The situation in Sudan

As you've probably heard, it is expected that this week the International Criminal Court, which is part of the UN, will announce an indictment against Sudanese President Al Bashir and some other high ranking Sudanese Govt. officials for Crimes Against Humanity over the events in Darfur over the last three years. It s expected that there will be a reaction to this announcement, possibly directed against UN personnel. We've spent the last few days discussing and preparing for the worst. Contingency plans are in place. There are also rumors of troop movement and buildups in other parts of the country. In the event of a resumption of hostilities, a decision will be made on evacuating UN personnel.

Jas, Rory and I have been declared essential and will be remaining in Juba and Yambio respectively in event of a general evacuation of UN personnel from the south of Sudan. However, I must emphasize that we're believed to be safe in the south for the time being. Nonetheless, Canadian peacekeepers including RCMP and other Canadian police hung in there in East Timor and the Balkans and other trouble spots around the world when things got rough, we will simply be trying to maintain that tradition.

I've heard second hand that the situation is very tense in Darfur and the Mission members there are expecting to be attacked if the indictment of the President is announced. They and the people in Khartoum are probably at the greatest risk right now.

As much as I'm thinking of us, the UN peacekeepers at a time like this, and I'm certainly keeping all of our safety and security in mind in every decision, I'm thinking more of the people of Sudan: friendly, cheerful, helpful people despite decades of debillitating civil war. They need peace and order here more than we do.