Just hours after the announcement of the ICC arrest warrant for Sudan President Omar al Bashir the Khartoum government revoked the operating licences of at least six international aid agencies serving in Darfur, according to a report by Reuters. Among the agencies affected is Doctors Without Borders, who have been ordered to remove all foreign personnel from Darfur immediately. This obviously pre-planned reprisal of Bashir's government to the anticipated warrant will only intensify the suffering of Darfurians served by the agencies being expelled.
Sudan's ambassador to the UN reacted to the announcement in a typically haughty and dismissive way. The Bashir government is attempting to depict this action as a western colonialist intrusion in the internal affairs of a sovereign African state. Archbishop Desmund Tutu refuted that assertion in an op-ed piece in yesterday's New York Times, pointing out clearly that what is at stake is a matter of justice for African victims of criminal activity. You can read his piece by clicking here.
No comments:
Post a Comment