Darfur

Intellectually, The Hague is a wonderful place to be since it stands at the epicenter of international law. In fact, the concept of international law was largely founded by Hugo Grotius at the University of Leiden, just up the road, at the beginning of the 1600s.

I've already been to a two day conference about the ICC - one day in The Hague and one day in Amsterdam; a lecture at the Asser Institute, an international law research institute; and tonight I went to a discussion about Darfur sponsored by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Unfortunately, I've had to miss two other interesting conferences, including one sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross held at the International Court of Justice. But I'll be back at the Asser Institute on Thursday.

The topic for this evening was Darfuri and Sudanese views on the ICC. The reporters and NGOs recounted that Darfuris do know something about the ICC and that expectations are high, if overly optimistic. Apparently, Darfuris drew up a list of 51 people they hoped to see arrested. Many expect punishment governed by talion.

Given these expectations, the ICC may disappoint. Obviously, an eye for an eye does not exist here as a principle of punishment. The ICC has indicted two Sudanese on war crimes charges stemming from the conflict in Darfur: Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman and Ahmad Muhammad Harun. The ICC and NGOs are trying to spread their word and principles in Sudan, but (I'm quoting the evening's participants) "to mention the ICC brands you as a traitor... In Darfur, you could be killed just for mentioning the ICC." They said that there is total governmental control of the media. Apparently, a few journalists recently came to The Hague for some training, but were marked as traitors upon their return and denounced by the supposedly-independent journalists' union.

Naturally, Sudan refuses to turn over the two indictees. Until this evening, I didn't quite understand why the government doesn't simply offer them up as pawns to justice and to attain recognition for "international cooperation." It was explained that the government fears that these two would implicate higher-ups. One of the participants is from the same town as Harun. He said that Harun is "really worried" that the government will kill him to silence him; so worried that Harun has apparently "lost weight" and "can't sleep."

The evening's event will be aired on Radio Netherlands Worldwide (like a Dutch version of Voice of America or BBC), on their program "Amsterdam Forum." It should be posted here soon. Shortwave frequencies here.

(Speaking of International broadcasting, did you know that Voice of America reaches out in about 50 languages? Although the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting only offers 27 languages, it has something that VoA does not: news and radio in Hebrew, on Kol David ("The Voice of David"). )