ANNEX13 ICC-02/05-171-Anx13 15-01-2009 2/44 CB PT
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ICC-02/05-171-Anx13 15-01-2009 1/44 CB PT ANNEX13 ICC-02/05-171-Anx13 15-01-2009 2/44 CB PT DARFUR THE RoAD TO PEACE DR DAVID HOILE European-Sudanese Public Affairs Council ICC-02/05-171-Anx13 15-01-2009 3/44 CB PT army" . disarm lad says Chapter Five several 1encans ~en calls ALLEGATIONS OF GENOCIDE IN DARFUR jaweed" ·eate the I solution I don't think that we should be using the word "genocide" to describe this e role conflict. Not at all. This can be a semantic discussion, hut nevertheless, >aganda. there is no systematic target- targeting one ethnic group or another one. its own It doesn't mean either that the situation in Sudan isn't extremely serious 'Pocrisy. by itself I and the Dr Mercedes Tafy, Midecins sans Frontieres deputy emergency discredit directol'57 ;olutions the Bush Our teams have not seen evidence of the deliberate intention to killpeople fix", the of a specific group. ·flawed. alidating Midecins sans Frontieres- France President ion. Dr Jean-Herve Bradol 658 In September 2004, the American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, declared that events in Darfur constituted "genocide". This was despite having stated two months previously that the Darfur crisis did not "meet the tests of the definition of genocide" .659 Claims of genocide are amongst the most heinous allegations that can be !' made. De Waal sums it up succinctly: "The term 'genocide' consigns its \:' architects to the realm of pure evil, beyond humanity and politics."660 Mahmood Mamdani has also observed: "It seems that genocide has become a label to be stuck on your worst enemy, a perverse version of the Nohel Prize, part of a rhetorical arsenal that helps you vilify your adversaries while ensuring impunity ·for your allies." 661 It must be noted, however, that over the past decade or so a number of similarly grave but ultimately deeply questionable claims have been ICC-02/05-171-Anx13 15-01-2009 4/44 CB PT Darfztr: The Road to Peace made about Sudan. These have included allegations that Sudan possessed and several domesti manufactured weapons of mass destruction. On 20 August 1998, for example, column inches cl the Clinton Administration launched cruise missile attacks on the ai-Shifa the worsening si pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum alleging that the plant was making That the de, chemical weapons as part of Osama bin Laden's infrastructure of international domestic politic; terrorism. Every one of the American claims proved to have been false. The under considera London Observer newspaper spoke of "a catalogue of US misinformation, a genocide. The~ glaring omissions and intelligence errors about the function of the plant". 662 Save Darfur act These claims are now accepted internationally to have been unfounded. anti-Sudan activ One of the other widely-publicised sensationalist claims about Sudan has only a pool of ex been allegations of government-sponsored "slavery" and "slave trade" in of Congressi Sudan. As "proof" for this, a great number of newspaper articles "reported" legislators ... prc instances of "slave redemption" in which alleged "slaves" were said to have first American F been "bought" back from "slave traders". These sorts of claims began to be Wolf, came fror exposed as questionable where not simply false as early as 1999. 663 In February Congress on 2 A 2002, in an unprecedented international focus, and as the result of some of the Khartourr excellent investigative journalism, The Irish Times, London's Independent on Corzine. On 24 Sunday, The Washington Post and International Herald Tribune chose to publish Brownback int1 articles definitively exposing the deep fraud and corruption at the heart of declaring that g claims of "slave redemption" in Sudan. 664 The Irish Times reported: "According pressured Colin to aid workers, missionaries, and even the rebel movement that facilitates it, visited Darfur, a slave redemption in Sudan is often an elaborate scam."665 Washington's claims did not constitut about genocide can be seen in the same light. attack from Cm Powell's September flip-flop, in the lead-up to the US elections, was widely passed the cone~: seen as both an attempt to divert media attention away from the disastrous as genocide. 671 F 1 events in Iraq and to pander to the large and well-established anti-Sudan and editorials and c anti-Muslim constituencies within the United States. 666 It appears that the Bush Washington Post, administration had decided that it was to its electoral advantage for the to September 20 sensationalism and inaccuracy thathas obscured events in Darfur to continue. manyof them in It was a simple enough equation. The 2004 US election was seen at the time by appearance hef• the Bush White House as possibly being a very close run affair.667 The war in reversed his pre· Iraq was a key electoral issue, and that war continued to go badly. 668 The day in Darfur ... anc before Powell's Darfur comments had seen the American military death toll in President Bush i Iraq since 2003 reach over one thousand.669 Declaring Darfur to he a genocide investigations, 'i was useful to Republican party strategists for very simple reasons. It appeased Darfur. Presider 142 ICC-02/05-171-Anx13 15-01-2009 5/44 CB PT Allegations of Genodde in Datfur sessed and several domestic constituencies and the more US television coverage and r example, . column inches devoted to Darfur at the time, the less media time focused on :e al-Shifa • the worsening situation in Iraq. lS making That the declaration also served a second political purpose, relieving ernational ( don1estic political pressure, is also clear. The Bush administration had come false. The · under considerable pressure from a range of constituencies to declare Darfur ormation, . a genocide. These calls had come from pre-existing anti-Sudan structures. Key ' plant". 662 Save Darfur activists Rebecca Hamilton and Chad Hazlett have noted that 1ded. anti-Sudan activism previously focused on southern Sudan had "created not Sudan has only a pool of experienced and well-connected advocates, but also a contingent / trade" in of Congressional 'champions' for Sudan. These committed reported" . legislators ... provided a ready source of allies for Darfur activists." 670 The id to have ftrst American politician to allege genocide in Darfur, Representative Frank egan to be Wolf, came from this contingent. He alleged genocide in Darfur in the US :February . Congress on 2 April2004. 671 This was followed by other long-time opponents t of some of the Khartoum government, Senators Mike DeWine, John McCain, and Jon oendent on Corzine. On 24 June 2004, Representative Donald Payne and Senator Sam to publish Brownback introduced concurrent resolutions in the House and Senate, e heart of declaring that genocide was occurring in Darfur. In June 2004, 52 senators \ccording pressured Colin Powell to take punitive action on Darfur. Powell subsequendy cilitates it, visited Darfur, arriving in Sudan on 30 June. He stated that the Darfur crisis •n's claims did not constitute genocide. His position came under immediate and sustained attack from Congress and pressure groups. In July 2004, the US Congress ras widely passed the concurrent, nonbinding resolution labelling the violence in Darfur disastrous as genocide. 672 Further Congressional and media pressure ensured. Of the 83 >udan and editorials and op-eds on Darfur appearing in The New York Times, The ttheBush Washington Post, The Wall Street journal and The Washingwn Times fromMarcli \e for the to September 2004, almost half alleged "genocide" or potential "genocide", continue. many of them invoking the spectre of Rwanda.673 On 9 September 2004, in an 1e time by appearance before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Powell 'he war in reversed his previous position and stated that "genocide has been committed 8 Theday in Darfur. .. and that genocide may still be occurring. " 674 The same day, eath toll in President Bush issued a statement stating that as a result of State Department genocide itwestigations, Washington had concluded that genocide had taken place in :appeased Darfur. President Bush called on the UN "to undertake a full investigation of 143 ICC-02/05-171-Anx13 15-01-2009 6/44 CB PT Daifur: The Road to Peace the genocide and other crimes in Darfur". 675 President Bush restated this DeWaal: assertion when he addressed the UN General Assembly on 21 September. In a Darfurtobe subsequent presidential debate he again restated the genocide allegations. 676 While ultimately coming down to sheer political opportunism, Powell's Theim] use of the genocide word has undoubtedly further tarnished the image of the neocon: American government, not least of which because at the time of making the of then genocide declaration he also stated that the United States would not act upon outrage this finding. Bizarrely, having made a public declaration of genocide before support the Senate, Powell then stated that " [n ]o new action is dictated by this Congre determination ... So let us not be too preoccupied with (it]". 677 Bush the reli1 subsequently reconfirmed that the US would take no further action: "We rightsg shouldn't be committing troops."678 This lack of concern can be seen as Departl confirmation in itself that the declaration of genocide was made more as the regime result of internal political pressure and politics and less on the reality of Souther events. There is no doubt that Save Darfur activists saw a direct link between their That the work and the genocide declaration. Hamilton and Hazlett have spoken of "the pressure was first accomplishment of Darfur advocacy: the genocide determination". 679 In envoy to Sue their words, "For the burgeoning Darfur movement, getting the U.S.