Letting al-Bashir go a travesty

SOUTH Africa should not be a friend, as- sociate or protector of of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir. on the innocent. ly – and rightly – condemn. crimes. It is crazy logic. 3 million Darfuris. another.” such as Bashir. the president Yes, we know the West is full of hypocrites – and that countries of the so- called developed world have unleashed untold misery and visited horrific death and destruction on dozens of countries. We believe any world leader, whether he or she be from the US, the UK, Germany or France, should be charged with war crimes if they are guilty of widespread torture and the use of weapons of war We condemn the doctrine of collective punish- ment. It is as dastardly as the terrorism we regular- We are therefore horrified South Africa would want to defend someone accused of having carried out horrendous war crimes – because someone else in the West has not been charged with similar Given what the majority of South Africans lived through during apartheid we would have expected our government to stand up for the right to dignity and life of those under threat all over the world. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ac- cused Bashir of being the orchestrator of genocide in Darfur, in the west of Sudan. On March 4, 2009, the court issued a warrant of arrest against him for crimes against humanity and war crimes. He is accused of being the mastermind behind the deaths of more than 300 000 men, women and children, and of the displacement of more than We urge our leaders to think back on the 1994 inauguration speech of Nelson Mandela: “Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by Let us act accordingly when dealing with tyrants