Significance of the overdue but blessed Arrest of Ali Kushayb in the Central African Republic
By Mahmoud A. Suleiman
Justice will take its Course No matter how long or short Time it takes and the case of the arrest of the so-called Ali Kushayb the fugitive from international justice for more than two decades is the best example. The arrest of the criminal fugitive from the International Justice Ali Kushayb has become highly Significant for the souls of the victims of genocide and to their surviving internally people (IDPs) and to their family members who have been forced to cross boarders to seek refugee status; Let alone for their other surviving loved one who have sought the Diaspora as a silence from the hardship of living in a country of racism and injustice, dominated by the bigoted and xenophobes. At this point, we can recall the 16 May 2020 arrest of Félicien Kabuga, one of the most wanted suspects of the Rwandan genocide, has been arrested near Paris, the French justice ministry has announced. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has charged the 84-year-old with genocide and crimes against humanity. He is alleged to have been the main financier of the ethnic Hutu extremists who slaughtered 800,000 people in 1994. He has been on the run for the past 36 years since 15 July 1994.
The Hutus, at the time were targeting members of the minority Tutsi community, as well as their political opponents. . https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52690464
The NEWMEDIA indicated that the United States had offered a $5m (£4.1m) reward for information leading to Mr. Kabuga’s arrest.
Other fugitives from the international justice having been reprimanded include, among others, the following:
- Hissène Habré, also spelled Hissen Habré, is a Chadian politician who served as the President of Chad from 1982 until he was deposed in 1990. He was brought to power with the support of France and the United States, who provided training, arms and financing. The Trial of Hissène Habré was On May 30, 2016.He was a former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré was convicted of crimes against humanity, war crimes
Thus far, 45 individuals have been indicted in the ICC, including Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo, and DR Congo vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba.
Reports of war crimes in Bosnia have had an important impact on U.S. and Western policy toward the conflict. Pictures in Western media of Serb detention camps where inmates were routinely starved, tortured and raped, as well as carnage caused by the shelling of Sarajevo, provoked international outrage and calls for (usually unspecified) action. U.S. and European policymakers felt a need to respond to the emotional issue of war crimes, but did not want to be drawn into the Bosnian war as combatants or policemen. The U.N. Security Council established The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia on May 25, 1993 (Resolution 808). It is the first international tribunal for prosecution of war crimes since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials fifty years ago. The Tribunal initially got off to a slow start in part due to difficulties in finding judges and prosecutors, and inadequate funding. As of April 1998, however, 74 suspects are known to be currently under indictment for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Fifty-six of the suspects are Serbs, 15 are Croats, and 3 are Muslims. 26 of the 74 suspects are in custody at present. One suspect was killed while resisting arrest, a second released pending trial. The first war crimes trial began on May 7, 1996. The suspect, Dusan Tadic, was found guilty on May 7, 1997. A second suspect pleaded guilty and was sentenced in November 1996. There are currently four trials underway. Charles Taylor appealed against the verdict, but on 26 September 2013 Appeals Chamber of the Special Court confirmed his guilt and the penalty of 50 years in prison. On 15 October 2013 he was transferred to British custody, and began serving his sentence at HM Prison Frankland in County Durham, England. The former Chadian -president Hissene Habre has been temporarily released from jail due to COVID-19; Hissene Habre, was serving life sentence for crimes against humanity, granted two months’ leave from Senegal jai. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/chad-president-temporarily-released-jail-due-covid-19-200407070630471.html
Thus, the Justice will be taking its course no matter how long or short the issue can take and the case of arresting so-called Ali Kushayb who remained for Solong from international justice for more than two decades is the best example; now in the custody of the ICC incarceration, pending a trial. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgxwHNqCRPLBhMsVZNbbCwQQrhmpn
The hardened criminals thought that they remain large and at liberty from the possibility that their victims ’prayers will follow them, but they will receive punishment at the hands of justice and there are so many examples starting by the Pharaoh of Egypt who said to his people, I am your highest Lord, his destiny was drowning. And in the history of the modern world we have seen how the hand of justice managed to arrest so many fugitives from international justice who committed crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes of ethnic cleansing and genocide and they thought they will remain far away from the grip of Justice . In this summary, we can recall a list of names as examples according to the countries from which such criminals and kept fleeing while accused for so long, but they were arrested and tried and the penalties they deserve were issued.
Other Very Important Note:
Some other Painful and Saddening occurrences of crimes against humanity worldwide that at the end justice took its course include the following:
Extermination of the Six Million Jewish people between 1941 and 1945, then the genocide in Cambodia in the period 1975-1979 when three million people were slaughtered, followed by the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995 when 320000 Muslim Civilians were massacred, then the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 when 1071000 civilians were exterminated, then the genocide in the Sudanese region of Darfur in 2003 came 10 years after Rwandan Genocide during which 500000 civilians were massacred. Sadly and unfortunately, there is no end to the genocidal crimes, where and when in August 2018, a study estimated that more than 24,000+ Rohingya people were killed by the Myanmar military and local Buddhists since the “clearance operations” started on 25 August 2017 . The Muslim Rohingya people were subjected to genocide by the racist government of Myanmar despite the presence of the Nobel Prize Lauriat Aung San Suu Kyi, then China practiced the same heinous crime against Chinese Muslims in what is allegedly named “Re-Education Camps which are in fact quasi-Concentration Camps. From China started the Pandemic COVID-19 that spread all over the World. Some analysts have also considered the alleged practices of the Nuer tribes and other ethnic groups killing each other on racial basis in the state of South Sudan were also classified as genocide. Then Yazidi’s Christians were subjected to genocide at the hands of the terrorist state calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). According to an OHRCR/UNAMI report on 26 September, by the end of August, 1,600–1,800 or more Yazidis who had been murdered, executed, or died from starvation. In early October, Matthew Barber, a scholar of Yazidi history at the University of Chicago, estimated that ranging between 3,000–5,000 Yazidi men had been killed by ISIL. https://www.kgou.org/post/blogger-matthew-barber-describes-covering-yazidi-disappearance-sinjar-siege
In the Iraqi province of Kurdistan, women of the Yazidi ethnic minority are disappearing. At the most recent count, between 6,000 and 7,000 women and girls have been kidnapped, and many of those have been enslaved.
When Matthew Barber visited northern Iraq earlier this year, his goals were to conduct research and learn Kurdish. When he arrived he was faced with an enslavement crisis unfolding all around him and he knew that being an American academic gave him resources he could use to help. Part of Barber’s mission is to educate people to know about whom the Yazidi are, and why they are at risk. This is tricky because the history and makeup of the Yazidis is complex and often misunderstood. They reside in small communities in northwest Iraq, northern Syria and southeast Turkey and estimates of their population range from 70,000 to 500,000. . https://www.kgou.org/post/blogger-matthew-barber-describes-covering-yazidi-disappearance-sinjar-siege
In this article, the reader notes that its author is trying to send a general message saying that humanity is one component and indivisible, and therefore justice must be done so that the perpetrators are tried, no matter how long they escape from justice.
A powerful photographic essay with text on the six major genocides of the 20th and 21st centuries: Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda and Darfur. More than a chronicle of dates and death tolls, it gives a personal history of victims, perpetrators and consequences. With texts written by Terry George, Dr. Richard Hovannisian, Amb and James Rosenthal, et. a
A reference BOOK: Never Again, Again, Again…: Genocide: Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur Hardcover – January 1, 2008.
https://www.amazon.com/Never-Again-Genocide-Holocaust-Cambodia/dp/1932646329
Ali Kushayb represents one of the tools used by the criminal génocidaires, the fugitive from the International Justice Omer Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir to silence the voice of the representatives of the people of Sudan in the Darfur region who, at the time, peacefully demanded their legitimate Citizenship Rights of justice, equality and Non-discrimination on the basis of racism. This is because the regime of Omer al-Bashir – the National Islamic Front (NIF)/ National Congress Party (NCP) is based on the understanding that they are indigenous Arabs – Native Arabs of the Abbasid dynasty, Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, and other people of Sudan, especially those in the Sudan’s Western Regions such as Darfur and Nuba in South Kordofan and let alone the Sudanese people in the Southern Sudan, are of black Negroid origins. They clearly and frankly mean that those foregoing Sudanese people as are the descendants of the Negro slaves. Ironically, their body features reveal their fabricated lying speech. Unique Typical features of Negroid physical traits expose their fabricated speech. Their skin colour is dark, their noses are flat, their lips are thick, and their head hair is curly rough and is Afro-textured hair, or kinky. Thus, Ali Kushayb is one of those who claim Arabism more than the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula, as they say. And similarly this applies to their master of grace, Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, who classifies himself as a descendent of the Abbasid dynasty and that he is on this station, one keeps wondering about the problem of being just a Sudanese citizen and not anything else. But people like Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir classifies himself as a member of al-Bedairyya al-Dahmashyya, a Bedouin tribe belonging to the larger Ja’alin group. . https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16010445
According to the Hadeeth of the Prophet Muhammed –Peace Be upon Him, Meaning of the hadeeth: There is no preference for an Arab over Ajami, which meaning Non-Arab, or for white over black, except for piety:
And it is attributed to the saying of one of the Sudanese people that he said jokingly, about some of the Sudanese elements trying to associate their origin to the uncle of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, our master Al-Abbas Ibn Abdul-Muttalib, that there is another uncle of the Messenger, whose name is Abu Lahab, no one dared to try the mere belong to him as an ancestor, why?!
Now we come to the nitty-gritty at the heart of the issue, which meaning the Sudanese strive as they say, to reach the facts in a country like Sudan where the clear facts are remaining hidden and absent regarding the origins of descent of the various components of the country unnecessarily its people are subjected to all kinds of atrocious calamities based of falsehood of Arabic origin or Arab identity.
One has thought it worthy to bring the upcoming information to the attention of the keen reader which is that: Sudan consists of 570 tribes divided into 56 or 57 ethnic groups based on linguistic, cultural and ethnographic characteristics and speaks 114 written and spoken languages, 50 of which are in Southern Sudan.
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, commonly known as Ali Kushayb, is a senior Janjaweed commander who supported the Sudanese government against Darfur rebel groups during the Omer al-Bashir presidency. He was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague in the Netherlands for war crimes. Ali Kushayb was born in 1957; he is now 63 years old.
On Tuesday the 9th of June 2020, Ali Muhammad Ali Abd–Al-Rahman (“Ali Kushayb”) is in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after surrendering himself voluntarily in the Central African Republic (CAR) on account of an (ICC) arrest warrant issued on 27 April 2007. Mr. Kushayb is suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Darfur (Sudan). The initial appearance of Mr. Kushayb before the (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber II will take place in due course.
ICC Registrar Mr. Peter Lewis thanked the Minister of Justice Flavien M’Bata and the authorities of the Central African Republic (CAR), the French Republic, the Republic of Chad, as well as the leaders of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the authorities of the host State, the Netherlands, for their support to the Court and cooperation in the arrest, surrender and transfer of Mr. Kushayb to the Court.
Mr Kushayb, Sudanese national born approximately in 1957, was allegedly one of the most senior leaders in the tribal hierarchy in the Wadi Salih locality and member of the Popular Defence Forces (PDF) and allegedly commanded thousands of Janjaweed militia from on or about August 2003 until on or about March 2004. He is alleged to have implemented the counter-insurgency strategy of the Government of Sudan that also resulted in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, Sudan. Mr Kushayb is perceived to be the mediator between the leaders of the Janjaweed militia in Wadi Salih and the Government of Sudan. He is also alleged to have enlisted fighters, armed, funded and provided food and other supplies to the Janjaweed militia under his command, thereby intentionally contributing to the above-mentioned crimes. Ali Kushayb is alleged to have personally participated in some of the attacks against civilians namely in the towns of Kodoom, Bindist, Mukjar and Arwalla between August 2003 and March 2004, where the killing of civilians, rape, torture and other cruel treatments occurred, therefore he allegedly committed, jointly with others, the above-mentioned crimes.
On 27 April 2007, ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I issued two warrants of arrest, against Ali Kushayb and Ahmad Harun (not in ICC custody). Pre-Trial Chamber I considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that, (i) from about August 2002, an armed conflict took place between the Government of Sudan including combatants from the Sudan People’s Armed Forces (the Sudanese Armed Forces) and the Popular Defence Force (PDF) along with the Janjaweed militia against organised rebel groups, including the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in Darfur, Sudan; (ii) in 2003 and 2004, that the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Janjaweed militia, acting together as part of the counter-insurgency campaign, carried out several attacks, of a systematic or widespread nature, on the towns of Kodoom, Bindisi, Mukjar, Arwalla and surrounding areas. In the above mentioned towns criminal acts were allegedly committed against civilians primarily from the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit populations, such as murders of civilians, rapes and outrages upon the personal dignity of women and girls, persecution , forcible transfers, imprisonment or severe deprivation of liberty, and attacks intentionally directed against the above-mentioned populations.
The warrant of arrest delivered on 27 April 2007 against Ali Kushayb lists 50 counts on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility including:
– Twenty-two counts of crimes against humanity (murder; deportation or forcible transfer of population; imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; torture ; persecution; rape; inhumane acts of inflicting serious bodily injury and suffering ); and
– Twenty-eight counts of war crimes (murder, violence to life and person; outrage upon personal dignity in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population; pillaging; rape; destroying or seizing the property).
For further information on this case, click here.
Background: Using its authority under the Rome Statute, the United Nations Security Council referred the situation in Darfur since 1 July 2002 to the ICC Prosecutor in resolution 1593 on 31 March 2005. Following the referral from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the Prosecutor received the conclusion of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur. In addition, the Office of the Prosecutor requested information from a variety of sources, leading to the collection of thousands of documents. The Prosecutor concluded that the statutory requirements for initiating an investigation were satisfied and decided to open the investigation on 6 June 2005.
Five ICC warrants of arrest are still pending in the context of this situation against Ahmed Muhammed Harun, Omer Hassan Ahmed Al Bashir, Abdalla Banda, and Hussein.
Alleged crimes (non-exhaustive list) https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/harunkushayb/pages/alleged-crimes.aspx
The warrants of arrest were issued in this case on 27 April 2007. Is issuing the warrants, Pre-Trial Chamber I stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe that: https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/harunkushayb/pages/alleged-crimes.aspx
- An armed conflict took place allegedly between the Government of Sudan including combatants from the Sudan People’s Armed Forces (the Sudanese Armed Forces) and the Popular Defence Force (PDF) along with the Janjaweed militia against organized rebel groups, including the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in Darfur, Sudan. It is alleged that the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Janjaweed militia, acting together as part of the counter-insurgency campaign, carried out several attacks, of a systematic or widespread nature, on the towns of Kodoom, Bindisi, Mukjar, Arwalla and surrounding areas in 2003 and 2004. In the above mentioned towns criminal acts were allegedly committed against civilians primarily from the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit populations, such as murders of civilians, rapes and outrages upon the personal dignity of women and girls, persecution, forcible transfers, imprisonment or severe deprivation of liberty, and attacks intentionally directed against the above-mentioned populations.
- Ahmad Harun served from 2003 to 2005 as Minister of the State for the Interior of the Government of Sudan and allegedly in charge of the management of the “Darfur Security Desk” thereby coordinating the different bodies of the government involved in the counter-insurgency, including the Police, the Armed Forces, the National Security and Intelligence Service and the Janjaweed militia. It is alleged that Ahmad Harun, by virtue of his above-mentioned position, had knowledge of the crimes committed against the civilian population and of the methods used by the Janjaweed militia; that in his public speeches Ahmad Harun not only demonstrated that he knew that the Janjaweed militia were attacking civilians and pillaging towns and villages, but also personally encouraged the commission of such illegal acts; and that due to his position at the Darfur Security Desk and through his overall co-ordination and personal participation in key activities of the Security Committees, namely the recruiting, arming and funding of the Janjaweed militia in Darfur, Ahmad Harun intentionally contributed to the commission of the above-mentioned crimes.
- Ali Kushayb, one of the most senior leaders in the tribal hierarchy in the Wadi Salih locality and member of the Popular Defence Forces (PDF), allegedly commanded thousands of Janjaweed militia from on or about August 2003 until on or about March 2004. Ali Kushayb is alleged to have implemented the counter-insurgency strategy of the Government of Sudan that also resulted in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, Sudan. Ali Kushayb is perceived to be the mediator between the leaders of the Janjaweed militia in Wadi Salih and the Government of Sudan. He is also alleged to have enlisted fighters, armed, funded and provided food and other supplies to the Janjaweed militia under his command, thereby internationally contributing to the above-mentioned crimes. Ali Kushayb is alleged to have personally participated in some of the attacks against civilians namely in the towns of Kodoom, Bindisi, Mukjar and Arwalla between August 2003 and March 2004, where the killing of civilians, rape, torture and other cruel treatments occurred, therefore he allegedly committed, jointly with others, the above-mentioned crimes. https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/harunkushayb/pages/alleged-crimes.aspx
Quotes about fugitives getting arrested and eventually sentenced:
Oscar Wilde, the Irish poet and playwright who after writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, the early 1890s saw him become one of the most popular playwrights in London he has been quoted as saying: “He wanted to be where no one would know who he was. He wanted to escape from himself. .” https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/fugitive
Amal El-Mohtar the Lebanese-Canadian poet and the writer of speculative fiction and who has published short fiction, poetry, essays and reviews, and has edited the fantastic poetry quarterly magazine Goblin Fruit since 2006, has been quoted as saying: “A fugitive becomes a queen or a scientist or, worse, a poet”. .” https://www.google.com/search?q=amal+el-mohtar&oq=Amal+El-Mohtar&aqs=chrome.0.0j46l2j0l2j46j0l2.1874j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
The Arabic definition of a Fugitive is a fugitive, whether from judicial custody, slavery, government arrest, interrogation, or civil violence. The fugitive from justice point of view is called the One “wanted by the International Criminal Police Organization who uses the terms fugitive and wanted in sync . https://context.reverso.net/translation/arabic-english/%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A8+%D9%85%D9%86+%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9
Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/