myelenchus: May 2009

A brief synopsis of my life January - May 2009:

SUDAN: A country wracked by decades of turmoil caused in part by this man...

Omar Al-Bashir: The president of Sudan since 1989 who, in early March 2009 was the first sitting head of state to be accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes by this organization...

The International Criminal Court: Founded by treaty - The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court - in July 2002. The official seat of the court is the Hague, Netherlands and the court generally only exercises jurisdiction in cases when national courts are unwilling or unable to investigate and prosecute crimes including genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crime of aggression. The court also only exercises jurisdiction where the accused is a national of a state party to the treaty, the alleged crime took place on the territory of a state party to the treaty, or a situation is referred to the court by the UN Security Council. A total of 108 countries are party to the treaty and therefore members of the court. Russia, China, India, the United States and the Sudan are not members of the Court.

The accusations made this guy... really angry. Instead of lashing out directly at governments he held responsible, he expelled humanitarian organizations funded by those governments by accusing he the organizations of sharing information with the ICC. These humanitarian organizations had provided vital, life-sustaining services to more than 4.7 million people in Darfur.

When most people think about Sudan they think about this...

and this...

But it is much much more complicated that any of that, so I try to focus on this:
Since 2003, conflict between armed opposition factions, militias, the Sudanese Armed Forces and ethnic groups in Sudan’s western region of Darfur has affected more than 4.7 million people, including nearly 2.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). According to the UN, violence has displaced approximately 317,000 individuals within Darfur and to eastern Chad since January 2008. The total number of deaths resulting from the conflict in Darfur was estimated by the UN in 2006 to be more than 200,000 since then the UN and human rights groups have indicated that it may be closer to 400,000.

In addition more than two decades of conflict beteen the north and the south compounded by famine and disaease has killed more than 2 million people, forced an estimated 600,000 Sudanese to seek refuge in neighboring countries, and displaced an additional 4 million individuals within Sudan.