Sudan's government has barred three leading international aid agencies from operating in war-torn Darfur as well as in the north and eastern regions of the country, putting at risk the lives of nearly two million people.
In an apparent response to the decision of the International Criminal Court to issue a warrant of arrerst for President Omar al-Bashir, the government revoked the licences of British-based Oxfam International, the Dutch branch of Medicines sans Frontiers and the American-based agency , the International Rescue Committee. No explanation was provided for the decision.
Amongst the vital services that the aid agencies provide are medical care, water, sanitation and education programmes for about 650,000 people in Darfur and 1.1 million in north and east Sudan.
"We are extremely distressed by the forced closure of our aid operations," said George Rupp, the IRC’s president and CEO. "It appears the international aid effort in the region is being shut down and that raises grave concerns about the welfare of millions of Sudanese people who rely on humanitarian aid for survival."
A press statement released by MSF stated that at the time that the decision was announced, meningitis had broken out in Kalma Campa, a temporary home to more than 90,000 internally displaced citizens.
“MSF has worked tirelessly to deliver medical aid to the people of Darfur since the beginning of the crisis. It is completely unacceptable that the people of Darfur are being deprived of essential medical care,” said Arjan Hehenkamp, MSF-Holland operational director.
All three groups are non-governmental organisations with no affliation to the ICC.
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Bashir (like bush, blair and brown) is a blood sucking MASS MURDERER OF THE INNOCENT. Yet the racist European-dominated court issue not arrest warrant for bush, blair and brown? Why?
The European-dominated UN and European-dominated ICC are created for the promotion of European domination. It is neo-colonialism, and their leaders MUST be also defeated by the virtuous lovers of liberty.
This tragedy playing itself off in the Sudan is a very good example of what happens in a particular country when higher and often obscure powers are dictating events. And this manipulation is done by the powers to protect their own interests. Unfortunately a lot of people suffer in this bizarre and cruel "game" and they are the innocent populations who seem to be merely regarded as expendable commodities. There is very little integrity and altruism in international events. Some of those who are guilty of crimes against humanity might be brought to face justice but many more escape the punishment they deserve. I think there are most of the time "dark forces" lurking in the background when you think of what happened for instance in Uganda, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Kenya, etc. The full truth will probably never be known. What is happening in the Sudan involves much more than what we read in the news media. In the meantime millions(!) of innocent people starve and die.
Is this not proof enough that Bashir is a criminal? More people to die because of Bashir and the AU pleads on behalf of this cruel and inhuman dictator.
It is enough to qoute here the speech of the UN General Assembly President Miguel dEscoto Brockmann regretted that a warrant had been issued to arrest President Bashir stating, I am sorry about this decision of the ICC and I think its more a decision motivated by political considerations than really for the sake of advancing the cause of justice in the world. My issue with the ICC is this: If 300,000 people who died in the conflict in Darfur since 2003 prompted them to sit up and take notice and issue an arrest warrant, where had they been since 2003 when over one million innocent civilians have lost their lives as a result of US President George Bushs illegal incursion into Iraq? There was no justification for the war on the Iraqi people. There were no threats directed at the United States of America or its people. There was no Al-Qaeda operating out of Iraq. Iraqis did not take part in the bombings of the twin towers of the World Trade Center; nor were they involved in any conspiracy against the US government. Where are the arrest warrants for Bush and his partner Tony Blair, who today pathetically claims he was duped into going along with the former US president when supplied with misleading information on weapons of mass destruction. How come Donald Rumsfeld of the shock and awe fame whose forces indiscriminately bombed Iraqi civilians into bits and pieces gets away scot-free? And the rest of Bushs band of neocons and accomplices including Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Douglas Feith and John Ashcroft? Why is it that the ICC has not investigated their crimes and issued arrest warrants against all those with the blood of over one million innocent civilians on their hands? Their methods were all based on deception, and their tools, apart from allowing weapons of mass destruction to be used against the Iraqi people, included manipulating the media and their political office. They used lies, lies and more lies, religion, patriotism, manufactured enemies, and the glory of democracy to motivate, mislead, oppress, and rob the masses of rational thinking in order to pursue their murderous adventures. Their strategy of using American soldiers as proxies for Israel to wage wars on Iraqis or any other people who might rise up against Israel had eventually led to mistrust and rejection of American policies in the region and around the world, as well as growing rejection at home. And lets not forget the atrocities of Ariel Sharon of Israel who today lies in a comatose state. He aligned himself with Bush soon after taking office and rained down atrocities on defenseless Palestinians. Do not his actions of massacre followed by the holocaust perpetrated against the civilians of Gaza recently by the current Israeli government warrant an investigation by the ICC? The atrocities that Bush had committed against the Iraqi populace and the fatality numbers are well ********ed and yet the ICC did not dare raise an issue about his unlawful actions. History would undoubtedly depict Bushs presidency as the biggest weapon of mass destruction in our times, but it is Bashir of Sudan who faces war crimes charges. Prosecuting a sitting head of state and letting the crooks off the hook smacks of gross hypocrisy on the part of the ICC. Is it because the Sudanese president is a black man and an African