The administration of US President Barack Obama, after months of fierce internal debate, outlined a new approach to settling the conflicts in Sudan, asserting a moral obligation to end “a vast sea of human misery” and a need to prevent the African nation from serving as a haven for terrorists.
The new policy rests on offering incentives for the Sudanese government to end the violence and threatening stronger pressures if it does not. While emphasizing the role of diplomacy, it is a less accommodating approach than the White House’s own special envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, had been advocating.
Obama issued a statement Monday saying the US and international community must act “with a sense of urgency and purpose” to seek an end to conflict, human rights abuses and genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region. While promising a diplomatic push, he also said he would renew existing sanctions on Sudan this week.
US humanitarian groups embraced the new policy with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Some questioned why it took so long to craft.
“With an administration that is unified in its commitment to these priorities and to leading the international community in active engagement on all of these fronts, we believe that lasting peace in Sudan is well within reach,” said Ruth Messinger, president of the American Jewish World Service, a human rights group.
Jerry Fowler, president of the private Save Darfur Coalition, said Obama had put his administration back on course to a more effective policy, but said Obama must become personally engaged.
John Prendergast, head of an anti-genocide program at the Center for American Progress, a think tank, called the Obama policy balanced and encouraged but added, “It’s meaningless until implemented.” The new policy was announced in a joint appearance at the State Department by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, UN ambassador Susan Rice and Gration. Obama was not present.
Clinton stressed that the administration realizes the difficulty of the effort and the need for international coordination.
“Sitting on the sidelines is not an option,” Clinton said. “It is up to us and our partners in the international community to make a concerted and sustained effort to help bring lasting peace and stability to Sudan and avoid more of the conflict that has produced a vast sea of human misery and squandered the potential and security of a vital region of the world.”
Rice stressed that the unspecified incentives Washington could offer will have to be earned.
“There will be no rewards for the status quo, no incentives without concrete and tangible progress,” Rice said. “There will be significant consequences for parties that backslide or simply stand still.”
Gration has been at odds with Rice by arguing in public for a less strict line toward Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, whom Gration sees as the key to resolving the situation in Darfur.
The International Criminal Court issued an international arrest warrant against al-Bashir last March. He is the first sitting head of state to be charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity by the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal since it was established in 2002.
The court accused him of orchestrating a campaign of murder, torture, rape and forced expulsions in Sudan’s western Darfur region but said there was insufficient evidence to merit charging him with genocide.
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