Darfur activists are concerned that the latest comments by a US special envoy for Sudan are a sign the US is easing pressure on Khartoum.
They are also expressing impatience over the Obama administration’s delay of a policy review on Sudan after US President Barack Obama’s promise as a candidate of immediate action on Darfur.
On Thursday, the special envoy, Scott Gration, appeared to argue for easing sanctions when he told lawmakers at a Senate hearing that there was no evidence to back up the US designation of Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism.
PHOTO: AFP
He said that the sanctions were hindering his work and called the terrorism designation “a political decision.”
On Friday, the US State Department said that it still considered Sudan a sponsor of terrorism.
Recently, Gration also irked US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice when he said the situation in Darfur was no longer a “genocide” but reflected the “remnants of genocide.”
Gration said that the violence that has killed up to 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million had subsided.
Those comments have provoked outrage among some activists.
Immediately after the hearing, John Norris, the executive director of the Enough Project, an anti-genocide advocacy group, said the comments sent the wrong signal.
“I am sure his statements will be received with something akin to glee in Khartoum,” he said.
Indeed, the Sudanese government on Friday called Gration’s comments on the terrorism list a “positive signal.”
“The Darfuris who I talk to are beside themselves with worry about these statements by Gration,” said Eric Cohen, the chair of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur. “Time after time, he seems to be speaking the lines of the Sudanese government.”
Some activist, are also expressing a wider concern that more than six months into office, the Obama administration has repeatedly delayed its release of a policy review on Sudan. The holdup comes amid an apparent debate within the administration about how to balance interests such as cooperation on fighting al-Qaeda with concerns including violence in Darfur and how to keep a separate conflict between the country’s north and south from reigniting.
Activists say that there was hope that Obama would move more aggressively on Darfur than the Bush administration did. They point to statements by Obama while campaigning for president that he would take immediate steps to pressure the Sudanese government to end killing in Darfur.
“What is concerning is that we have been told for a number of months that the plan will be released in the next few weeks and that leads us to believe there may be some unknown reason for the delay,” said Sam Bell, the executive director, Genocide Intervention Network.
While the administration promises to finish its review, it has been emphasizing improvements by the government of Sudan. Gration says that the Khartoum government has been helpful in stopping the flow of weapons and in dealing with key members of the terror group al-Qaeda.
Sudan, meanwhile, is pushing for stronger diplomatic ties with the US, the lifting of sanctions and its removal from the US list of states said to sponsor terrorism.
Sanctions, Gration said, affect the ability of aid workers to ship in heavy equipment to build roads and other crucial material.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their