Do Figure-Heads Detract From What is Really at Stake?

This week I am responding to the arrest warrant issued for President Omar al Bashir of Sudan regarding his crimes against humanity.

In thinking about the ideas testimony produces via how it is produced, I wonder if convicting al Bashir will really be that helpful. While the crimes of Darfur are terrible, and while one person can be held accountable, making al Bashir a poster-child for monstrosity seems ill-directed. In reading the new stories provided by the links, I get the sense many already feel this man is guilty. While I feel that he probably is, this defeats the purpose of a fair and unbiased trial. I think there needs to be a distinction between testimony for the purpose of conviction and testimony that seeks to elicit emotion. The Eichmann Trial sought the latter, and I feel the current trial is seeking to do both. There is an attempt to stop crimes against humanity and at the same time, expose others to what is really going on.

My issue is this: Even though Omar al Bashir may be the organizer of such crimes, it is impossible that he is the only perpetrator. Thus, he has become more of a figure and an example than an actual person standing trial. I think that in times of gross human rights violations, examples need to be made of people because it is too difficult, if not impossible, for all involved to be called out. However, I feel that placing the blame on a single individual takes the focus off of the crimes everyday civilians have committed in this situation. Rather than hating the neighbor who raped them, victims can now center all their anger on one figure. Placing blame on one person is necessary to bring justice when blame lays on the shoulders of multiple individuals. I just worry that with a villain identified, one who is already painted as someone with "no presence, no charisma, no charm, no magnetism", those who stand against him will forget
the atrocities committed by people who blindly, or knowingly, obeyed orders.


Quote from: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/the-banality-of-sudans-president/