Sudan: Security Council Should Make President Meet Benchmarks

Posted to the web 25 July 2008 Nick Grono and Fabienne Hara The United Nations Security Council is no stranger to intractable international disputes. But soon Sudan will present it with a different kind of problem, one it has not faced in its 62-year history. It will be asked to decide whether the prosecution of a head of state for atrocities against his own people should be put on hold in the larger interests of international peace and security. The leader in question is President Omar al-Bashir, and the Security Council must use this opportunity to promote peace and justice there by requiring the Sudanese government to demonstrate significant progress on these fronts before it considers any deferral of the prosecution. Currently, three judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) are considering an application by the... [read full story]