here," he said.
His wife Munira said the food rations distributed by UNRWA staff only represent half of what her family needs to eat.
"But I can't even think how we would live if they weren't there," she said.

Reply:

Gaza, one of the most densely populated tracts of land in the world, is home to about 1.3m Palestinians, about 33% of whom live in United Nations-funded refugee camps. About 8,000 Jewish settlers also lived in the Gaza Strip until September 2005 when they and the troops that protected them were withdrawn. Before the withdrawal, travel in and out of Gaza was severely restricted for long periods.
The population growth rate for the Gaza Strip is 3.66 percent. This compares with an international growth rate of 1.14 percent. The median age of Gaza's population is 16.2 years for males and 16.1 years for females. More than 47 percent of the population is below 14. The average family in Gaza has 5.51 children. Children are not counted till they reach the age of 14. So as 1 million being in refugee camps might not seem like a number that is right but you need to consider the children in these camps as well. These were the population numbers for 2005 so you can see how much they have grown in a little over 3 years. I agree fully with your statements about Hamas and how Gaza's greenhouses and ways for people to make a living were very productive. As well as Gaza being apart of Palestine and how they should be protected by the Government. It's very sad to see all that is happening and not being able to do much about it other then showing support. If only most nations would take your advice and work together for a future instead of destroying each other (or the under dog).