Outrage Over Iraq Welcoming of Wanted War Criminal Bashir

Wanted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 29, 2012

ADVOCACY GROUP CALLS ON UNITED STATES TO EXPRESS OUTRAGE OVER IRAQ WELCOMING OF WANTED WAR CRIMINAL BASHIR

(Washington, DC) – United to End Genocide denounced Iraq for allowing the visit of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, and called upon the United States to express outrage over the visit. Bama Athreya, United to End Genocide’s Executive Director, made the following statement:
“Is this what the United States went to war in Iraq for -- to allow a wanted war criminal to visit? The U.S. government should issue a statement of outrage.
“This is the third visit of Bashir to a close U.S. ally in recent months and should be seen as a slap in the face to U.S. standing, if not outright U.S. commitment to justice for one of the world’s worst criminals. Nor are the consequences of this simply historical. Even today Omar al-Bashir continues to drop bombs indiscriminately on the people of Sudan and to put hundreds of thousands at risk of starvation by refusing to allow humanitarian aid into his own country.

“Bashir should not be visiting countries like Malawi, Libya, and Iraq that the United States has so robustly supported. The next headline we see should not be about a war criminal being welcomed by a U.S. ally, but rather that Bashir is welcomed to the seat of the International Criminal Court in the Hague.”

Background:

On March 28th, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir traveled to Baghdad, Iraq for an Arab League Summit. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Bashir for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Darfur, where over 300,000 people have died since 2003. Iraq is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court so does not have a legal obligation to arrest Bashir, however such visits have resulted in diplomatic pressure and canceled visits to non-signatory countries in the past. The United States recently announced that it is suspending $350 million in aid to Malawi under the Millennium Challenge Corporation, citing deteriorating economic and political conditions, but also concern for Malawi allowing a visit by Omar al-Bashir as a contributing factor. Ongoing violence against civilians in Abyei, South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Darfur regions of Sudan displaced over half a million people last year and USAID’s Famine Early Warning System has warned of hundreds of thousands of people being at risk of emergency hunger levels one step below famine as the Sudanese government continues to block access for international humanitarian aid in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
###

The Save Darfur Coalition and Genocide Intervention Network are now United to End Genocide. The organization remains committed to its work to end the crisis in Darfur and bring peace to all of Sudan as well as to end violence in other areas of mass atrocities. The merger creates the world's largest anti-genocide activist organization, with a membership base of hundreds of thousands of committed activists, an unparalleled nationwide student movement, more than 190 faith-based, advocacy and human rights partner organizations, and a network of institutional investors collectively representing more than $3 trillion in assets under management.

Tweet

Sudan: Faith Leaders, Activists Deliver 45,000 Postcards To Secretary Clinton

Faith Leaders, Activists Deliver 45,000 Postcards To Secretary Clinton Demanding Stronger U.S. Action To Stop Attacks On Sudanese Civilians


Meeting with Special Ambassador to Sudan Focused on New Reports of Mass Atrocities Ordered by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir


(Washington, DC) – Faith-based and activist leaders delivered 45,000 postcards to the State Department today, calling on Secretary Clinton to take strong action to stop attacks on innocent civilians in Sudan and hold its President Omar al-Bashir fully accountable.

The action came on the heels of news reports that Sudan’s armed forces attacked and are occupying the South Sudanese the town of Jaw, an area providing refuge to victims of previous attacks in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.


Tom Andrews, President of United to End Genocide and Special Ambassador to Sudan, Princeton Lyman

“Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir has led attacks on civilians, forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes in the last six months, and is now occupying a South Sudan village where his victims sought refuge,” stated Tom Andrews, President of United to End Genocide. “These atrocities must be met with action by the Obama Administration, not its current tepid policy of holding out normalization as a reward for Sudan’s good behavior.” Andrews, along with representatives from the Nuba Mountains and faith organizations met with Special Ambassador to Sudan Princeton Lyman, and expressed the concerns shared by many Americans.

“Activists across the country are joining our ‘Stop Bashir!’ campaign to amplify the voices of men, women and children in Darfur, in South Kordofan, in Blue Nile and in South Sudan who are being attacked, terrorized and driven from their homes by Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir,” stated Andrews.

“We will not stop the pressure until Secretary Clinton demonstrates the leadership needed to stop these brutal attacks.”Anyone can send an electronic version of this postcard in just a few seconds by visiting www.stopbashir.org. This year alone, more than 500,000 people have been displaced in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile, and the Government of Sudan is blocking access to aid, setting up a likely humanitarian crisis.

United to End Genocide is calling for the Administration to: Press for full and unimpeded access for international humanitarian organizations to South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur ;Push the United Nations Security Council to demand the Government of Sudan immediately cease conducting offensive military flights in and over South Kordofan and Blue Nile;Push the United Nations Security Council to authorize a peacekeeping force for South Kordofan and Blue Nile that contains a human rights monitoring component along with the appropriate resources and mandate necessary to protect civilians;Push for the expansion of the existing United Nations arms embargo for Darfur to all of Sudan;Hold perpetrators of violence accountable by strengthening and expanding U.S. and UN sanctions against those responsible for violence in South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Abyei; andDemand an independent international investigation into crimes committed against civilians in Abyei, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan, preferably through the International Criminal Court.

###

The Save Darfur Coalition and Genocide Intervention Network are now United to End Genocide. The organization remains committed to its work to end the crisis in Darfur and bring peace to all of Sudan as well as to end violence in other areas of mass atrocities. The merger creates the world’s largest anti-genocide activist organization, with a membership base of hundreds of thousands of committed activists, an unparalleled nationwide student movement, more than 190 faith-based, advocacy and human rights partner organizations, and a network of institutional investors collectively representing more than $3 trillion in assets under management.

Tweet