A faith lesson from Kofi Annan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and 41 others
On June 25, forty-two of Africa’s most prominent civic leaders and justice experts (with a few Nobel laureates—Desmond Tutu, Wangari Maathai, and Wole Soyinka) signed a joint statement that calls on the International Criminal Court to fulfill its duty of bringing justice to Darfur. This comes shortly after the ICC allowed chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo to appeal the decision of dropping charges of genocide against Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir. It also comes shortly before the African Union’s summit in Libya on Wednesday.
In the letter, the signatories state that they are “concerned by the ongoing violence, displacement and repression in Sudan.” They viewed the need for adequate humanitarian assistance and for the ICC to bring Bashir to justice.
The emphasis for their support of the ICC is largely because several African nations are looking to put on the agenda an initiative to undermine the international court at this week’s summit, according to a New York Times op-ed piece by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Annan states in this article that some African leaders are troubled by the fact that the ICC has only charged Africans. However, he feels that a greater focus should be placed on the African victims, not the African leader whose presidency is in question.
Photo by World Economic Forum
So what does this mean for people of faith? The recently re-sparked question of whether the or not the atrocities in Darfur constitute genocide has put the spotlight on semantics. But what about the victims? What about justice?
Whether or not Bashir has committed “genocide” is irrelevant. He has been very much complicit in and behind the slaughter and displacement—along with a plethora of other horrors—of millions. Regardless if the “g” word is used to describe it, it is morally repugnant.
In this situation, what does God command of us? Micah 6:8 comes to mind. “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God”. As Annan and the signatories of the joint statement mentioned above have indicated, the ICC’s role in bringing justice to Bashir is pivotal. By this act of justice, the man who expelled foreign aid agencies—the bringers of mercy to about 4.7 million Darfuris, inside and out of IDP camps—is out of power. It is only by doing the first of these two commandments that the third is achievable. By seeking to do justice and love mercy, we may walk humbly with our God.
