AU to appoint genocide suspect as leader
Beauregard Tromp
January 21 2007 at 11:19AM
A chorus of international condemnation is growing ahead of this month's meeting of African Union heads of state at which Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, accused of ordering the killing at least 200 000 people in Darfur, is likely to be sworn in as chairperson.
Human Rights Watch became the latest body to join international calls for African presidents to avert what is being called the imminent disaster of the elevation of Bashir.
The organisation warned that installing him as chairperson "would irreparably discredit the AU".
The twice-yearly meeting of the AU begins at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday. The union's heads of state are expected to meet for two days a week later.
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'Would irreparably discredit the AU'
In the past six months, 30 NGOs working in Darfur have been attacked and 12 of their relief workers have been killed.
Bashir agreed last month to an AU plan for the deployment of a force of African and other peacekeepers in Darfur. But less than a month later, he did yet another about-turn and told the local and Arabic media that he would not allow "foreign" forces into Sudan.
The AU's constitution would allow it to send peacekeepers to Sudan without the agreement of Khartoum because of the gravity of the situation in Darfur. But African heads of state have been reluctant to follow this route, partly from fear of displeasing Libya, the Arab League and China, which back Khartoum.
The UN has agreed to let the AU take the lead role in negotiating a settlement in the Sudanese civil war, which is entering its fourth year.
Bashir's government has repeatedly reneged on promises made to the AU and the UN, and has prevented them from dealing effectively with the crisis in Darfur.
"In the past year, Khartoum has refused to make any genuine efforts to reverse its abusive policies in Darfur," said Peter Takirambudde, the Africa director of Human Rights Watch.
"Awarding Sudan the chairmanship would not only reward the sponsors of crimes against humanity in Darfur, it would irreparably discredit the AU."
The well-respected International Crisis Group, which is often consulted by the UN, the European Union and the United States, warned that the African Union would be taking "a huge step backwards" by appointing Bashir.
The group's Darfur specialist, David Mozersky, said he hoped that the views of "senior" African presidents such as Thabo Mbeki, Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo and Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade would prevail.
The AU usually awards its chairmanship to the leader of the nation that hosts its summits. The heads of state dodged the bullet last year at the summit in Khartoum. They convinced Bashir that he should not insist on the chairmanship then, but promised that he would get it this year.
A Darfur rebel movement, the National Redemption Front, has threatened to target AU troops if Bashir gets the job.
"Sudan has failed on every commitment in Darfur: civilian protection, humanitarian access and accountability for grave crimes," said Takirambudde.
"If the AU considers Sudan's policies on Darfur as criteria for it to qualify for the AU chair, then Khartoum has failed on every measure."
o This article was originally published on page 3 of Sunday Independent on January 21, 2007
