Aidan Findlater

MSF (Doctors Without Borders) has been told to leave by the Sudanese government because it “cannot assure the security of MSF international staff in view of the expected announcement of the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruling regarding Sudan’s president.”

The Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, is being brought up on charges of genocide in Darfur by the ICC. Instead of trying to mitigate the damage that he has done to the region in the hopes of garnering international sympathy, he is worsening the situation. Maybe he thinks that the charges will be dropped if there are no victims left to testify.

Edit (2009-03-11): He was not charged with genocide by the ICC, but rather crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Aidan Findlater Personal darfur

As China has grown, so has its need for cheap oil. The oil fields of Sudan fill this need, but at a price. In return for oil, the Chinese government has helped to finance and arm the Government of Sudan-backed genocide in Darfur. As well, the Chinese government, as a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, has hampered the international community’s attempts to address the crisis. Even as the UN joins the struggling African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, the Chinese government is working to ensure that the most restrictive interpretation of the peacekeeping mandate is followed. China needs oil to power its economic growth, and its government is willing to sacrifice the lives of countless Africans to do so.

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games—”One World, One Dream”—area an opportunity to highlight the connection between the governments of China and Sudan. So, when water-cooler talk turns to the upcoming Olympics, remember this: the Beijing Olympics are the Genocide Olympics.

Further reading: The Genocide Olympics by Eric Reeves.

Aidan Findlater Impersonal china, darfur, genocide, Olympics

In our society, we have detectives who investigate a crime, lawyers who prosecute the offenders and judges who sentence them. If a crime is in progress, we call the police; we are not expected to stop it ourselves—unless it’s genocide. This is the distinction that the Genocide Convention makes, in its very first article:

Article 1
The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.

Simply defining a crime does not compel action by third parties. The Genocide Convention does. (This is essentially the “Good Samaritan” law in the Seinfeld finale.)

The reason governments don’t want to recognize Darfur as genocide is because they would then be required, by law, to intervene. I believe that intervention would otherwise be illegal without a UN Security Council resolution.

Now, if we had a proper international police force and not just the ICC, things might be different.

That’s my understanding of the situation, anyway.

Aidan Findlater Impersonal darfur, genocide

I’m leaving for the conference in about a half hour and won’t be back in town until Tuesday night.

Aidan Findlater Personal darfur

This weekend I attended the Queen’s International Development Conference. It was good. Last night I also went to see Major Brent Beardsley speak about Rwanda and Darfur. It was also good. And now you get to read about my take on things, inspired by, but not based on, his presentation.

The people who committed the atrocities in Rwanda believed, truly believed, that no one was watching, that no one was interested, that no one was willing to stop them, and that because of this, they would not be held accountable. Why? Because no one was watching, no one was interested, and no one was willing to stop them. People in the developed world saw what was happening, said “That’s too bad”, and changed the channel. The only international response that anyone saw was the evacuation of expatriates, the mass exodus of white people. This is what allowed them to plan a genocide, to organise it, to prepare for it, and to execute it. It was easy for them to convince normal, intelligent people that they would get away with it. It was easy for them to convince normal, intelligent people to pick up their machetes and clubs, and to massacre their friends and neighbours on an unprecedented scale.

When there is a failure of humanity this great, the most dangerous thing is for good people to change the channel or turn the page. The genocide would never have happened if the perpetrators believed that they were being watched and would be held accountable for their crimes.

Today we have the chance to redeem ourselves for our failure in Rwanda. It may be too late to prevent the killings in Darfur, but it’s not too late to stop them. What can you do? It can be as simple as telling a friend, family member, or coworker. Getting more elaborate, you can write a short letter to your local MP and Prime Minister to let them know you are concerned about the situation in Darfur. They aren’t going to do anything unless they know that their constituents want them to. Finally, you can get involved with local groups that are doing something, such as Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND) or a local chapter of Amnesty International. It’s so easy to get involved and to make a difference, you might wonder why it took you so long to get started.

A short summary of the situation in Darfur can be found here.

Aidan Findlater Impersonal, Personal darfur