Darfur's False Dichotomy: Peace or Justice?

Here's a simple question: Can you have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with no jelly? The answer is a resounding NO. It's unthinkable, incomplete, pointless, and sure to leave one famished. The same can be said about a just peace--you can't have it without both of its component parts, peace and justice. You can't choose one or the other, you must have both.

Similarly, you can't have a sustainable, just peace in Sudan (and Uganda, and Congo, and...) without bringing the worst perpetrators of mass atrocities in Darfur to justice. Lasting peace demands it, and victims deserve nothing less. Nothing. Period. But according to a recent Institute for War & Peace Reporting piece:

Escalating violence in Darfur and efforts by the international community to restore peace has dominated the news headlines this month.

Particularly prominent has been coverage of the first visit by the new UN secretary-general to the region and his thoughts on peacekeeping, political solutions and humanitarian aid. Noticeably absent, however, from Ban Ki-moon's statements on Darfur has been any mention of the International Criminal Court, ICC, and the two arrest warrants it issued earlier this year for a Sudanese rebel leader and a government minister.

And it's not just the secretary-general staying silent on the subject of the ICC, which also has outstanding warrants for Ugandan rebel leaders. In a recent editorial in Britain's Times newspaper, UK prime minister Gordon Brown and France's president Nicholas Sarkozy insisted governments must apply pressure over Darfur but said nothing at all about the court.

International justice observers interviewed by IWPR suggested these omissions are significant - though hardly surprising. They say world leaders are concentrating on plans to deploy the 26,000 strong UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur where violence is escalating, malnutrition increasing and attacks on aid workers becoming more common.

"There has been a quiet calculation by the likes of Ban Ki-moon, by the British, by the French, that we can't have both, the deployment of the force and the extradition of the men under indictment. The two are mutually exclusive," said Eric Reeves, an American academic and expert on Darfur.

In other words, no long trip to The Hague and the ICC for indicted criminals like Ahmad Haroun and Ali Kushayb. That seems to be a recipe for little peace, no justice, and the very real potential for future conflict. According to the IWPR report:

[International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Deputy Prosecutor, David] Tolbert believes that part of the problem for the Moreno-Ocampo and the ICC is a tendency by politicians to focus more on the immediate peace process in countries like Sudan and Uganda, putting justice to one side.

"A lot of leaders in the international community fail to understand this very important link between peace and justice," said Tolbert. "But they can't be separated. They are mutually dependent."

"If you leave the justice element out and don't deal with the underlying causes of the conflict, you will see the conflict repeated."

It seems pretty clear, even to the thickest of politicians, that peace without justice will lead to more conflict that will in turn make "Never Again" nothing more than a quaint rhetorical device...again.

More on the necessity of an adequate international enforcement mechanism later, because I want to give Tolbert the last word here:

...those "who believe in international justice need to raise their voices together".

"We need to hear other voices from the non-governmental community, from victims groups and others who stand with the ICC. There has to be pressure from all sides. Moreno-Ocampo can't stand alone," he said.

Well said. Well said, indeed. If you're interested in making your voice heard, check out Citizens for Global Solutions, USA for ICC, and ENOUGH for more information and opportunities to take action!