SA to offer humanitarian assistance to Sudan

The humanitarian assistance, which Sudan will receive today, 22 August 2008, is a joint initiative between the South African Government and the Gift of the Givers Foundation.

The initiative was a response to international calls for humanitarian assistance to help the people of Abvei following violence in the area in May 2008, which caused over 50,000 civilians to be displaced.

"South Africa expresses the hope that the humanitarian assistance to Abyei will help contribute to the alleviation of the conditions under which these people find themselves in at this stage," the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

South Africa is the Chair of the African Union Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development Committee on Sudan and supports post-conflict reconstruction and development in that country.

In July, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki called on the international community to help the government of Sudan to find an amicable solution to the Darfur crisis.

President Kibaki had also cautioned that any isolationist policy against the sitting government of Sudan would be counter-productive.

President Kibaki noted that Sudanese President Omah Al-Bashir should be assisted by the international bodies that were keen on seeking a lasting solution to the Darfur conflict and not to be subjected to legal recourse in courts that might not have an understanding of the conflict.

Early July, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed an arrest warrant for President Al-Bashir for crimes committed against humanity.

The prosecutor believed that the President "bears criminal responsibility in relation to 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes," according to a news release issued by the court.

The evidence presented at the ICC, which was based in The Hague, shows that Mr Al-Bashir masterminded and implemented a plan to destroy in substantial part the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups, on account of their ethnicity.

Moreno-Ocampo said at the time that "His motives were largely political. His alibi was a 'counterinsurgency'."

Rebels have been fighting government forces and allied Arab militiamen, known as the Janjaweed, since 2003.

Moreno-Ocampo said that for over five years, armed forces and the Janjaweed attacked and destroyed villages on President Al-Bashir's orders.

Article published courtesy of BuaNews.