OurPledge

New violence in Darfur

From The Christian Science Monitor:

“March 4, 2010 — One year ago Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, on charges of crimes against humanity. Now, on the first anniversary of the arrest warrant, fighting is raging in Darfur – the war-torn Sudanese province that is the source of much of the case against Mr. Bashir.”

“…On Wednesday, the US State Department issued a statement saying it is “extremely concerned” about reports of new government offensives against rebels in Darfur. According to United Nations officials, the result has been a new spike in civilian deaths.”

“Cavalier violations”

Reading the below, we wonder: Well, what is the U.S. going to do in the face of these violations?

Reuters, March 4, 2010 — “We know that weapons continue to flow into Darfur, acts of sexual and gender-based violence continue unabated and with impunity, military over-flights and offensive actions continue,” U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters after a closed-door meeting of the U.N. Security Council.”

“A 2005 U.N. embargo bans the transfer of military hardware to Darfur, a remote region in western Sudan about the size of France. Khartoum can import arms, but not for use in Darfur.”

“The blatant disregard of the will of the council is undermining stability rather than fostering it, which was the aim of the [sanctions] regime in the first place,” Rice said.”

Ironic?

Astonishing. Somehow we missed this, but at last month’s UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, Sudan negotiator Lumumba Di-Aping compared a proposed climate change agreement to the Holocaust.

His words:

“It is asking Africa to sign a suicide pact, an incineration pact in order to maintain the economic dependence of a few countries…It is a solution based on values that funneled six million people in Europe into furnaces.”

This coming from an official whose government is responsible for perpetrating genocide against its own citizens.

Here’s the video:

A civil war in Sudan policy?

We think Foreign Policy’s Josh Rogin hits all of the right points in his recent article about the Obama administration’s Sudan policy.

“Obama’s approach to Sudan has been hobbled from the beginning by deep divisions between senior officials — especially [Scott] Gration, the special envoy, and [Susan] Rice, the U.N. ambassador — on how best to handle Khartoum, sources said. Gration is said to be big on carrots, while Rice prefers sticks. [Deputy Secretary of State Jim] Steinberg is also said to lean towards a harder line, which the advocacy community also favors.”

“In 2006, Rice coauthored an article saying, “History demonstrates that there is one language Khartoum understands: the credible threat or use of force.’”

“ABC News reported that Rice was “furious” in June when Gration said that Darfur was experiencing only the “remnants of genocide.” The State Department quickly confirmed that its official position is that genocide is ongoing.”

Our thoughts: How is someone like Gration still controlling the Sudan portfolio? And why can’t the Obama administration execute a strong and coordinated Sudan policy?

Among other things, President Obama has promised to impose consequences (targeted multilateral sanctions, etc.) if the Sudanese government fails to improve conditions on the ground in both Darfur and Southern Sudan.

Well — those measurable improvements have not been seen. So what is President Obama waiting for now?

Georgetown and Duke students are awesome. That is all.

From Enough:

“In front of amped up students smeared with blue and gray paint, a sold-out arena, and President Obama and his entourage, students and alumni from Georgetown and Duke universities kicked off their partnership today with the Darfur Dream Team.”

“It was one of the most highly anticipated college basketball games of the season, made all the more exciting with the VIPs in the audience. But about 12 minutes into the game, all eyes turned toward the NBA’s Tracy McGrady, who flew in from Houston to lend his star-power to the launch of the joint project. McGrady, who co-founded the Darfur Dream Team with Enough’s John Prendergast after a trip together to Darfuri refugee camps in 2007, helped direct attention up to the Jumbotron, and here’s what they saw…”

What will they say about 2010?

We talk a lot here about the need to impose targeted multilateral sanctions against the Sudanese government’s senior leaders.

We first called for such action a few years ago. Now, in 2010, the Sudan movement’s bullhorn is still very much on — and we don’t think it’s worse for wear. Omar al-Bashir continues to kill Darfuris. He has decimated the medical support system for Sudanese rape victims. And he is rigging the upcoming national elections in Sudan in his favor. The voices of many Sudan activists might be tired, but we can’t stop now. Not while there is an urgent need to organize and speak out for the rights and dignity of millions of Sudanese citizens.

Pushing the U.S. government to “impose severe consequences” on the Sudanese government might appear too technocratic to some — why are activists demanding that the Obama administration take the narrow action of imposing asset freezes and travel bans against Sudan’s dictators, anyway? The answer, as Enough pointed out recently, has to do with practical precedent:

“These consequences [e.g., multilateral sanctions] that allegedly reside in the Obama administration’s confidential annex to its policy are the only instruments that can prevent an all-out national war in Sudan. Consequences, or the meaningful threat thereof, have altered the calculations and behavior of [Bashir's National Congress Party] in the past. They led to the expulsion of Osama bin Laden, the end to slave raiding and aerial bombing in the South, the acceleration of intelligence cooperation after 9/11, and the CPA itself.”

History is revealing here: we know that there is a policy strategy that has been effective in stopping impunity in Sudan on multiple occasions.

The primary issue at hand isn’t whether or not the Obama administration will heed the lessons of history, given the promises contained in its heavily (self-)advertised Sudan policy document. Rather, the issue is us: Will we (the OurPledge team included) step up and give our elected officials holy hell for not doing enough for the people of Sudan? We have great hope for a new year of intense activism, but ultimately, the extent and effectiveness of the Sudan movement’s work in 2010 aren’t guaranteed. The book hasn’t been written yet.

This inaugural new year’s post comes late, but we have to say: thank you for sticking with us. We look forward to working with you this year on behalf of the people of Sudan.

“Few prospects are more alarming”

Senator Russ Feingold on Sudan and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (from a statement released last week):

“Few prospects for Africa are more alarming than a renewed civil war throughout Sudan. Not only would such a scenario have devastating humanitarian consequences throughout the country, but it would also likely spill over and destabilize the neighboring countries and wider region. For these reasons, I believe that the Obama administration has been right to focus on getting the CPA back on track. But in order to be both effective and credible, our diplomatic engagement must be coupled with meaningful leverage. The administration and our international partners must demonstrate a readiness to hold the parties, especially Khartoum, accountable for any foot-dragging that occurs on core commitments.”

“We Pledge”

A 2009 recap from our partners at the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition:

As we begin a new decade — hopefully one that brings peace, security and growth to Sudan — the SF Bay Area Darfur Coalition (SFBADC) would like to thank you for your past participation, activism and support and urge you to remain committed in the upcoming crucial year for Sudan. We also want to highlight a few of our 2009 activities, emphasizing awareness, education and advocacy.

Our awareness events — always free and open to the public — included talks by Omer Ismail of Enough, a panel discussion with Adeeb Yousif, a Darfuri human rights activist in Darfur and in the U.S., a screening of The Reckoning, (a film following the work of ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo), Exhibit Darfur at the San Francisco State University downtown campus, and a San Francisco Civic Center rally organized by our summer interns. We obtained thousands of anti-genocide pledges in the the Genocide Intervention Network’s Pledge2Protect campaign.

Read More…

This is what can be done

John Prendergast, Co-Founder of Enough, has a new Op-Ed in The Washington Post. The key section:

“Obama administration officials and international diplomats often argue that all available pressures aimed at the regime — including sanctions, embargoes and diplomatic isolation — have failed, so it’s time to use carrots rather than sticks. [Scott] Gration, the [Sudan] presidential envoy, told The Washington Post that “kids, countries — they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk.” Yet, in the 20 years since the regime in Khartoum came to power, it has compromised only in response to the threat or application of meaningful pressure from abroad, such as when it expelled Osama bin Laden from the sanctuary it was providing, stopped supporting slave-raiding militias in the south and struck a peace deal with southern rebels. There are plenty more pressure tactics that could be deployed through the Security Council or other coalitions, such as tightening the asset freezes on the ruling party’s nouveau riche leaders, providing greater support to the International Criminal Court’s cases against Sudanese officials, denying the regime debt relief and expanding the five-year-old U.N. arms embargo.”

RELEASE: 50 Human Rights Organizations Urge Obama to Impose Consequences on Sudanese Gov’t

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In Wake of Pre-Election Human Rights Violations by Government, Sudan Advocates Ask President Obama to Impose Consequences

Merely condemning NCP’s actions not a sufficient consequence, say advocates

December 15, 2009 – Today 50 organizations representing Sudan advocates and Sudanese expatriates from around the country, together with actress Mia Farrow and Sudan expert Eric Reeves, sent an open letter to President Obama calling on him to impose immediate consequences on the Government of Sudan for public violations of human rights in advance of the elections [in Sudan] and for the eroding situation on the ground.

The letter recommends that President Obama 1) Lead the United States and the broader international community in applying the pressures necessary to ensure that the conditions for credible elections mandated by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) are enacted and implemented without further delay, 2) Act immediately to secure multilateral asset freezes and travel bans on National Congress Party (NCP) leaders, multilateral support of the International Criminal Court cases against key Sudanese officials, multilateral enforcement of the UN Security Council arms embargo; and denial of multilateral debt relief, 3) Direct Special Envoy Gration, the State Department and USAID to conduct and make public an assessment of the current status of humanitarian services and 4) Direct Special Envoy Gration to promptly brief the appropriate House and Senate committees on the contents of the classified documents that are part of the Administration’s Sudan policy.

According to the letter, the Administration’s Sudan policy review promised a balanced approach of both incentives and pressures. “The policy will lack credibility if no consequences are imposed now, particularly after the very public violations of human rights on Dec. 7 and 14 and the eroding situation on the ground. There is no need to wait further to impose consequences on Sudan for these clear and critical violations. These actions by the Government of Sudan illustrate the importance of the United States acting with a fierce urgency to deliver the promised consequences. Merely condemning the NCP’s action is not a sufficient consequence,” the letter states.

On Sunday, the NCP and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and south agreed to the terms of a controversial referendum on southern independence on Sunday. However, according to Mohamed Suleiman, a Darfuri and a spokesman for the group, the NCP has a consistent track record of breaking its agreements. “The fact that the government violently quelled a peaceful demonstration the day after announcing this agreement demonstrates that it will not honor the reform of Sudanese laws necessary for credible elections, including freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and association, and freedom of speech,” he said.

The letter cites Obama’s recent address in Oslo where he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. “Those regimes that break the rules must be held accountable. Sanctions must exact a real price. Intransigence must be met with increased pressure — and such pressure exists only when the world stands together as one,” President Obama said in his speech there.

[The text of the letter can be downloaded here (PDF) or viewed below.]