It's The South African Way

The man is an unrepentant war criminal, responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of black Sudanese from Darfur. People who were dispossessed of their villages, their farms, who fled in their hundreds of thousands from the rampaging murderous intentions of the janjaweed, Arab horsemen who raped countless women and girls from Darfur, and killed countless men, women and children. The Sudanese military sent army helicopters to strafe fleeing villagers as they fled their bombed-out homes in a panic of self-preservation.

The conflict in Darfur has forced more than a million people from their homes

"It is on this basis, among others, that the ANC calls upon government to challenge the order now being brought to compel the South African government to detain President al-Bashir. [African and Eastern European countries] continue to unjustifiably bear the brunt of the decisions of the ICC."
"[The ANC stated South Africa granted immunity] for all (summit) participants as part of the international norms for countries hosting such gathering of the AU [African Union] or even the United Nations."
African National Congress statement

Situation in Darfur

The seal of the International Criminal Court
File no.	02/05
Referred by	UN Security Council
Date referred	31 March 2005
Date opened	6 June 2005
Incident(s)	War in Darfur (Haskanita raids)
Crimes	Genocide: · Causing serious harm · Destructive conditions · Killings Crimes against humanity: · Extermination · Forcible transfer · Inhumane acts · Imprisonment · Murder · Persecution · Rape · Torture War crimes: · Attacks against civilians · Destruction of property · Murder · Outrage upon dignity · Pillaging · Rape
Status of suspects
Ahmed Haroun	Fugitive
Ali Kushayb	Fugitive
Omar al-Bashir	Fugitive
Bahar Abu Garda	Charges not confirmed
Abdallah Banda	Case in pre-trial stage
Saleh Jerbo	Case in pre-trial stage
Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein

How surprising can it be, after all, that South Africa has not deigned to honour its international obligations to recognize rulings of the International Criminal Court. It was the United Nations Security council itself which referred the case of the Darfur region of Sudan to the International Criminal Court, to evaluate and to assess the situation and make their determination of the guilt of those involved in the horrendous assault on basic human rights by the Government of Sudan.

Not surprising, given South Africa's record on finding it unnecessary to confront Zimbabwe's ruinous condition thanks to President Mugabe's misrule of the country and the human rights violations that are somehow acceptable, because they take place in Africa.

And we can cast our minds back to when Nelson Mandala was President of South Africa and welcomed Charles Taylor to his presidential home as an honoured guest, when international celebrities were also being entertained, one of whom was given a gift of blood diamonds by Charles Taylor. This was, needless to say, a man convicted of war crimes in using diamonds to pay for the bloody civil war in Sierra Leone where more than 50,000 people lost their lives.

Charles Taylor was sentenced to a 50-year prison term; striking similarities to Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir.

A South African judge had ordered authorities to ensure that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, present in South Africa for an African Union summit, did not leave the country in consideration of an international order for his arrest. Wanted by the International Criminal Court, "President Omar al-Bashir is prohibited from leaving the Republic of South Africa until a final order is made in this application", stated Judge Hans Fabricius, who ordered that all border posts enforce his decision.

Needless to say, other countries, such as those in the Middle East where President al-Bashir presented himself in attendance at Arab League meetings, also ignored the ICC's order for the arrest of the man. South Africa, however, likes to present itself as a democratic equal to any Western country, with an eye to human rights. Which is why, presumably, it condemns Israel, as is also done by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, referring to the 'plight' of the Palestinians who continue attacking Israel, and which Israel defends itself against.

The hypocritical contortions engaged in by South Africa do it full credit as a pseudo-democratic state with a focus on human rights. As long as vast episodes of unspeakable human rights violations occur within African nations they cannot be taken seriously. But South Africa will be quick to join in condemning countries whose human rights record is sparkling in contrast to its own experience and that of its allies, to prove it is a proud member of the international community.

The 300,000 Darfurians who were slaughtered, and the two million displaced in a deliberate government campaign happen, unfortunately, to be a figment of a malign imagination attempting to attribute nasty behaviour to a solidly respected African country. Omar al-Bashir, along with visiting the Middle East, with no consequences to follow, travelled to Malawi, Kenya, Chad and Congo, all of them member states of the International Criminal Court, all choosing to ignore the warrant.

But all is well, irregardless, for through a series of machinations, it was arranged that President al-Bashir hurriedly leave the summit and he was well on his way home to Sudan before he was in any real danger of being detained to be held accountable for his dreadful misdeeds. It's the African Union Way. It's the South African version of justice.

Cheering supporters greeted Mr Bashir at Khartoum airport