The cries of global outrage appear to have been heard. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, the man wanted on charges of genocide in Darfur, will not be traveling to Indonesia.
Bashir has been flaunting his impunity for years, but not this time, as, according to the Sudan Tribune, several countries refused to grant Bashir permission to fly over their states on the way to Jakarta.
Bashir was supposed to fly to Indonesia on April 20th, making his first travel outside of Africa and the Middle East in nearly four years. In the days leading up to Bashir’s planned excursion, advocacy groups across the globe furiously condemned Indonesia’s decision to invite the president into the country.
In letters written to the Indonesian president, Members of Parliament across the ASEAN region and civil society groups across the globe including the Bashir Watch Coalition referred to the UN Security Council Resolution 1593, which urged all UN members to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court.
Indonesian civil society raised their voices in a widely disseminated NGO letter and a scathing piece in the Jakarta Post urging the Indonesian government to tell Bashir that there is “no welcome mat for gross human rights violators here.”
These voices pointed out that the 1955 Bandung Conference of Asian and African nations, whose 60th anniversary Bashir was invited to attend, was established to promote and uphold the principles of human rights and abolish the practice of racial discrimination.
By inviting a wanted war criminal to the conference, Indonesia had single-handedly undermined the purpose and spirit of the conference. As a leading democracy, Indonesia has both a moral obligation and a responsibility to show mercy to the victims Bashir’s crimes.
It has now been ten years since Bashir was referred to the International Criminal Court and more than six years since the first warrant for his arrest was released. That’s 2,240 days where Bashir has had the free ability to proceed in torturing the people of Sudan.
With seven counts of both crimes against humanity and war crimes and three counts of genocide against him, Bashir has been deemed the mastermind of genocide in Darfur. Yet despite the warrants for his arrest, states continue to allow him to travel to their country freely.
Denying Bashir access to travel to any nation, shows that violators of human rights will be both held accountable and brought to justice. The global outcry and subsequent cancellation of Bashir’s trip to Indonesia is one more step in the direction of ending impunity for the crimes committed against millions of people in Darfur.
The United Arab Emirates welcomed Bashir, emboldening a leader of a regime that continues to bomb civilian areas and deny humanitarian aid.
If Bashir enters Equatorial Guinea, authorities must respect their legal obligations to arrest and surrender Bashir to the International Criminal Court.
BashirWatch calls on the Ethiopian authorities to arrest and transfer Bashir to the ICC to face the charges against him in a fair trial.
If Bashir enters Morocco, Moroccan authorities must respect their legal obligations to arrest and surrender Bashir to the International Criminal Court.
The government of Saudi Arabia welcomed Bashir, emboldening a leader of a regime that continues to bomb civilian areas and deny humanitarian aid.
The government of Egypt welcomed Bashir, emboldening a leader of a regime that continues to bomb civilian areas and deny humanitarian aid.
If Bashir enters Morocco, Moroccan authorities must respect their legal obligations to arrest and surrender Bashir to the International Criminal Court.
BashirWatch calls on the Rwandan authorities to arrest and transfer Bashir to the ICC to face the charges against him in a fair trial.
If Bashir enters Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia authorities must respect their legal obligations to arrest and surrender Bashir to the International Criminal Court.
The government of Qatar welcomed Bashir, emboldening a leader of a regime that continues to bomb civilian areas and deny humanitarian aid.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is the only sitting president with an outstanding arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.
He stands accused of being the mastermind of the genocide in Darfur where Sudanese forces and government-sponsored militias carried out a campaign of attacks against innocent civilians.
On March 4, 2009 the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Bashir for 7 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes. On July 12, 2010 the ICC issued an additional warrant adding 3 counts of genocide for the ethnic cleansing of the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa tribes.
Undeterred by his arrest warrants, Bashir continues his reign of impunity—attacking innocent civilians in Darfur and other states in Sudan and travelling freely to other countries.
Together, we will keep Bashir in our sights until the international community arrests him so that he will face justice. Build the international network tracking Bashir by sharing with your friends and family on Facebook, Twitter and email:
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Copy/paste this into an email and send to your friends:
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is the only sitting head of state indicted for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for his crimes in Darfur.
Undeterred by his arrest warrants, Bashir continues his crimes with impunity, expanding his bombing and attacks against civilians beyond Darfur to those in the Sudanese states of Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan.
Join me in taking action to arrest Bashir. It is time for justice to be served.
Keep a watchful eye on Bashir by supporting BashirWatch with a donation. The people of Darfur and across Sudan are crying for justice. Your donation will allow us to keep Bashir under watch at all times and help us mobilize activists across the world to speak out whenever he is posed to travel.
Without justice, there cannot be freedom for the people of Darfur and all those persecuted in Sudan. Thank you for standing with them.
Join our global rapid response network to protest governments who allow Bashir to visit. Whenever there are signs that Bashir is about to travel, we will target the country he is planning to travel to with emails, ads and creative actions to demand Bashir’s arrest.
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