Botswana brave about al-Bashir

Last week, the African Union conducted an almost unparalleled act of collective blindness by issuing a resolution refusing to cooperate with the International Criminal Court's warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity committed against the population in Sudan's Darfur region.

Today, the Government of Botswana has condemned the resolution.

"The chair did not permit much debate on this matter and therefore we did not get an opportunity to put our opinion across," Botswana's vice president, Mompati Merafhe, said in a speech posted on the presidency website on Tuesday.

"It is our view that Africa should not try to undermine the work of the ICC simply because one head of state called Bashir has been indicted by the Court."

Speaking of indictments, the prosecutors at the ICC are in the process of appealing for a reinstatement of the three other charges against al-Bashir: charges of Genocide

In his appeal lodged on Monday, it said the prosecution had "submitted detailed evidence on the mobilisation and use of the entire Sudanese state apparatus for the purpose of destroying a substantial part of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups in the entire region of Darfur during more than six years".

Rajoelina fails to impress the E.U.

Madagascar is running out of money, and fast, under the "Haut Autorité Transitoire" (Transitional High Authority; HAT) junta of President Andry Rajoelina. So they tried to plead to the European Union for relief from the sanctions on aid imposed after the overthrow of the Ravalomanana regime...

No luck. For some reason, having a President younger than the constitutionally allowable age for a President of Madagascar (to cite one easy example) plead that progress was being made on returning to constitutional order just didn't exactly impress the folks at Brussels.

Liberia TRC recommends banning the President

Actually, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has recommended that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf *and* 50 other high-profile public figures be banned from political office for the next 30 years.

President Sirleaf is named in particular for having sent US$10,000 to support the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPF-L) early in that 1989~96 rebellion against the hated regime of then-President Samuel K. Doe. The leader of the NPF-L was Charles Taylor, who went on to lead a campaign of terror and atrocity that eventually did defeat the Doe regime. In victory, Charles Taylor was then installed as President after an entirely corrupt election in 1997, and went on to spread terror and disorder to neighboring countries for his own political and financial gain.

Sirleaf, Africa's first democratically elected female leader, said the money she sent while an expatriate was meant for humanitarian services and that she was never a member of his group.

"If there is anything that I need to apologize for to this nation, it is to apologize for being fooled by Mr. Taylor in giving any kind of support to him," Sirleaf said in February.

Well, other than thinking this sure sounds like the 'Irish Hospital' scam of the 1970's, it is probably fairer to consider this other note from the article cited:

There were no publicly reported humanitarian works by Taylor and his fighters, especially in the first months of the war, but most atrocities were being committed by Doe's forces and Taylor was welcomed by many as a liberator fighting a barbaric dictatorship.

The TRC report is not binding until approved by the national legislature, and the next Presidential election is scheduled for 2011, so whether this will preclude a political future for any of the figures named remains to be seen.

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For Reference:

The trial in the Hague of former-President Charles Taylor on 11 charges of various Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes, and Recruiting Child Soldiers, has been underway for 2 years now. The trial entered the defense phase last month.

Xinjiang Riots Revenge

The massive rioting and popular insurrection that has swept through the Xinjiang region of the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) have taken a turn for the worse. What was originally a mainly-Uighur outburst against perceived unfairness by the central government has now become a mass reprisal by the Han Chinese population against the Uighur population... and Security Forces that were sweeping Uighur neighborhoods to crack down on the first round of riots are now caught between the Uighurs and vengeful armed Han mobs.

There is more than a little evidence that the P.R.C. central government is reaching the limit of its patience in this matter. The open question is whether they will come down hard on the Han rioters or simply assist them in a city-wide massacre.

The major city, Urumqi, has a greater number of Han than of Uighurs, but the region as a whole is still predominantly Uighur. *If* the riots in Urumqi turn into an effort to expel or kill the urban Uighur population, the entire region is simply going to explode in hatred against the immigrant Han and the central government. Considering how important Xinjiang is to the resource base of the P.R.C., that's going to mean civil war...

Zelaya expected back in Washington D.C.

Some amount of quiet has fallen in Honduras today, after yesterday's entirely orchestrated "kabuki dance" of former-President Manuel Zelaya trying to fly into the country.

The Toncontin Airport at Tegulcigalpa, Honduras, is closed today and tomorrow for security (and repairs) after the damage caused by break-through agitators with armed with wirecutters (and maybe more...).

M. Zelaya is now expected back in Washington D.C. on Tuesday for a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State H. Clinton. This might be a good thing: It *might* signal an effort to wrest control of the U.S. official reaction away from a certain NSC Western Hemisphere staffer whose motivation for his actions to-date are rather suspect. *Maybe*.

It could well be an encore performance of the dance done while Zelaya was in the Residence of the Ecuadorian Ambassador in Washington where the various players acting in his defense constructed his attempted trip back to Honduras. (See documentation at ECrisis in the July 6th posting, regarding that meeting)
**text corrected: the Residence, not the embassy itself**

There may yet be more reasonable (and less self-interested) involvement in this matter to come from the Obama administration, but I'll believe it when I see it.

At least Hugo Chavez is public about his support for Zelaya, and his role in supporting the demonstrators. How refreshing.

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Previously on this, here at CompHyp yesterday.

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Inkatha Freedom Party still free

The victory of the African National Congress (ANC) party in Kwa-Zulu Natal in the April elections of this year may have signaled a sea-change in local politics there, but the individual popularity of Jacob Zuma (who is tribal Zulu) as ANC leader may instead be the explanation. The latter is what the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leadership is betting on as they have rejected an offer to unite with the ANC.

The IFP is a swing party these days, friendly with but independent of the "elephant" that is the ANC, and is at the same time willing to side with the Democratic Alliance to keep some limits on what could devolve into a one-party state if unchecked.

It is better by far to be the loyal opposition than to be an insignificant part of the elephant, and it is good that IFP leadership recognizes that. Bravo.

Improving Defense in Japan's southwest

This is still a matter under consideration, but since the Bouei Daijin (Defense Minister) was willing to speak of this at a news conference, here is the story:

Currently, the westernmost of the islands of Okinawa Prefecture are patrolled but not garrisoned. The basing of elements of the Rikujou Jieitai (Ground Self-Defense Force; Land Army) at Yonaguni-jima would provide a facility for defense and disaster response in the region and would be a major improvement to force capabilities there.

However...

The small Okinawa Prefecture island is part of the Ryukyu Islands in the East China Sea and located just 110 kilometers from Taiwan's eastern coast.

It is also roughly 150 km south of a set of Japanese-administered islets whose ownership is disputed by China, Japan and Taiwan. Japan considers the islands -- called the Senkaku in Japan, Diaoyutai in China and Tiaoyutai in Taiwan -- part of the Ryukyu Islands.

This may take some explaining to the neighbors. Hope they are willing to listen to reason.