South Africa allows genocidal, terrorist ally to remain a free man

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, visited South Africa for an African Union summit this past weekend and returned to Sudan without being arrested. The ICC issued a warrant for Bashir’s arrest in 2009, on counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Bashir is known to be the mastermind behind the genocide in Darfur that, according to the UN, has left 300,000 dead. Bashir and Islamists his inner circle are accused of conducting ethnic cleansing, and displacing 2 million people from their homes.

South Africa was put in a perplexing situation with al-Bashir’s presence in the country, as leaders had to decide whether to enforce the ICC’s warrant or follow the African Union’s noncooperation with the ICC that has been in place since October 2013. If South Africa had enforced Bashir’s arrest warrant, it would have been a direct violation of the AU’s noncooperation decision. The AU collectively decided to disregard the ICC due to beliefs it is racist against African leaders. Such a decision would have had excessive implications for South Africa, including being betrayers of pan-Africanism, the main motivation behind noncooperation decisions involving the ICC. However, South Africa’s decision to allow al-Bashir travel freely has greater implications for the United States and our Western allies than many may realize.

During Omar al-Bashir’s near 30-year reign over Sudan, Iran’s Quds Force has been allowed to smuggle stolen Russian weapons from Libya into Sudan. Additionally, Osama bin Laden’s militants were been invited to set up a base in Sudan. Bashir’s ties to Islamist terrorism have been present since the coup that put Bashir into power, as his support for Sharia law was a justification in his mind to allow Carlos the Jackal, Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda militants to train and operate inside Sudan’s borders in the 1990’s. Bashir has also maintained close relations with Iran since 1990’s. During this time period, Iran pledged $17 million of financial aid to Sudan and sent 2,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards to Sudan. The operations of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards inside Sudan worried Western nations as speculations of terrorist training arose. In 1993, under speculation of Sudan offering a safe-haven to bin Laden and allowing various terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda and Hamas to train, the US Department of State deemed Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism. The State Department’s declaration has done little to impact Bashir, as he led a massive genocide in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains in 2011. Furthermore, despite declaring Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism, the US State Department has welcomed the war criminals of Bashir’s regime to lobby the US government. By allowing Bashir, a criminal responsible for the genocide of the people of Darfur, to live as a free man, the South African government has allowed the United States and our allies to continue to be at risk.