Arabs hold Sudanese president responsible for Darfur crimes
Friday, May 22 2009
ARABS HOLD SUDANESE PRESIDENT RESPONSIBLE FOR DARFUR CRIMES
May 22, 2009: Fifty-seven percent of Arabs hold Sudan's President Al-Bashir either partially or entirely responsible for major crimes in Darfur - but more than three quarters of them rejected the warrant for his arrest, issued by the International Criminal Court.
The findings emerged in a YouGov poll, commissioned earlier this month by the Doha Debates, and completed in 18 Arab states by more than 1,500 respondents.
Their views contrasted sharply with the vote at the last Doha Debate, where 55 percent of the mostly-Arab audience recommended that the president be handed over for trial in The Hague.
Results in the poll showed that 72 percent believed that arresting Al-Bashir would destabilize Sudan. An equal percentage said they distrusted the ICC, with 43 percent proposing mediation by the Arab League.
At the same time, though, more than three-quarters of the respondents said Arabs were guilty of double standards by remaining silent on Darfur, where up to 300,000 people have died, while criticizing American and Israeli actions in Iraq and Gaza.
