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Sudanese React to Bashir's Possible Handover to ICC

Michael Atit

   KHARTOUM/JUBA - Some Sudanese living inside and outside of their
   country are praising an agreement that could send former Sudanese
   President Omar al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court for trial,
   saying it would be an important step toward justice in the Darfur
   region. Bashir was ousted by the military in April after months of mass
   protests. He faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and
   genocide in Darfur, where armed groups launched a rebellion against his
   government in 2003.
   There was no word Wednesday on when Sudan's post-Bashir transitional
   government might put him and three other men indicted by the ICC on a
   plane for The Hague. The agreement with Darfur rebel groups was
   announced Tuesday as the government and rebels held peace talks in
   South Sudan's capital, Juba.
   Sudanese rights activist Nahid Jabrallah, who works for the
   non-governmental organization SIMA in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum,
   said thousands of Sudanese families and women in particular have been
   waiting a long time to see Bashir held accountable.
   "This is very important to reach justice for women in Darfur and stand
   for women who faced, and [are] facing until now, rape and others
   [crimes]. So, we are happy for the step," Jabrallah told VOA's South
   Sudan in Focus program.
   Murtada Salah, a resident of Darfur's Al Jeneina town now living in
   Khartoum, said handing over Bashir and his top advisors to the ICC will
   help heal the trauma experienced by many Sudanese.
   "This is very important to all of us as Sudanese," she said. The many
   documented instances of human rights abuses in Darfur, such as militias
   burning villages to the ground, have caused great suffering, she added.
   Legal advocate Hashim Abubakker says handing over Bashir might upset
   the alliance in Sudan's joint military-civilian transitional
   government. Some members of the security forces still support Bashir
   and could cause insecurity, he said.
   "This decision would have some political and security implications on
   the country. And I am quite sure that politicians, tribe mates and
   professional supporters of those accused within the whole of Sudan
   would not just keep silent on this matter," Abubakker told South Sudan
   in Focus.

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