U.S. and European media

January 29, 2023

Reuters: DAVOS-ICC prosecutor expects Bashir genocide charge.  he prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Thursday he expects judges to add a charge of genocide within weeks against Sudan's "fugitive" President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.  The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir last March on seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan's Darfur conflict, including murder, rape and torture, but ruled it had insufficient grounds for a charge of genocide.

Voice of America: Sudanese in US Question Legitimacy of Elections in Sudan.  Elections scheduled this April in Sudan represent the first time in a generation that people there will get a chance to choose government leaders.  But Sudan's road to democracy is riddled with accusations of corruption, voter intimidation and violence that could threaten to destabilize a fragile peace agreement between North and South Sudan. Sudanese living in the United States are closely watching developments in their country.

Reuters Africa: New Darfur peacekeeping chief wants deal in a year.  The new head of the joint U.N./African Union peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region said on Thursday he wanted a peace deal in a year and would step up his force's involvement in mediation to help it happen. Ibrahim Gambari told reporters any further delay in resolving the seven-year conflict in Sudan's remote west meant the world might become distracted by other seismic events in Sudan, primarily a 2011 referendum on southern independence.

Voice of America: Sudan Official: Bashir 'Blackmailing' South Over Elections.  A Southern Sudanese official says Khartoum has cut off talks with the South in a move to pressure the South's ruling party into withdrawing its candidate for Sudanese presidency.  The official said that his party was now seeking outside intervention to ensure the peace agreement is honored. Southern Sudan's head of mission in Kenya, John Andruga Duku, told reporters in Nairobi the Bashir government is using the ongoing peace talks to "blackmail" the South's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement into supporting President Bashir's incumbent candidacy.

The following commentary appeared in the Detroit Free Press by Sarah Juster: Obama's opportunity to deter genocide.  Wednesday was an important day. This was, of course, partly due to the much anticipated delivery of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, but also because Wednesday marked the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. As International Holocaust Remembrance Day has come and gone, it must be remembered that genocide, the most egregious of all crimes, lives on: from Bosnia, to Rwanda, to the genocidal violence in Darfur. As the leader of a high school chapter of STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition in Ann Arbor, and a member of the STAND national leadership team, I am reminded daily that these atrocities continue. This is why, as I listened to President Obama address the nation Wednesday night, I was reminded of the incredible opportunity he has to be the first president to declare a commitment and plan to abolish genocide.

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