Soldiers face death over bombing refusal

[gottaB]

Ten sacked Sudanese soldiers are on trial for refusing to bomb civilians in Darfur. Benjamin Joffe-Walt reports.

Thirty lawyers in black cloaks, 70 armed men, some in blue uniforms, some in civilian clothes, and about 150 onlookers are all crammed into a tiny Sudanese courtroom. It is more crowded than a rush-hour subway car. Everyone, including some of Sudan's top lawyers, must stand in sultry, sticky stiffness.

About 300 soldiers guard the compound hosting the trial of 26 Darfurians accused of plotting to overthrow the Sudanese Government.

But most attention is focused on 10 members of the group who, in a series of leaks, have been revealed to be soldiers who refused to fight for the Sudanese Government in Darfur. The 10 men, mainly high-ranking pilots, say they were asked to bomb civilians in Darfur villages.

Soldiers face death over bombing refusal....

[denverbill]

1. Wow. Commit a war crime or be killed.

If true, this is quite a compelling story.

[gottaB]

3. Yeah--and right up Jaffe-Walt's alley

He gained some minor celebrity as a human shield in Iraq, and then embarked on a career as a foreign correspondent.

His reports from Darfur have been extremely critical of the government of Sudan.

He's kind of green. I don't believe he's making stuff up or acting as conduit for disinfo.

[denverbill]

5. Didn't mean to insinuate he was making it up.

Honestly, I didn't know who he was.

It just seems very odd to me that there seems to be so little action being taken on Darfur by the UN and the world.

I've read a couple articles questioning what is really going on down there.

It just doesn't make sense to me. Why would Sudan's govt be attacking these people, and why would they continue the attacks even in the face of world opinion?

What's in it for the janjaweed? They are attacking people and burning villages of desparately poor people, so robbery doesn't seem a likely motive.

The whole situation would make more sense if I knew there was more to it, and I'm betting there is. Perhaps something like 'there's oil in them thar hills'.

[denverbill]

6. Not that I'm suspicious, but...

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/sudan_oil_usaid_2001.pdf

That oil pipeline is suspiciously close to Darfur.

However, I'm sure is just a coincidence that 90% of the current world conflicts seems to be in areas on or near oil pipelines (Chechnya, Georgia, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan).

[Ms. Clio]

2. What good, brave men

What a shame American soldiers don't feel similar compunctions about bombing civilians--and they don't even face the death penalty for it.

[Dhalgren]

8. That was my first thought, too.

When will US troops start refusing to kill civilians? When will our pilots start saying "No', when asked to drop bombs on women, children and the elderly? When will Americans start saying "Hell no!"

[tom_paine]

4. Looks like Amerika 2100

If the Imperial Transition continues, Amerika 2100 will be full of stories like this.

[Cocoa]

7. if any place needed regime change...

Sudan would be it. :-(

[struggle4progress]

9. kick

:kick:

[LauraK]

10. Our guided bombs would make it difficult to detect the offender.

It's not like rummy is going to confess to our bombing crimes.

[TheWraith]

11. 'Thirty lawyers in black cloaks'?

This is too easy...

[gottaB]

12. The arrest of the ten pilots was noted in March (AFP, no byline)

http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/313035.htm

More about the death penalty in Sudan, the treatment of political prisoners, human rights abuses and the intimidation of journalists can be found in the reports of the Sudan Organization Against Torture:

http://www.soatsudan.org