May 29th, 2007 - Nikki Serapio  Permalink  View & Add Comments

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. Many of you already know that “Plan B” is too weak and too unilateral to stop the genocide. Earlier this month, our allies at ENOUGH published a definitive analysis on the issue of sanctions against Sudan. In its report, ENOUGH made this much clear: If sanctions are really going to change the behavior of the perpetrators, they need to be multilateral, and they need to target the highest levels of the Sudanese government.

According to President Bush’s remarks this morning, the U.S. will seek multilateral sanctions against Khartoum at the UN Security Council. However, right now the White House is not planning on supporting sanctions against three of the people most responsible for the genocide: Assistant to [Sudan’s] President Nafie Ali Nafie, Director of National Intelligence Salah Gosh, and Minister of Defense Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein. (Click here for more info on these individuals.)

President Bush and the Secretary of State fully realize that the three officials above are guilty of orchestrating and continuing the mass killing and systematic rape in Darfur. Why, then, is the Bush administration unwilling to impose strong sanctions against these architects of genocide?

Our work together must continue for the people of Sudan. Today and onwards, ENOUGH and Americans Against the Darfur Genocide urge you to write letters, send emails, set up meetings in home districts, and call 1-800-GENOCIDE (1-800-436-6243) to leave a message for President Bush, your Senators, and Member of Congress to tell them to:

- Push for the U.S. to introduce—and diplomatically invest in—a UN Security Council resolution that imposes targeted sanctions on key leaders and on the companies already sanctioned by the U.S.;

- Urge President Bush to provide information and declassified intelligence to the International Criminal Court; and

- Call on President Bush to put credible plans in place for a no-fly zone and non-consensual force deployment to protect civilians in Darfur.