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Vol. 73/No. 11      March 23, 2009

 
Order to arrest Sudan president is
pretext for imperialist intervention
(front page)
 
BY BEN JOYCE  
Tensions between imperialist powers and the Sudanese government sharpened March 4 after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir. The warrant accuses al-Bashir of several counts of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” for the Sudanese government’s military operations to suppress various national minorities in the country’s Darfur region.

According to the UN, some 300,000 people have been killed and some 2.5 million displaced in the armed conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan since 2003. That year insurgent groups began a revolt against government oppression of national minorities in the south and demanded autonomy. In retaliation, Arab-speaking militias that the rebels say are backed by the government have waged an extermination campaign there against minority groups. These divisions, created by colonial domination and fostered by imperialism, continue to have a devastating toll on working people in the region.

The UN currently has about 15,000 troops in Darfur, but has approved sending a force of up to 26,000.

The warrant by the ICC, a court established by the United Nations, is the latest step in campaigns by imperialist powers to strengthen their domination of the region. Washington, which has targeted the Sudanese government going back to the 1980s, supports the prosecution.

The warrant charges al-Bashir with “attacks against a civilian population,” pillage as a war crime, as well as murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, and rape as crimes against humanity.

This is the first time the ICC has charged a sitting head of state since it was established in 2002. The warrant was issued by judges Akua Kuenyehia from Ghana, Sylvia Steiner from Brazil, and Anita Usacka from Latvia. According to the court’s founding treaty, signatory nations are required to detain al-Bashir if he enters their jurisdiction. Neither Sudan nor the United States have signed the ICC treaty.

Divisions among imperialist rivals were reflected around the charge of genocide, which was argued by the prosecution but rejected by the court in a two-to-one decision. Washington has previously sought that charge in the UN, as it would open up more options for direct imperialist intervention. Some European powers, however, reject this course, fearing that U.S. dominance in the region would cut across their own national interests. Statements by top U.S. government officials and a resolution passed by the U.S. Congress have labeled the situation in Darfur as genocide, while the European Union and UN have both refused to use that term.

The governments of China, Russia, and Libya were among those on the UN Security Council who want the council to use its powers to suspend the ICC warrant. Beijing and Moscow both supply the Sudanese government with military hardware and hold lucrative oil contracts with Sudan.

Washington’s hostility towards Sudan goes back to when al-Bashir took power in a 1989 coup and refused to bow to the dictates of U.S. imperialism. It sided with Baghdad during the 1991 Gulf war, pursued closer ties with Libya, and joined in voting at the United Nations to condemn Israeli repression against the Palestinian people.

In 1998, after the car bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Washington ordered unannounced military attacks on both Sudan and Afghanistan. U.S. warplanes launched 79 cruise missiles on Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. The White House claimed these bombings were in “self-defense” against a Bin Laden “terrorist network.” The target, which Washington claimed was a chemical weapons factory, was later proved to be a plant used to produce medicines.

As part of its “war on terror,” the U.S. government has placed Sudan on its list of “failed states” and has imposed economic sanctions. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for a NATO-enforced no-fly zone to “blanket” Darfur. Washington’s ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, has pushed for U.S. or NATO airstrikes and a naval blockade of Sudan’s major port to prevent lucrative oil exports. However, the Obama administration has yet to make clear what its course of action will be. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has advised against direct intervention because it would draw resources away from the other fronts in Washington’s “war on terror.”
 
 
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