On Thursday, February 12, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry hosted an on-the-record roundtable to examine U.S. policy toward Sudan, the status of the North-South peace agreement, and the ongoing crisis in Darfur.
In a press release announcing the roundtable, Kerry stated, "Human suffering on such a massive scale cannot be sidelined or ignored. The United States has an obligation to help the people of Sudan create the conditions necessary for an end to the violence and a peaceful future. Our Committee will work to push this issue to the forefront and keep it there."
Bravo, Senator Kerry. Your leadership and that of your Committee on these crucial issues is a welcome step in the right direction during this precarious time for both Darfur and Sudan.
In a matter of days, the ICC will almost certainly issue an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, the President of Sudan, on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur, with the possibility of additional charges of genocide. Bashir has repeatedly threatened increased violence and blockage of humanitarian assistance if the arrest warrant is issued. The government's recent aerial bombings on the town of Muhajiriya and reports from aid agencies that the Sudanese government has prevented them from reaching 100,000 civilians in need of assistance leave no doubt that Bashir intends to make good on his threats to inflict further harm on innocent civilians.
Kerry stated during the roundtable that he had met with Secretary Clinton that morning and that she was favorable toward the concept of the no-fly zone and other "concrete steps." He also said, "I am absolutely confident that this administration is going to focus on this issue." For Sudan's sake, one can only hope that the focus will begin soon.
During his campaign for the presidency, candidate Obama promised to "take immediate steps to end the genocide in Darfur" by appointing a Presidential Special Envoy for Sudan. Now, nearly one month into his presidency, it is disheartening and potentially catastrophic that President Obama has not yet appointed a senior level diplomat to oversee the Sudan portfolio. Such high level envoys have already been appointed for the Middle East, for Pakistan and Afghanistan, and even for climate change. However, with violence increasing and the first genocide of the 21st century closing in on its sixth year, no senior diplomat is overseeing Sudan.
According to a Washington Post op-ed by Michael Gerson, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, "President Obama's Africa team has begun a lengthy policy review and is mulling names for a special envoy. A "lengthy policy review" and "mulling names" must be music to the ears of Bashir and his National Congress Party.
How many more days or weeks will it be until President Obama lives up to his campaign promise to "take immediate steps to end the genocide in Darfur?" Senator Kerry rightly concluded at the end of the roundtable discussion, "Darfur is beginning to become a symbol and a reality at the same time of failed multilateralism, failed leadership, absence of capacity of moral nations to translate their outrage into a series of coherent steps that have a positive impact on the lives of innocent victims and citizens of another country."
The time for a "series of coherent steps" is now. The first immediate step is to make sure that the right person is on-the-job for the Obama administration during this time of grave danger for the people of Darfur. The Presidential Special Envoy for Sudan should be a full-time job for a high-level official with access to and full support from the President and the Secretary of State. He or she should be supplied with the staffing and resources to tackle this complex and crucial task. And he or she should be appointed very quickly.