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The International Criminal Court earlier this week issued an arrest warrant for Omar Al-Bashir, the President of Sudan. He is charged with ordering his troops and the so-called Janjaweed militia to rape, murder and torture people in the Darfur region of Sudan. While there was no charge of genocide it’s the first time the Hague has issued a warrant against a sitting head-of-state. Al-Bashir reacted angrily, saying the tribunal could “eat” its warrant and that it was not worth the ink it was printed on. During a demonstration of more than 10,000 of his supporters in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, the President accused Western leaders of being the true criminals, adding that the US committed genocide against Native Americans, the Japanese during World War II, and in Vietnam. In retaliation to the ICC charges, Al Bashir has suspended 10 foreign aid groups from Sudan who assist more than a million displaced people. After Al-Bashir appealed to African members of the ICC to withdraw in protest, the African Union reacted by sending a high-level delegation to the UN Security Council to plead for the charges to be suspended. The UN estimates that 300,000 people have been killed as a result of the fighting between rebels and government-sponsored militias; more than 2 million people have been displaced. If Al-Bashir now attempts to travel to any of the 108 countries that have ratified the ICC, he may be arrested.

GUEST: Don Kraus, Chief Executive Officer of Citizens for Global Solutions, and president emeritus of the Center for UN Reform Education

For more information, visit www.globalsolutions.org/icc