Al-Bashir and War Crimes Accusations

Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, President of Sudan, is a man facing tough times because the International Crimes Court wants to ensure he is kept behind bars for war crimes committted in the afflicted region of Darfur where millions have been displaced and thousands killed in a war that had been dragging on for quite a while. It is not the first time a leader from Sudan had been ordered to surrender. The Mahdi of Sudan was once ordered by the British Colonial Governor to surrender at the approach of the 19th century.


Apart from Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia who died in jail in the Netherlands before his case could be wrapped up for crimes committed in the Balkans War in the 90s and Charles Taylor of Liberia who is desperately waiting for the Judge's final hammer strike for the killing of many inoccent Liberians and the embezzlement of state coffers , many ciminal African heads of states who deserve to be apprehended will remain on the loose for sometime.

What the world, especially the United Nations has failed to implement, is an international accountability office that will oversee the effectiveness of individual leaderships, corruption elimination, and human rights related activities. Leaders perceived not towing the line and failing to abide by the statutes, conventions, and declarations agreed upon, will have to udergo scrutiny and be required to report to specially formulated offices so as to substantiate why expectations and accomplishments have not been met accordngly.

The International Court of Justice will have to flex its muscles if there is universal need to arrest those leaders who are shedding blood or causing tribal, ethnic, and religious conflicts. The world needs to unite against unnecessary human suffering in major trouble spots. Leaders suspected of crimes against humanity must be sanctioned; those working in cahoots with them will have to be recorded in an international occurence book; their foreign accounts will have to be frozen indifinitely; and surveillance of their movements will have to be enforced.

President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir is currenly on an arduous journey meant to raise his approval ratings in Sudan by embarking on a countermeasure roadmap expected to win the hearts of those opposed to his policies. The administration in Khartoum has refuted allegations against His Excellncy as baseless and politically motivated. For now, what many political observers wait to see is how effective Al-Bashir's warrant of arrest will be as this is the first time a case of such nature has been applied to a sitting President.