After being a voice largely ignored in media coverage surrounding International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s case against Sudanese President al-Bashir, more than 100 Darfuri and Sudanese diaspora leaders today publicly urged the U.N. Security Council to veto any effort to delay the pursuit of justice in Darfur.  In a letter to Burkinabe Ambassador to the United Nations Michel Kafando, the diverse alliance said that the ICC provided the international community a unique opportunity to match action with its rhetoric about ending the Darfur genocide. 

September 23, 2008

H.E. Mr. Michael Kafando
Permanent Mission of Burkina Faso to the United Nations
866 United Nations Plaza
Suite 326/327A
New York, NY 10017

Dear Ambassador Kafando:

As concerned Darfuri and Sudanese activists, we write to you to express our support of the International Criminal Court’s mandate from the United Nations Security Council to investigate and prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.  It is for this reason that we unite our diverse voices which includes leaders from every corner of Sudan living in the Sudanese diaspora to urge the UNSC to not grant President Omar Hassan al-Bashir any period of exemption from prosecution by invoking Article 16 of the Rome Statute.

The people of Sudan and particularly Darfur have cried out for security, peace and justice for the last five years only to see the humanitarian and political crisis worsen in Darfur.  ICC Chief Prosecutor Louise Moreno-Ocampo’s request to examine the culpability of President al-Bashir for the genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed against our fellow citizens brings us some hope that the international community may finally match its rhetoric about its concern for our people with actions that lead to real results in Darfur and Sudan at large.  It is both the moral and legal obligation of the international community that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes be held accountable.  As such, we give our unequivocal support to Mr. Moreno-Ocampo’s decision which seeks to provide much delayed accountability for those responsible for the destruction of the lives and livelihoods of Darfuris.  Equally important, we believe that no one should ask Darfuris to relinquish their rights to hold their perpetrators accountable in exchange for unreliable promises regarding the establishment of peace and security in Darfur.  We believe that without proper justice and accountability Sudan will not be transformed into the peaceful country of our ambitions.

We further ask the UNSC to provide global leadership to ensure that the campaigns for justice and accountability in Sudan move forward as the way to sustainable peace.  The international community must make it clear to the Government of Sudan that it will not tolerate any reprisals against the people of Darfur on account of the proceedings at the ICC.  The savage attacks on civilians in both the Kalma camp near Nyala on August 25, 2008 and the ZamZam camp near El-Fashir on September 10th, 2008 killed more than a hundred civilians and wounded many more.  We have full confidence that with coordinated diplomacy and pressure from the members of the UNSC the international community can help end the great human suffering in Darfur.

We, the undersigned Darfur civil society organizations and human rights activists, urge members of the UNSC to prevent any bartering of accountability for the unconscionable crimes committed in Darfur.  The UNSC members must keep their promises and refrain from interfering with the developments of the ICC.  Such an action will not make security, peace or justice any more likely for the people of Darfur or Sudan.  Instead, it would embolden a government in Khartoum which has repeatedly broken promises for the past five years and whose true commitment to human rights can be found in the pages of Mr. Moreno-Ocampo’s arrest warrant and not the recent pledges of cooperation from Sudanese government officials.  The wish of the people of Darfur is that the international community allow justice to take its course.

Sincerely,

Darfuri and Sudanese Representatives of Diaspora Organizations and Communities

Faisal Abakar
Libya, Tripoli

Aballah Dawood Abaker
Cairo, Egypt

Omer Abdalaziz
Houston, TX, USA

Asmail Abdallah
Houston, TX, USA

Abdu Abdalla
Darfur People’s Association of Iowa
Des Moines, IA, USA

Mahjob Abdalla
Darfur Diaspora Association
Toronto, Canada

Adam Abdelgadir
Houston, TX, USA

Mohamed Abdelkarim
Houston, TX, USA

Abdelrahim Abdelmaolla
Benghazi, Libya

Mohamed Abdel Rahman
Darfur Association of Illinois
Chicago, IL, USA

Bashir Gamous Abdelrasoul
Darfur Association of Texas
Dallas, TX, USA

Thuria Adam Abdelshafee
Benghazi, Libya

Abdullah Idris Abdullah
Cairo, Egypt

Nuraddin Abdulmannan
Rescue Nubia
Washington, DC, USA

Gamal Abdurrahman
Ontario, Canada

Elnour Adam
Darfur Rehabilitation Project
Newark, NJ, USA

Omer Abaker Adam
Benghazi, Libya

Salem Mohamed Adam
Istanbul, Turkey

Motasim Adem
Darfur People’s Association of New York
New York, NY, USA

Saleh Musa Adam
Benghazi, Libya

Mohamed Adam
Ontario, Canada

Osman Adam
Houston, TX, USA

Hamid Adris
Houston, TX, USA

Mohamed Adris
Houston, TX, USA

Mohamed Ahmed
Houston, TX, USA

Deng Agot
Portland, ME, USA

Niemat Adam Ahamdi
At-Large Member of the Darfuri Leaders Network
Washington, D.C., USA

Ishag Ahmed
Fur Association of North America
Newark, NJ, USA

Mansour Ahmed
Fur Cultural Revival
Portland, ME, USA

Adam Ahmed
Ontario, Canada

Mutasem Ahmed
Benghazi, Libya

Amal Allagabo
At-Large Member of the Darfuri Leaders Network
Washington, D.C., USA

Adam Ali
Darfur Association of Colorado
Denver, CO, USA

Ali Almalla
Houston, TX, USA

Adnan Alsadati
Toronto, Canada

Mahoud Mohamed Arbab
Cairo, Egypt

Nameat Mohamed Arbab
Cairo, Egypt

Abdullelkarem Arbab
Canada, Ontario

Monib Mohamed Arbab
Cairo, Egypt

Suliman Awadalla
Darfur Association of Texas (Houston)
Houston, TX, USA

Ibrahim Ayoub
Rome, Italy

Mohamed Babiker
Houston, TX, USA

Adam Babiker
Houston, TX, USA

Ibrahim Bahar
Ontario, Canada

Abrahim Zakria Basi
Houston, TX, USA

Hafiz Bassy
Darfur Community Association of Australia Inc.
Melbourne, Australia

Mahmoud Braima
Darfur Association in the United States
Baton Rouge, LA, USA

Hassan Musa Daldoum
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Domins Dsuro
Portland, ME, USA

Ahmed Dawalbit
Houston, TX, USA

Marwa Salah Eddin
At-Large Member of the Darfuri Leaders Network
Portland, ME, USA

Nureldin Edrees
Ontario, Canada

Adam Edrees
Houston, TX, USA

Khabeb Edrees
Houston, TX, USA

Zeinab Eiyga
Sauti Yetu Center for African Women
New York, NY, USA

Elrashid Eldaw
Houston, TX, USA

Elfadil Elsharif
Hamilton, Canada

Omer Elsharif
Newark, NJ, USA

Elfadil Elhashmi
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Mazin Elhashmi
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Lomumba Emam
Ontario, Canada

Thani Fadlalla
Houston, TX, USA

Yagub Fasheir
Houston, TX, USA

Abdelbagi Gibril
Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre
Geneva, Switzerland

Suliman Giddo
Darfur Peace and Development Organization
Washington, D.C., USA

Abdalla Guma
Houston, TX, USA

Abdullelrahaman Hamed
Canada, Ontario

Ibrahim Hamid
Darfur Alert Coalition
Philadelphia, PA, USA

Abdul-Aziz Hammed
Benghazi, Libya

Adam Abelakriem Haroon
Benghazi, Libya

Fatima Haroun
At-Large Member of the Darfuri Leaders Network
Philadelphia, PA, USA

Mohamed Suleiman Hassaballa
Tripoli, Libya

Ismail Hassan
Darfur Association of Canada
Toronto, Canada

Nawal Hassan,
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Musa Ibrahim
Halifax, CA, USA

Musa Ikhlas
Houston, TX, USA

Mansour Isak
Darfur Farmers Aid
Memphis, TN, USA

Bashir M. Ishag
Darfur People’s Union
Washington, D.C., USA

Mohamadain Mohamed Ishag
Darfur Peace and Justice
Brussels, Belgium

Lila Ismail
Houston, TX, USA

Samira Karar
Manchester, NH, USA

Mohamed Khalil
Houston, TX, USA

Abdalaziz Khamis
Houston, TX, USA

Emadeldin Khamis
Darfur Association of Alabama
Birmingham, AL, USA

Yuhanus Kinning
Ontario, Canada

Suad Mansour
At-Large Member of the Darfuri Leaders Network
Philadelphia, PA, USA

Ishag Mekki
Darfur Union of the United Kingdom and Ireland
London, UK

Ahmad Mohamedain
Darfur Call
Amesterdam, The Netherlands

Adam Mohamed
Ontario, Canada

Mohamed Arbab Mohamed
Cairo, Egypt

Yagoub Mohamed
Ontario, Canada

Jady Mossa
Houston, TX, USA

Justine Mukisi
Portland, ME, USA

Dense Netto
Portland, ME, USA

Mohamed Noureldain
Houston, TX, USA

Mohamed Baraka Nurain
Slough, United Kingdom

Angelo Okot
Portland, ME, USA

Adam Omer
Darfur Association of Nebraska
Lincoln, NE, USA

Ahmed Omer
Houston, TX, USA

Badawi Osman
Darfur Working Group
Philadelphia, PA, USA

Ismail  Omer
Darfur Renaissance Association
Dallas, TX, USA

Elgasim Salih
World Relief Organization
Philadelphia, PA, USA

Samara Seddik
Cairo, Egypt

Bakheit Shata
Darfur Community Organization
Omaha, NE, USA

Mohamed Shougar
Refugee Friends
Cairo, Egypt, USA

Elrashid Suliman
Ontario, Canada

Mohamed Sulieman
Darfur Self-Reliance Education Inc.
San Francisco, CA, USA

Issa Tahir
Darfur Association of France
Parise, France

Abdalhadi Iesaa Tore
Benghazi, Libya

Adam Mohamed Yahya
Western Sudan Aid Relief in the U.S.A.
South Dakota, USA

Mohamed Yahya
Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy
Charlottesville, VA, USA

Elalim Yousif
Houston, TX, USA

The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 at 2:39 pm and is filed under Darfuri Stories, ICC / Justice, Omar al-Bashir. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.