The World's Watchful Eyes Revisited

Almost a month ago I wrote a post about the issue in Darfur as humanitarians worldwide waited to hear if Omar Al-Bashir would be indited by the International Criminal Court (ICC). A week or so ago, March 4 was whispered as the do-or-die date. The day came, Bashir was indited, and panic has ensued.

When I wrote a month ago, I said this:

"The issue is that if Bashir is arrested, the backlash on the people of Darfur, the UN Peacekeepers (the few that were actually deployed), and Journalists could be severe. The restricted green cards that are allowing international aid workers into the country could be revoked, which would send Amnesty, Save Darfur, and countless other agencies packing and would leave the people defenseless."

Thursday morning, this is exactly what happened. While Bashir has not been arrested (the ICC has no law-keeping force, its up to the Sudanese government to give Bashir up) Aid agencies are pleading with the Sudanese government to let them stay, but the entire system is tied into the Genocide. The Sudanese government has been protecting two other individuals who were charged for the Genocide, and the support they are showing for President Bashir is solid. By charging these criminals, the ICC may have sealed the fate of the people in Darfur, and the odds of Bashir being handed over to the ICC's jurisdiction are slim.

The victory is that the process of justice for the people of Darfur (and more recently Chad and C.A.R.) has begun, giving hope to the people who have been living with this hell and those who have done what they can to offer those people support. But it isn't a success. Millions of people now stand to be further abused because of the ICC's decision. The few who were able to help are no longer in a position to be able to do so. This ruling is a curse disguised as a blessing, an unfortunate realization that justice means little when brought against suffering. This arrest will not protect the women being raped in the refugee camps, it will not give the children water or hold families together. The sentence of suffering felt by the people of Darfur has been extended under the guise of progress. Yes, this means that the horrors in Sudan and Chad and the Central African Republic will be scruitinized under a even more direct beam of international light, but at what cost?

This makes the sentence hard to celebrate.