Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Fisher on his remarks on Zimbabwe and note that the Human Rights Subcommittee of this parliament will be holding hearings on Zimbabwe, Darfur and Burma in Sydney on 12 June. We hope that a number of prominent people from around the world will participate in these hearings.

I want to speak on an equally tragic situation, in Darfur, where a quarter of a million people have been killed, a million people are in exile and away from their homes and, the United Nations estimates, over two-thirds of the local population is entirely dependent upon humanitarian aid, with violence affecting half a million civilians beyond the reach of such humanitarian operations. Before the parliament resumed, 27 April marked a particularly terrible anniversary. A year ago international arrest warrants were issued for two Sudanese leaders involved in the massive ongoing atrocities in Darfur. They are the former state minister for the interior, Ahmed Harun, and Ali Kushayb, a key leader of the Sudanese backed militia, the Janjaweed. Both are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Evidence in the International Criminal Court cases against both men is overwhelming, including evidence from numerous eyewitnesses as well as compelling documentary evidence. Yet Khartoum refuses to extradite or lift a finger against either man despite an explicit request from the International Criminal Court—no surprise here. As the leading expert on Darfur, Eric Reeves argues, were Haroun or Kashayb to testify in the Hague, members of the Khartoum regime would be at obvious risk of being charged themselves as they could point the finger far up the chain of command in Sudan. It is a grotesque irony, Mr Haroun has even been promoted to the position of state minister for humanitarian affairs, with major responsibility for the millions of desperate victims of the very crimes he orchestrated. I want to commend the international actor Mia Farrow and the academic Eric Reeves, who wrote:

More than five years have passed since the Khartoum regime and its Janjaweed allies launched their campaign of destruction against the non-Arab populations of Darfur. The savagery of the attacks upon civilians, the torched villages, mass murders, rapes, abductions and mutilations have made the word Darfur synonymous with human suffering. More than 2.5 million people have fled from their burning homes in terror, seeking tenuous refuge in wretched camps across Darfur and eastern Chad.

The International Criminal Court’s role is to investigate and prosecute cases in which a nation’s courts cannot render justice even in the face of the most horrific crimes. The International Criminal Court on its own cannot do anything about it, so it relies on others to execute arrest warrants. In the case of Darfur, the International Criminal Court has an authority from a United Nations Security Council resolution. The refusal of the government in Sudan to arrest the subjects should be superseded by the UN Security Council’s authority in international peace and security. The Security Council members have unfortunately shown too little interest in forcing compliance with this resolution. As long as the regime in Khartoum shows its contempt and the Security Council continues not to enforce its will, Mr Haroun and his cohorts will operate with impunity in Sudan.

Those nations who have committed their support to the International Criminal Court must understand that a green light to Khartoum’s defiance on these indictments is a green light to the men in Khartoum who are in defiance of international demands. The large protection force UNAMID, for example, has for nine months been obstructed by this regime. If we lack the will to pursue international arrest warrants for these two people, it just encourages the authorities in Khartoum to ignore the international community and to continue to ignore the dying in Darfur. This will continue to grow apace.

Last December, Louis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, issued a devastating reprimand to the Security Council, when he said:

We are witnessing a calculated, organised campaign by Sudanese officials to attack individuals and further destroy the social fabric of entire communities. All information points not to chaotic and isolated acts but to a pattern of attacks.

In my view, the Security Council, has failed to provide any support for Mr Moreno-Ocampo and his terrifying indictment of Sudan and has not done anything to circumvent the Security Council paralysis in this area. Justice will only be served if the nations of the world place justice before serenity in relation to these international war crimes. This is a very difficult issue but one where we all have to do something because we must not repeat the mistakes of the past.