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Darfuris fear reprisals
18/07/2008 12:20 - (SA)
Khartoum - Usman Abakr, a labourer from Sudan's war-torn region of Darfur, should have reason to celebrate.
President Omar al-Bashir, the leader held by many critics as ultimately responsible for five years of killing and destruction across Darfur, was on Monday accused of war crimes by International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
But Abakr, one of more than 2.2 million Sudanese displaced by a war whose combined effects of fighting, famine and disease had left up to 300 000 dead, looked nervous after asked if he supported the move.
"This is not a question I can talk about," he said sharply, setting down his glass of sweet tea and rubbing his forehead wearily.
There was fear and tension in Sudan. Moreno-Ocampo's request for an arrest warrant against Bashir - which for the first time could see a sitting head of state charged - had created ripples of unease in the capital.
Government supporters had protested angrily at the decision, firing off anti-Western slogans and warnings it would derail peace efforts.
'We've enough problems of our own'
In contrast, the news had been greeted with delight by the ethnic rebels in Darfur who first rose up against the Khartoum government in February 2003, clamouring for greater rights and resources in one of the most deprived places on earth.
But displaced Darfuris in the capital, while no friends of the president or his allies, were not flooding the streets in support of Ocampo's decision.
"We have enough problems of our own, just to get by day-by-day," said labourer Mohammed Adam, who fled to Khartoum from Darfur last year. "Work, money, food - these are what worry us."
After losing their homes or worse in the war, many craved stability to simply earn a living. But Adam shrugs, draws on a cigarette and looks to the ground when asked if he supports the president.
Still, across Khartoum there is one name on people's lips "Ocampo" - who had named and shamed the head of state.
"Everyone knows the name Ocampo," said Hussein Abdalla Ahmed, manager of a network of more than 200 community organisations working in Darfur. "It's in the mass media, television, everywhere."
'This will make things worse for us'
Abdul Rahman Adam Salih, an opposition member of parliament from west Darfur who also advised the traditional leader of the Fur, the Sultan of Darfur, claimed that Moreno-Ocampo's move was backed by many, even if few dare to speak out.
"Those people who are in the government may not be happy that the president is being accused, but the normal people - they say that he deserves it because it is his own work," Salih said.
"People are afraid and they don't want to tell you the truth."
Across the Nile in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman, the bullet scars in buildings were still clear from where Darfur rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) were beaten back by government troops in May.
Many of the thousands of displaced made homeless by the battles in Darfur had little sympathy for the national leadership, yet there was deep unease in the Omdurman community. There were worries about the consequences on the ground.
Viewed by security forces as natural supporters of the rebels, members of the Omdurman community were concerned about what an ICC decision could mean in practical terms for them.
"There were many problems after the JEM attack for us," said one resident, who declined to be named.
"This will only make things worse for us here. He (Beshir) will not be arrested, so I don't know what good it will do for us."
After the JEM attack, the security services arrested hundreds of people, many of them civilians, Darfuris and members of the Zaghawa tribe of rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim.
The government said rebels would be encouraged to stage another attack, although their losses were heavy in May and few analysts believed that desert fighters alone could take and then hold the capital by force.
But Salih said he believed the decision to open a case against the president was correct.
Salih said: "I know the in and outs of the government - if there is more pressure, they will try to find a way out. If there is no pressure, they live happily and leave the people of Darfur to die - they don't worry about them."
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