OurPledge

PHR Warns President Bush’s Unilateral Sanctions on Sudan Won’t Stop Killing in Darfur

Fortunately, Darfur groups have been quick to correct the spin from some media quarters that President Bush’s sanctions are a panacea or else “strict” or “stiff” or “tough.” Here’s the response from the Nobel Prize-winning organization Physicians for Human Rights:

“PHR Warns President Bush’s Unilateral Sanctions on Sudan Won’t Stop Killing in Darfur; Calls on the US to Cooperate with International Criminal Court”

May 30—Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is concerned that President Bush’s announcement of unilateral sanctions against 30 Sudanese companies and three individuals will not impact the government of Sudan enough to stop the bloodshed in Darfur.

“Sudan is flush with wealth from recent Chinese and South Asian investment in its oil sector. President Bush’s sanction package does nothing to put in place the sustained, multilateral barriers required to hit the Bashir regime hard,” said PHR’s Deputy Director, Susannah Sirkin. “Also, sanctioning only three individuals does little to stop a campaign of genocide conceived at the very highest levels of the Sudanese Government.”

Citing a lack of cooperation by the US with the International Criminal Court, PHR calls on the US to fully assist the ICC in investigating, capturing and trying all those responsible for the genocide in Darfur.

Lantos Responds to Bush’s Late Sanctions Announcement

Posted today on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs website:

“Lantos Says Bush Darfur Announcement Should Have Come Months Sooner”

May 29—Washington, DC—In response to the White House announcement of additional sanctions against Sudan in connection with the Darfur genocide, Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released this statement:

“The president’s announcement imposing new sanctions on Sudan is a dollar short and months late. In November last year, the President’s Special Envoy to Sudan announced January 1 as the deadline for Khartoum to complete negotiations on a proposed 20,000 international peacekeeping force. The new year has come and gone, but Khartoum is playing the same old game: it has agreed only to an additional 3,000 troops for a total of 10,000.

“Khartoum has conned the Administration into prolonged negotiations that yield only partial results while the genocide continues without stop. On top of the untold number killed week after week, aid groups report that 110,000 people were displaced between January 1 and March 31 this year alone. Additional sanctions are welcome now, but they could have sent a stronger message months ago, and saved many lives from being disrupted or lost.”

Lantos, who is also the founding co-chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, led Congress to label the situation in Darfur a genocide in 2004 and has sponsored legislation urging more rigorous U.S. and U.N. action to stop the slaughter.

[End of Post]

Tell President Bush today: The new sanctions are not enough

May 29, 2007—This morning President Bush announced the imposition of new unilateral sanctions against the government of Sudan. He also announced that the U.S. will pursue a new UN Security Council resolution on Darfur to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and to expand an existing arms embargo.

Definitely, this news is a direct indication that the White House is feeling the heat. Your advocacy is the reason why President Bush has finally gone forward with his “Plan B” for Darfur.

Of course, our work must continue…

Staring Genocide in the Face: Darfur Women Describe Gang-Rape Horror

May 27, 2007
By Alfred de Montesquiou
Associated Press Writer

KALMA, Sudan (AP)—The seven women pooled money to rent a donkey and cart, then ventured out of the refugee camp to gather firewood, hoping to sell it for cash to feed their families. Instead, they say, in a wooded area just a few hours walk away, they were gang-raped, beaten and robbed.

Just in from Reuters: UN says 110,000 displaced in Darfur in early 2007

Headline speaks for itself.

Read the article. [End of Post]

Eight and a Half Months After

Sudan expert Eric Reeves gives some stark perspective in his latest Darfur update (and the perspective is much needed):

“On August 31, 2006, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1706, authorizing a peace support operation for Darfur consisting of 22,500 UN troops, civilian police, and Formed Police Units. The force was to deploy “rapidly” under Chapter VII of the UN Charter (which confers enforcement authority), with an explicit mandate to protect civilians as well as humanitarians and humanitarian operations. The force was also to establish a “multidimensional presence” to “improve the security situation in the neighboring regions along the borders between the Sudan and Chad and between the Sudan and the Central African Republic.” Urgently and robustly deployed, such a force could have done much to avert massive human displacement and destruction.”

Reuters: AU says UN needs 3-4 months to get Darfur soldiers in

The 3,000 “Darfur soldiers” referenced in the headline above are planning on deploying to Sudan as part of a UN “heavy support package” for the African Union Mission in Sudan. Khartoum has approved this plan, but it’s clear the strategy here is one of stalling. If it takes up to 120 days to deploy these support-package reinforcements, that’s just giving 120 more days for Omar al-Bashir to prevent the deployment of what’s really needed—i.e., the 20,000-30,000 multinational troops that are needed to provide security for all of Darfur.

More here: http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN424569.html

[End of Post]

More Empty Words from the White House?

On April 18, 2007, President Bush warned the government of Sudan: “…If President Bashir does not fulfill the steps I outlined…[namely, allowing the full deployment of a joint UN-AU peacekeeping force to Darfur]

In a short period of time. In a short period of time. In a short period of time. On April 18, 2007, President Bush promised action against the perpetrators in “a short period of time.”

Today’s May 24. The White House has given the government of Sudan more than a month to decide whether or not it will let UN peacekeepers into Darfur. The question is: Will President Bush finally sanction Omar al-Bashir and company? Or will the President continue to stand by as more Darfuris are raped, starved, and killed?

The Fidelity Divestment Campaign: The fight continues

Your advocacy is working!

New news: Fidelity dumps a lot of its holdings in PetroChina and Sinopec. But there’s still a good amount of work to be done. Get the details straight from the FidelityOutofSudan campaign. [End of Post]

Rep. Tom Lantos: A Champion for the People of Darfur

Much gratitude to Congressman Tom Lantos (my representative!) for sending a forthright letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao about Darfur, and for getting 107 of his House colleagues to sign on. The letter urges China to use its political and economic leverage to secure Khartoum’s agreement to a UN protection force for Western Sudan.