ANNEX8 ICC-02/05-171-Anx8 15-01-2009 2/11 CB PT
ICC-02/05-171-Anx8 15-01-2009 1/11 CB PT ANNEX8 ICC-02/05-171-Anx8 15-01-2009 2/11 CB PT Report of Peter K Bechtold I, Peter K. Bechtold, PhD., am responding to a request from representatives of the Federation of Sudanese Trade Unions to offer an expert opinion about the consequences for peace in Sudan, and especially in the Western region ofDarfur, if the International Criminal Court (ICC) proceeds with an indictment of Sudan's current President, LTG Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir (frequently referred to as "Bashir") as currently proposed by an initial submission from the court's prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, in July 2008. I have seen only summaries of Mr. Ocampo's allegations, reported in the media as containing 10 separate charges, such as, most startlingly perhaps, the "deliberate efforts to erase the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa communities", which would constitute "genocide", inter al. I propose to provide some context for understanding the conflict in Darfur by describing the overall geographic, demographic, historical, economic and political factors which have contributed to the Darfur crisis, and to political turmoil in Sudan in general in recent times, before I address the more specific issue ofT CC action and its consequences. My qualifications for offering my commentaries include the fact that I have been a student of Sudan during my entire professional life. A summary CV may be obtained from my website www.drbechtold.com. My interest in Sudan began in 1961, when I met in graduate school a then Senior Inspector and later Director of the Sudan Gezira Board.
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