Amnesty International has rendered its verdict, and it is damning: the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Sudan stand accused of crimes against humanity in el-Fasher. Britain, ever the moral arbiter (or so it fancies itself), has demanded the International Criminal Court act. Yet one must ask: what is this but yet another chapter in the West's long, sorry history of selective outrage?
We decry the atrocities of a Sudanese militia while arming and applauding the very actors who destabilise the region. The historian in me sees the ghost of the Scramble for Africa: humanitarian rhetoric masking a convenient disengagement from messy realities. The RSF's barbarism is undeniable, but the demand for ICC action reeks of a performative justice, a gesture to soothe liberal consciences without addressing the geopolitical rot that lets such monsters thrive.
If Britain truly wishes to uphold international law, let it start by examining its own complicity in the arms trade that fuels these fires. Until then, the call for justice is but a cynical echo in the halls of power.
