Sudan on The Huffington Post

Layla Amjadi: Join Me for the National Canvass to Prevent Genocide this December

2009-11-30T18:59:58Z

From December 1-7, we have the chance to take part in something bigger than ourselves. During the first week of December, thousands of people are pledging to join the movement to prevent genocide. The key word here is prevention.

As citizens, we have the power to shift the U.S. government's mindset from solely reacting to ongoing crises like those in Sudan, Congo, and Eastern Burma, and focus on preventing situations that may escalate into genocide. Achieving this dual-focus goal will truly be a historic moment for U.S. foreign policy. There is so much that the United States can do to prevent genocide -- we only need to muster the political will to make it happen.

The National Canvass to Prevent Genocide, an initiative organized by the Genocide Intervention Network, gives us the opportunity to muster that political will. We will "canvass" our communities, campuses, and neighborhoods to talk to people about the importance of genocide prevention, as well as inform them of the role that they have in demanding action from our government.

We need to share the following message with our friends, family, classmates, and co-workers:

Individual actions matter. Improving how we prevent and respond to genocide begins when we join together and pledge to build a better future. Your pledge is your commitment to be a part of the grassroots movement for genocide prevention. More than 30,000 pledges have already been made as part of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's new exhibit, From Memory to Action: Meeting the Challenge of Genocide. Will you help us reach 40,000 pledges?

Join in on the action today and invite everyone you know to be part of the movement:

•Sign the pledge.

•Ask your friends to sign the pledge by tweeting I just joined the movement to prevent genocide. Will you? http://bit.ly/2F8rmY #pledge.

•Hold a canvass event on your campus and get as many people as you can to sign the pledge! Online you'll find pledge cards that people can print out and sign.

Unbelievably, there are many people who still don't know that genocide is a problem today or that their actions can contribute to the effort to prevent and end genocide. We are lucky enough to know what's going on. Therefore, it is our responsibility to spread the word and give others around us the chance to join the movement.

I know we all believe that all people have the right to live in a world without genocide. December 1-7 is our chance to help make that world a reality. Take the pledge today.

This post was originally published on Causecast.org

Jon Temin: Why Sudan Matters

2009-11-24T18:04:55Z

Foreign policy realists sometimes ask how much seemingly marginal states such as Sudan really matter. The answer is that Sudan matters for many reasons, none more important than the millions dead and displaced due to decades of unnecessary internal violence. Sudan matters now more than ever because two seminal events are quickly approaching -- elections in 2010 and a referendum on the unity of the country in 2011 -- and the international community is increasingly concerned that they will lead to new and renewed violence and displacement. With the recent release of its long-awaited Sudan policy, Sudan matters to the Obama Administration and its efforts to transform the president's popularity abroad into tangible achievements.

But Sudan also matters because what is happening right now in Sudan, and what will happen in the next two years, has important implications for Africa and efforts to address state fragility globally for at least three reasons.

First, Sudan may test the inviolability of Africa's borders. Many of Africa's current borders were drawn almost blindly by European rulers at a conference in Berlin in 1885. They tend to be arbitrary and often awkward, splitting kin groups across different countries while placing adversarial groups within the same borders. But with few exceptions (the carving of Eritrea out of Ethiopia being the most notable), Africa's borders have remained static. Until now, African leaders and citizens have accepted the geographic hand they were dealt.

But in 2011, southern Sudanese are scheduled to vote in a referendum on whether to remain part of Sudan or secede. The referendum is the culmination of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between Sudan's north and south that ended decades of civil war which cost roughly two million lives. Every indication is that southerners will vote for secession - the president of the Government of Southern Sudan recently predicted that remaining in a united Sudan would render southerners "second-class citizens." Secession would mean the division of Africa's physically largest country, with the south comprising approximately a quarter of Sudan's land. This could be deeply traumatic for Sudan, but may not affect Sudan alone.

If Africa's largest country can be divided through referendum, what does this imply for an unwieldy, arguably ungovernable country like the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Or Nigeria, which, not unlike Sudan, is deeply divided along ethnic and religious lines? How many of Africa's borders may be up for debate? Southern Sudan's right to self-determination should be unassailable, but the precedent set by secession would be felt well beyond Sudan -- something surely on the minds of leaders and disgruntled populations elsewhere.

Second, Sudan presents a stern test of the "African solutions to African problems" mantra. There are few durable African solutions to boast of, especially with Zimbabwe and Kenya backsliding. Particularly concerning Sudan's Darfur crisis, Africa is on the hook: the Darfur peacekeeping mission is a joint enterprise between the African Union and United Nations, includes troops only from Africa, and, until their recent departures, was led by a diplomat from Congo-Brazzaville and a general from Nigeria. The lead mediator for Darfur is from Burkina Faso. The African Union Panel on Darfur, which investigated issues of peace, justice and reconciliation, recently released its findings and was led by former South Africa President Thabo Mbeki. African Union gatherings have debated Darfur and passed resolutions -- including one condemning the International Criminal Court's indictment of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir.

Despite this depth of African engagement, there are few results to show. The scale of the killing has diminished, but millions remain displaced. UNAMID is intensely unpopular among many of the displaced and remains significantly short of its mandated capacity of 26,000 troops. There is no political solution in sight, with factionalized rebel groups struggling to unite and the most influential rebel leader, Abdel Wahid al-Nur, refusing to engage in negotiations. An African solution to this problem does not seem imminent. This is by no means solely Africa's fault, as the United States, China and others bring substantially greater leverage to the situation than any African state. But it does raise the question: if so much African engagement does not bring progress, can there be African solutions to Africa's most intractable problems?

Third, following in the footsteps of Afghanistan's highly flawed election, Sudan offers another test of whether elections in volatile environments are a good idea. The CPA called for nationwide elections mid-way through the six-year "interim period." Those elections have endured several delays, and are now scheduled for April 2010, with the CPA expiring in 2011. Preparations are underway, with voter registration commencing, in haphazard fashion, at the beginning of November. But substantial flaws in the process are already emerging: the Carter Center recently noted concerns including "slow implementation of electoral preparations...unresolved operational decisions related to voter registration activities...delays in the finalization of national, regional, and state geographic constituencies; and continued harassment of political party and civil society activity across Sudan." There are also real risks of elections triggering new or renewed violence, especially in the volatile areas of the country on both sides of the north-south border.

Many Sudanese, especially in the south, profess little interest in the elections. They are skeptical of the election process and those organizing it, and, in the south, are instead counting the days until the 2011 referendum on unity or secession. During the CPA negotiations neither the northerners nor southerners were especially keen to see elections be part of the deal; it was the international community, led by the United States, which insisted that elections come first, ostensibly to legitimize the referendum. But that insistence may be backfiring, with the international community pouring substantial funds into a process that could ultimately be perceived as illegitimate and may result in the confirmation of an unhappy and unstable status quo. If that is the outcome, little will have changed, except that precious time, effort and funds will have been devoted to elections rather than to meeting mounting humanitarian needs and preparing for the referendum and what comes after it. Should this be the result, valid questions will again be asked about elections in fragile states and whether they should be a priority. It is unlikely to be the last time such questions arise.

Soccer In Sudan: Guns And Soldiers Required

2009-11-19T10:08:40Z

KHARTOUM, Sudan -- The streets emptied at sunset. Twitchy-faced soldiers hit the pavement, literally thousands of them, wearing all stripes of camouflage, blues, greens, grays and browns. They twirled clubs and AK-47s and plastic pipes and ragged old beating sticks. Their giant trucks with four-foot-high wheels blocked the roads. This did not feel like a major sporting event. It felt more like a presidential coup.

Read more: Sudan, Sudan Soccer, Egypt, Algeria, Soccer, World News

Jerry Fowler: Presidential Silence in Beijing

2009-11-18T10:56:41Z

Less than a month after his Administration proclaimed in its new strategy for Sudan that "American leadership is essential to a more effective multilateral approach," President Obama left China early this morning without any public reference to having brought up Sudan with his hosts. There were background statements to journalists that it was on a list of things discussed. Such low-key treatment was a huge missed opportunity to enlist the support for the new strategy from a crucial country. It also was a rejection of the recent, bipartisan plea by 44 Members of Congress:

As you prepare to visit China, we strongly urge you to make Sudan a priority in your bilateral discussions. As you are well aware, China is a major arms supplier and source of economic strength to the regime in Khartoum, and has a vital role to play in any ultimate resolution of the multiple crises in Sudan.

The Congressional letter echoed a petition signed by tens of thousands of citizen-activists who asked for President Obama to call on the Chinese to work with the U.S. and:

Use their economic and political influence with Sudan to support the Darfur peace process, full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), and significant structural, political and judicial reforms to Sudan.

The President's public silence on Sudan in Beijing follows on a similar silence by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her recent visit to Egypt - another country that is crucial to bringing peace to Sudan. Their failure to raise Sudan publicly in bilateral meetings with key countries sends an unfortunate message to the Sudanese government and other key actors: The United States is not leading for peace in Sudan.

Michael Gerson recently summed up the urgent need for leadership:

Only a president and his secretary of state can insist on boldness.

Absent that insistence, America's Sudan policy is in a holding pattern, waiting for the next crisis to refocus global attention. Meanwhile, women are raped, with impunity. Weapons are illegally imported, with impunity. Civilians are attacked, with impunity. And at some point, impunity becomes permission.

The "unstinting resolve" that Candidates Obama and Clinton pledged last year is needed now more than ever.

Jerry Fowler is the president of the Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of more than 180 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations committed to raising public awareness about the genocide in Darfur.

Cross posted on Save Darfur's blog.

John Prendergast: To Obama in China: Don't Shy Away From Sudan, Congo

2009-11-16T16:17:25Z

President Obama has a huge opportunity to advance two of the most important peace and human rights causes on the continent of Africa during his meetings with Chinese officials this week, and particularly in the follow-up to this potentially historic visit.

In both Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the two deadliest wars in the world, China has invested or struck trade deals worth billions of dollars and thus has a vested interest in peace and security in both of those troubled countries. President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao may not see eye to eye on human rights promotion, but at the end of the day their policy objectives are similar in that they both seek peace.

In Sudan, the Chinese stand to lose out mightily if the Comprehensive Peace Agreement collapses and full scale war erupts. As the largest investor by far in Sudan's oil sector, China has a very practical reason to work together with the U.S. and other world leaders to press for full implementation of the CPA -- before it unravels to the point of no return. Southern leaders have already started to warn that they will unilaterally declare independence if the referendum slated for just 14 months from now is threatened. And southern officials admit privately that if war does break out they will target oil installations.

As a key investor in Congo's mining sector and with millions dollars worth of infrastructure projects, Chinese investments are directly impacted by prolonged war and deeply rooted corruption. China would see a far greater long-term return on its investments with greater stability in Congo.

The urgency to implement the new U.S. policy in Sudan and forge a comprehensive solution to the crisis in Congo cannot be overstated. The effectiveness of U.S. efforts rests significantly with the ability to work multilaterally with key interlocutors like China.

President Obama should make it clear that the United States sees cooperation to resolve issues affecting the conflicts in Sudan and Congo as an important element of U.S.-Sino relations. By pushing the Chinese government to play a constructive role in resolving the Sudan and Congo conflicts, President Obama would kick U.S.-China engagement up a notch and empower his full-time point people on these issues -- Scott Gration in Sudan and Howard Wolpe in the Great Lakes region -- to use the president's personal commitment as leverage.

Developing a shared agenda of peace between our two countries will certainly be much harder work than just business as usual, but the payoff in the form of a coordinated peace policy in Sudan and Congo would be extraordinary. This is entirely consistent with the president's message that the U.S. and China don't have to be rivals, and that cooperation can yield significant benefits. The bottom line is that President Obama needs to publicly engage in the challenges threatening Sudan and Congo, and not doing so with key player China would be an opportunity missed.

Let President Obama know that you expect him to raise the alarm about the deadly conflicts in Sudan and Congo during his trip to China. Get in touch with the White House and your members of Congress at enoughproject.org/SudanNow.

For an overview of the conflicts in eastern Congo and in Sudan, check out this recent video clip of an interview on The Young Turks.

John Prendergast is Co-Founder of Enough, the anti-genocide project at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.

Stephen Worgu, Nigerian Soccer Star, Sentenced To Flogging In Sudan

2009-11-11T13:09:40Z

The Nigerian star Stephen Worgu, who plays in Sudan, has been convicted of drinking alcohol, and has been sentenced to be flogged.

CNN Heroes: Bartender's Nonprofit Turns 'Wine Into Water' For Developing Countries

2009-11-06T13:37:46Z

You can get your cabernet and pinot from North Carolina-based bartender Doc Hendley, but you'll also get a side of water and some sobering news.

Wine to Water, Hendley's nonprofit, raises funds through wine tasting events in order to bring clean water to people in developing countries. It was after traveling the world and learning about the global water crisis that the 30-year-old realized he could combine his bartending and people skills by hosting eye-opening wine tastings at the venues where he worked.

The wines are paired with information about the global water crisis to inform and educate participants that at least one in six people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water, which translates to 1.5 million preventable deaths from diarrhea every year.

Hendley's group has traveled to five developing countries since 2004, working to build clean water wells and sanitation systems with local communities. Wine to Water's projects span the world from Peru to Cambodia, training individuals to construct bio sand-filters, drilling wells and constructing water and sanitation centers to teach locals. The organization has brought safe drinking water to more than 25,000 individuals in orphanages, refugee camps, schools and hospitals.

These efforts have earned Hendley the distinction of being one of CNN's Top Ten Heroes of 2009.

Here are all the tools you need to host your own Water to Wine fundraiser.

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Jim Luce: U.N. Birthday Rocks for Its Peacemakers

2009-11-06T12:41:06Z

Flashbulbs popping non-stop, H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations in New York, entered the U.N. General Assembly Hall in New York City. He has attained the status of a rock star.

Speaking at the U.N. Day Concert 2009: A Tribute to Peacekeeping in the General Assembly last week, it seems that the Secretary General commands the world’s attention as much as Barack Obama.

One year older than the U.N., at 65, the Secretary General spoke of his mourning – the world’s mourning – for the 11 peacekeepers who died last month in a helicopter crash in Haiti.

Tragically, more than 2,600 U.N. Peacekeepers have died protecting humanity since 1948.

H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon recognizing the U.N. Peacekeepers (Photo: John Lee).

In an unprecedented effort, the concert was produced by the U.N. Department of Public Information and the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations, in partnership with Culture Project, and with the support of Kelvin Lim, Master Certified Coach of Executive Coach International.

Culture Project has been hailed as New York City’s premiere political and social performing arts organization, illuminating and championing the most pressing human rights issues of our time.

The concert was kicked off by Master of Ceremonies Isha Sesay of Sierra Leone, now living on London. Isha is the incredibly talented anchor and reporter for CNN International covering Africa.

The first performance was Roberta Flack singing “You Are Not Alone.” Six-time Grammy-Award winning singer, songwriter, and musician, Roberta has gained worldwide fame for hits such as “The First Time Ever” and “Killing Me Softly.”

Roberta was followed by a former child-soldier turned international rap star, Emmanuel Jal. From the Sudan, where he fought as a child in their brutal civil war, he was smuggled across the border to freedom by the now legendary British aid worker Emma McCune.

The award-winning film War Child chronicles the tumultuous, shocking, inspiring, and ultimately hopeful odyssey of Emmanuel Jal.

Emmanuel spoke, rapped, and danced hypnotically to thunderous applause, sharing a message of peace for his war-torn land and beloved Africa.

Emmanuel Jal’s music can be heard on the fundraising “War Child - Help a Day in the Life” album, as well as in three ER episodes, the National Geographic documentary God Grew Tired of Us, and in the feature film Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Jal is, of course, in Wikipedia.

Harry Belafonte with his wife Pamela at the photo op before the concert (Photo: John Lee).

One of America’s largest heroes, Harry Belafonte, spoke next. The acknowledged ‘King of Calypso,’ Harry is well known for his artful assimilation of jazz, folk and world music traditions. He is one of the most successful African-American pop stars in history.

He has been an unwavering voice against injustice for decades and today is one of the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors. Harry played a key role in the USA for Africa effort, singing on the 1985 single “We Are the World.”

“I became aware of the United Nations through my mentor, Eleanor Roosevelt,” Harry told the crowd.

Harry travelled to Rwanda where over one million people were driven from their homes with so many countless slaughtered in the Hutu-Tutsi conflict.

The General Assembly was alive with music and dance to honor the
dedication and sacrifice of U.N. Peacekeepers (Photo: John Lee).

“Once you witness such tragedy, you will not understand the critical need the U.N. peacekeepers play,” Harry said. “Nothing meant more to me than the Blue Helmets – the U.N. Peacekeepers – I witnessed there to protect the children.”

At 82, he did not disappoint the crowd despite and sang “Day-O” before leaving the stage. His incredible decades-long humanitarian career is covered in Wiki.

Cultural appreciation of the world’s peacekeepers then shifted to classical music played by one of the world’s top pianists, Lang Lang, from China. Lang Lang warmly embraced Harry and then sat down to play the grand piano.

Classical pianist Lang Lang, one of the world’s foremost players,
performed at the Summer Olympics in Beijing 2008 (Photo: John Lee).

Heralded as the “hottest artist on the classical music planet” by the New York Times, 27-year-old Lang Lang is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic. He played at the Summer Olympics 2008 in Beijing.

Lang Lang recently appeared in the 2009 Time 100, Time magazine’s annual list of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.” Lang Lang has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2004.

Salman Ahmad of Pakistan performed next, with virtuoso tabla player Samir Chatterjee of India.

Salman’s vibrant vocalizations lifted my heart out of chest and I felt so alive surrounded by an international audience united by their desire for peace and support of peacekeepers listening to the best voices of the world singing in support.

The two performed a competitive duet entitled “Entwined Twins.” Salman compared their duet to the road connecting India to Pakistan. A road of peace and understanding.

Samir performed at the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway. Samir is a firm believer in the transforming effect of music on society. He is working relentlessly towards the musical revival of Afghanistan.

Madam and H.E. Ban Ki-moon with the performers before the event (Photo: John Lee).

Salman is a musician and U.N. Goodwill Ambassador known for popularizing a blend of Western rock music and Eastern/Islamic music called ‘Sufi rock,’ which has been hailed as a cultural bridge within South Asia and between the East and West.

Salman founded Junoon in 1990, which has sold over 25 million albums worldwide and has shared the stage with artists such as Melissa Etheridge, Alicia Keys, Sting, Earth Wind and Fire, and Wyclef Jean.

With his wife, Samina, he launched an NGO called the Salman & Samina Global Wellness Initiative, focused on interfaith and cross-cultural dialogue, global health and wellness, and music education.

Indian singer, composer, and music producer Shankar Mahadevan.

Shankar Mahadevan introduced the next act – the group Remember Shakti – formed by John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain. John said that Shankar is the greatest singer he has ever known.

Melodic, haunting, sacred, his voice reverberated across the General Assembly hall like clouds floating on a windy day.

John has developed a unique style of jazz-infused Indian classical music with his band Shakti. Remember Shakti is an Indi-jazz fusion quintet, composed of legendary English guitarists Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, Grammy-winning Indian tabla player, Zakir Hussain, and Indian musicians, Shrinivas Uppalapu on mandolin, Selvaganesh Vinayakaram playing the kanjira, ghatam, and mridangam, and singer Shankar Mahadevan.

The song “One,” repeating its singular theme hypnotically, was in the words of the performer about destroying the walls of hatred and extremism by experiencing the world not only with our eyes and ears, but with our hearts.

Sister Fa then took the stage. This Senegalese rapper moved to Berlin. Propelled by her own personal experience, she traveled on a self-organized tour last year, “Education sans mutilation,”to sensitize the public to the issue of female genital mutilation.

The Xian Song & Dance Troupe made a special appearance (Photo: John Lee).

Chinese dancers from the Xian Song & Dance Troupe then floated next across the stage. The graceful women seemed to shed their butterfly wings as the beautiful dance continued.

Angelique Kidjo of Benin then took the stage and sang the world-popular Swahili song, Malaika. She brought the house down with her rendition of Axe Mama Africa!

The four-time Grammy-nominated and 2008 Grammy-winning, much-celebrated singer, composer and performer began in the Beninese port village of Cotonou. The political turmoil in her country led her to relocate to Paris, the capital of world music, and then ultimately here, where she now resides.

Her striking voice, stage presence and her fluency in multiple cultures and languages won respect from her peers and expanded her following across national borders.

It also earned her access to humanitarians who sensed the passion in the words of her songs, resulting in her long-term dedication to global charity work. Her extended bio is available onWiki.

The Colombian band Aterciopelados performed. Happening, earthy, and exciting, their music took the audience into Latin America.

Known for their work with Amnesty International, Aterciopelados recently marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by creating a new version of the song “Cancion Protesta” (Song of Protest).

The Xian Song & Dance Troupe made a special appearance (Photo: John Lee).

The event’s finale was an all-cast rendition of “The Price of Silence.” This is the new rendition of Aterciopelados’ “Cancion Protesta” created in partnership with Amnesty International.

Emmanuel Jal and Angelique Kidjo participated in the original project so it was fitting to “recreate” the performance as the finale of this concert. Link TV created a video with Amnesty international when “The Price of Silence” was first released.

Throughout the concert, the documentary film The War Against War was premiered. The film highlights the historic creation of the U.N. Peacekeeping forces and the challenges of fighting “the war against war.”

Culture Project has been hailed as New York City’s premiere political and social performing arts organization, illuminating and championing the most pressing human rights issues of our time.

Concert supporter Kelvin Lim of Executive Coach International with director Fisher Stevens.

Directed by Fisher Stevens, the film gave the audience one-of-a-kind access and insight into the formidable challenges facing peacekeepers and the committed individuals who serve some of the most victimized and vulnerable populations on earth. See Fisher’s interview here.

I, too, have a U.N. Peacekeeping story to tell. In Haiti, two years ago, as founder of Orphans International Worldwide, a misunderstanding with a crowd almost led to the deaths of myself, my staff, and two of our children there. Intervention by the Blue Helmets, after the police had been overrun by the mob, saved our lives. This story was so dramatic I wrote about it in the BBC.

Speaking to the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, the imposing Alain Le Roy, after the concert, I expressed my personal gratitude to him for his troops rescuing my team. He said simply, “Our peacekeepers have saved so many lives, I am not surprised.”

Indeed, these soldiers volunteer to go into extreme danger for the good of humanity. They may not singlehandedly be able to bring about Heaven, but through their presence the can help eliminate Hell.

Culture Project provides a creative home to dynamic artists who share its passion for challenging injustice, embracing diversity and affecting social change. Culture Project has been awarded the New York Times No.1 Play of the Year and an Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award.

The Culture Project team includes producer Allan Buchman, film director Fisher Stevens, music director Nile Rodgers, television consultants Steven Lawrence, line producer Michael Owen, co-producer Jayashri Wyatt, talent coordinator Julianne Hoffenberg, film editor Lauren Saffa, with public relations supported by Two Sheps that Pass.

Jerry Fowler: Now We Need Presidential Leadership

2009-10-29T16:31:43Z

Now that the dust is settling from the release of the Obama administration's Sudan strategy we can begin to assess the landscape. The greatest virtues of the strategy are that it lays out the path the administration intends to follow and provides a basis for the advocacy community to hold the administration accountable. At the same time, it makes clear that the U.S. policy can take different paths depending on the actions of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and other actors. Although it provides principles for deciding what path to take, the decisions themselves have yet to be made. Our advocacy role will be to push President Obama and the administration to make the right decisions.

The basic guidelines for deciding which path to take seem right. In U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice's words, the focus will be on "concrete and tangible progress" before any incentives are provided. Moreover, the new U.S. policy provides clarity that not only will there be no rewards for the status quo, there will be consequences if it does not change for the better.

A huge open question is how engaged the President will be in implementing this new policy. His absence from the public roll-out was not encouraging. It sent a message to Khartoum and key heads of state around the world that he has delegated Sudan to others and that he does not plan to personally lead the effort to end the crisis in Darfur and promote peace in all of Sudan. A critical test of his commitment will be whether he makes Sudan a priority when he meets with Chinese President Hu Jintao in a few weeks. I for one will be watching closely, and calling him out if he doesn't.

As for the new strategy, one thing we should be clear about is that the issue has never been engagement or non-engagement with the NCP. Rather, it has been the terms of engagement, which for nine months have been totally unclear, even worrisome. Now the terms are clearer on paper; we will have to see in practice.

Another misunderstood issue has been the role of Special Envoy Scott Gration. Before release of the strategy, there was an understandable tendency to try to infer the terms of engagement from his public statements. Because many of those statements expressed optimism about Khartoum's responsiveness to incentives, the public was left to wonder if the Obama administration was focused only on incentives without requiring real change on the ground. We now know the store will not be given away unilaterally; the U.S. will "verify, then trust."

Although General Gration will play a leading role in implementing this strategy, it is clear that he does not have carte blanche. The strategy is a product of the interagency process and reflects the policy views of a range of officials. Going forward, progress on the ground (or lack thereof) and decisions on incentives and disincentives will be reviewed quarterly at a senior level.

Within that context, General Gration should be given the chance to implement this policy. Having heard him explain his views in greater detail than is conveyed in the media, I believe he has the potential to succeed in what is an enormously difficult mission. That is not to suggest that we always see eye-to-eye - we definitely do not. But he is clear-eyed about the dangerous characters he is dealing with. And he is committed to pursuing the policy set by the President.

Some have called for General Gration to be fired. The reality is that if he were suddenly dismissed, it could be months before a new special envoy took his place. A void in the special envoy position would hobble any implementation of U.S. policy, and Sudan would hurtle toward the scheduled elections and the southern referendum with little diplomatic involvement or influence from the United States.

While the new administration policy has many of the right elements, there are concerns, many of which were recently raised on the Save Darfur blog. The biggest strategic level concern is that those elements of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) focused on opening up political space in Sudan not be traded away for conflict resolution in Darfur or conflict prevention in southern Sudan.

The most important long-term need facing Sudan is the creation of a political space in which Sudanese can resolve the country's issues without the use of extreme violence. The CPA presents a framework for creating that space, but the CPA elements crucial to that framework are the ones whose implementation is most seriously lacking. Now, elections are six months away and there have been no meaningful steps toward permitting freedom of the press, freedom of association, and freedom of movement or curbing the arbitrary powers of the security services. Judging from the travesty of the census, the ruling NCP does not intend to fulfill its CPA obligation to open up political space. This is a status quo that must be changed if peace is to be promoted.

Tactically, the biggest concern is how much of a priority Sudan is for President Obama. He said all the right things while he was in the Senate and during the campaign, including pledging to bring "unstinting resolve" to Sudan policy if elected.

For the new policy to work, General Gration can't go it alone. The President must lead in creating a real coalition of key heads of state to support the strategy laid out last week and push for concrete and lasting change in Sudan. Now is the time for him to show the resolve he promised.

Jerry Fowler is the president of the Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of more than 180 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations committed to raising public awareness about the genocide in Darfur.

Cross posted from Save Darfur's blog.

Robert Cabelly, Lobbyist, Charged For Work With Sudanese Regime

2009-10-27T14:20:32Z

A lobbyist was indicted today on charges he violated U.S. sanctions against Sudan by attempting to act as an official agent for the country.

In an eight-count indictment, Robert Cabelly was charged by federal prosecutors with acting as an unregistered agent for the country, as well as passport fraud, money laundering and making false statements.

John Norris: Sudan's Interlocking Crises (VIDEO)

2009-10-24T13:14:29Z

Days after the release of the Obama administration's new Sudan policy, I appeared on Aljazeera yesterday afternoon with Tahir el-Faky of the Darfuri rebel group Justice and Equality Movement and Mahmood Mamdani, director of Columbia University's Institute of African Studies. We discussed the new "carrots and sticks" policy, the use of the word genocide, and the arrest warrant for Sudanese President Bashir issued by International Criminal Court for crimes in Darfur. Here's Part I:

Part II is here, in which we take questions from viewers.

John Norris is Executive Director of Enough, the anti-genocide project at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.

Sudan: Women Sentenced To 20 Lashes For Wearing Pants

2009-10-23T13:05:43Z

Sudan sentenced two women to 20 lashes and $110 each for wearing pants, Reuters reports. According to Sudanese law, the women committed an act of indecency by wearing trousers.

Indecency cases are not uncommon in Sudan, where there is a cultural gap between the mostly Muslim north and the south, dominated by Christians and followers of traditional beliefs.

Many women activists complain that Sudan's public-order regulations are vague and give individual police officers undue latitude to determine what is considered decent clothing for women

.

The two women were arrested after attending the same party as Lubna Hussein, a journalist whose similar arrest drew global attention.

Hussein told AFP: "This sentence shows that we are not equal before the judge... I will continue to fight this law."

Hussein refused to pay her fine last month and opted instead to go to prison, AFP reports. A journalists' union paid the amount, and she was released after a day.

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John Norris: Sudan Score Card

2009-10-22T17:04:30Z

This piece originally appeared on Foreign Policy.

Over the last nine months, the Sudan policy review has taken on something of a mythical air. Activists and others lost count of the number of times they were told the review would be completed "in weeks, not months" -- even as months stretched on. Tales of sharp-elbowed infighting between the U.S. special envoy for Sudan, retired Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, and the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, dominated the narrative. So did a series of high-profile gaffes, ranging from the absurd -- with the special envoy talking of handing out "cookies" and "gold stars" to Sudan's ruling National Congress Party -- to the just plain bizarre, as former National Security Advisor Bud McFarlane was found to be lobbying the administration to normalize relations with Sudan, after receiving $1.3 million from Khartoum passed through Qatar.

The Obama administration was clearly eager to use the policy review as a chance to hit the much-needed reset button. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was joined by Rice and Gration in a carefully choreographed show of internal unity at Monday's rollout event, and everyone dutifully sang from the same song sheet. The public version of the policy is a modest five pages in length and says many of the right things. But it also reflects the bipolar views of an administration that, after nearly a year in office, still seems divided on Sudan.

Kicking off to a good start, the policy calls for a comprehensive approach to Sudan's interlinked crises and notes the genuine risk of a return to wholesale warfare in the run-up to a 2011 independence referendum for South Sudan.

The document also goes to some lengths to dispel the notion that U.S. policy toward Khartoum has become too accommodating. It insists that incentives be offered not for gestures of goodwill, such as "the signing of a MOU [memorandum of understanding] or the issuance of a set of visas," but "rather based on verifiable changes in conditions on the ground." The policy review also institutes a quarterly, senior interagency review of "indicators of progress or of deepening crisis" as a means to calibrate incentives and pressures, with an admonition that "[f]ailure to improve conditions will trigger increased pressure on recalcitrant actors." The administration also offers an overdue acknowledgment that "accountability for genocide and atrocities is necessary for reconciliation and lasting peace."

Yet in many ways, the policy feels like an uncomfortable compromise between feuding internal approaches, producing something that is neither fish nor foul.

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John Norris is Executive Director of Enough, the anti-genocide project at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.

Gauthier Lefevre, French Aid Worker, Kidnapped In Darfur

2009-10-22T13:14:02Z

John Prendergast: Will Obama Finally Pay Attention to Sudan?

2009-10-22T09:13:23Z

For the past seven months, U.S. diplomacy toward Sudan has veered dangerously in the direction of appeasing Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP). Since taking power in a 1989 coup, the NCP has engaged in a systematic assault on the Sudanese people. The use of starvation as a weapon in Southern Sudan and the genocide in Darfur have killed nearly two and a half million people. Omar al-Bashir, the country's president, is the first sitting head of state indicted by the International Criminal Court. Under his rule, the body count continues to climb.

Some of the Obama administration's recent lowlights have included public and private rhetoric favoring incentives over pressure, talk of lifting longstanding sanctions without demanding anything in return, and a disconcerting lack of emphasis on the need to hold this heinous regime accountable for what this and the previous U.S. administration have declared genocide. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden talked tough when they were presidential candidates, but this administration's day-to-day diplomacy on Sudan has been troubling.

This has emboldened the ruling NCP to harden its positions at the negotiating table, continue military operations in Darfur, crack down on independent voices throughout the country, stir trouble in the South, and shut down efforts by international entities to independently monitor key developments on the ground. Engagement by the Obama administration with Robert McFarlane and others lobbying on Sudan's behalf only furthered the impression that Khartoum was on a fast track to normalization.

Finally, a ray of hope emerged on Monday. After months of delay due to internal disagreements, the administration unfurled its new Sudan policy. On paper, the new approach seems to have an appropriate balance of carrots and sticks that would only take effect, according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, based on "verifiable changes on the ground."

This opinion piece originally appeared in this morning's Wall Street Journal.

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John Prendergast is Co-Founder of Enough, the anti-genocide project at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.

John Norris: Testing Obama's Sudan Policy

2009-10-21T12:23:52Z

This piece originally appeared in the Guardian.

After a lengthy internal battle, the Obama administration has formally rolled out its new Sudan policy. The policy spells out some ambitious goals: a definitive end to conflict and genocide in Darfur, implementation of the 2005 North-South peace deal and peaceful moves toward a 2011 referendum that will likely result in South Sudan becoming independent.

Like many such policy reviews, this one looks good enough on paper. But how will we know if this policy is actually working? These are the practical measures by which Obama's new policy will ultimately be judged a success or a failure.

Returns

In Darfur, there is probably no better barometer for the relative success or failure of the international community than the almost 3 million people who remain displaced or refugees after having been forced to flee from their homes by the government-backed janjaweed militias.

Refugees and the displaced vote with their feet. They are almost universally desperate to return to their former homes, but will only do so if security is sufficient for them to do so. To date, the UN force on the ground in Darfur has been largely ineffective, there has been no credible effort to disarm the janjaweed militias that caused such havoc and peace talks for Darfur have moved forward fitfully. Refugees and displaced persons know full well that their lands and villages are still occupied by armed thugs responsible for some of this century's most horrific war crimes.

Under such conditions it would be madness for these families who have already suffered so much to return home. The answer: a far more effective and robust peacekeeping force on the ground (with Khartoum's de facto veto power over UN operations taken away), practical steps to disarm the janjaweed and a solid peace agreement between the government and rebel forces brokered with international oversight and guarantees.

The White House policy review places a lot of emphasis on a peace deal in Darfur. However, there have been few signs Washington or European capitals are willing to tackle the tough choices required to improve security on the ground, and officials have often been overly eager to portray a recent lull in fighting in Darfur as a sign that the fundamentals are improving.

Click here to continue reading about the other fronts on which Obama's Sudan policy will be tested.

John Norris is Executive Director of Enough, the anti-genocide project at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.

Obama Sudan Policy Focuses On North-South Conflict, Not Just Darfur

2009-10-20T10:13:47Z

The Obama administration's new policy toward Sudan, formally announced Monday, turns the spotlight back on where the troubled nation's problems first began: the split between the Islamic north and the largely animist and Christian south.

John Prendergast: The Fierce Urgency of Implementation: Obama's New Sudan Policy

2009-10-19T14:13:38Z

The ideals spelled out in the Obama administration's new paper on U.S. policy to Sudan are worthy of considerable support. The policy review represents a great deal of work inside the administration to learn lessons from past policy, to correct missteps of the administration over the past seven months, and to find a balanced approach that integrates peace, protection and accountability.

Recent public statements by administration officials have created justifiable concerns among members of Congress, activists, and a range of experts that the policy might rely on providing incentives as the primary means for encouraging behavioral change on the ground in Sudan. Instead, the policy as articulated today demands accountability and verifiable progress on a wide range of issues before incentives would be deployed -- although these benchmarks are not spelled out in detail.

As difficult as the process has been to achieve a potentially effective policy on paper, the hard part is now only beginning. Implementing this policy will require clear-headed assessment and courageous action. At key junctures, success will require the direct involvement of President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary Clinton, and Ambassador Rice, all of whom have important and valuable history on dealing with the multiple challenges of Sudan policy. The U.S. must lead internationally in developing a coalition of countries that can help the people of Sudan find a just and sustainable peace, and the administration will be rightly evaluated by whether it meets the goals and terms it has set for its own diplomatic efforts.

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John Prendergast is Co-Founder of Enough, the anti-genocide project at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.

US Firm Will Not Lobby For Sudan

2009-10-19T10:19:34Z

The Washington Post reports that law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough has dropped its effort to secure a lobbying contract with the pariah regime in Sudan.

The paper reports that increasing opposition from human rights activists and lawmakers hindered the deal for Democratic fundraiser Robert Crowe. Crowe had been attempting to secure the contract with the government of Khartoum since the spring, and the deal would have given Sudan its first Washington lobbyist since 2006. State Department officials said that the administration first rejected the application but urged Crowe to seek congressional support before it reconsidered.

Crowe practices law in Boston and served as the finance chairman of Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign and PAC.

"They are on our sanctions list and have been for some time, and I see no reason to allow them to have a lobbyist," said Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-N.J.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Africa and global health subcommittee and a leader of the House Sudan caucus.

Obama Administration To Unveil New Sudan Policy

2009-10-16T23:46:39Z

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to roll out a new policy toward Sudan with an eye toward engaging the government in Khartoum but also warning that continued violence in Darfur will result in penalties, U.S. officials said Friday.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, and the administration's special Sudan envoy, Scott Gration, are to unveil the policy Monday at a news conference at the State Department, the officials said.

U.S. Firm Looking To Lobby For Sudan's Government

2009-10-14T10:26:29Z

Robert B. Crowe, a prominent Democratic fundraiser, is trying to secure a lobbying contract with the pariah regime in Sudan, reports the Washington Post.

Crowe, a partner at the Atlanta-based law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, has met with special U.S. envoy J. Scott Gration and several Democratic lawmakers to garner U.S. support for the deal. The contract would give the Sudanese government, which is trying to deflect genocide and war crime allegations, its first U.S. representative in nearly four years.

Sudan To Hang 4 Islamists Over Killing Of U.S. Envoy, John Granville

2009-10-12T09:05:36Z

A Sudanese court has upheld a death sentence against four Islamists who shot dead a US envoy on 1 January 2008.

John Prendergast: Nobel Hope and Reality in Africa

2009-10-09T12:41:54Z

It is enormously encouraging that the Nobel Committee chose its Peace Prize winner on the basis of the hope he instills and inspires around the world. With the added luster of such an award, peace activists hope that President Obama will wade more deeply into resolving the deadliest conflicts in the world in the last half century: Sudan and Congo.

The Nobel Peace Prize will provide new momentum and a new point of positive leverage on behalf of America's peacemaking efforts around the world. As the president himself remarked this morning:

[T]hroughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action -- a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.

Nowhere else is such engagement more pressing from a humanitarian and human rights standpoint than in Congo and Sudan, two of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman or a girl due to the prevalence of sexual violence.

The United States has appointed special envoys for both conflicts, but could do much more to move from conflict management to conflict resolution. With the president's help, more united international action could prevent a return to deadly war in southern Sudan, where over two million lives were lost before a 2005 peace deal, and could catalyze a peace deal in Darfur, which everyone supports but no one is pushing forward strategically. In Congo, the new Nobel Laureate could help catalyze efforts to end the trade in conflict minerals, helping to lay the foundation for peace in much the same way ending the blood diamonds trade helped end the wars in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Angola.

Throughout Africa and the rest of the world, the selection of Barack Obama is generating further hope for real action in support of peace. It is hard to conceive of a more propitious time to act on that hope than now, and difficult to imagine two places that need it more than Congo and Sudan.

John Prendergast is Co-Founder of Enough, the anti-genocide project at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.

John Prendergast: The War in Darfur Is Not Over

2009-10-07T13:06:35Z

The latest news out of Darfur of a government offensive launched against civilians in North Darfur demonstrates how shamefully self-serving the recent comments are from top U.N., A.U., and U.S. diplomats. They've claimed: "no war as of now," "it is over," and that Darfur is plagued by a mere "law enforcement issue." Of course the war is not over in Darfur. Yes, there are ebbs and flows to conflict in Sudan, just as there were in the 20 year war in the South and transitional areas. But the suffering of Darfur's civilian population continues, and any assessment that distorts the reality of Darfur's continuing strife does a disservice to the ongoing efforts to keep this issue burning brightly for the policymakers and diplomats who have so far failed to help end the crisis.

Despite the distortion of the Sudan advocacy movement that some analysts continue to perpetuate, the answer we activists continue to propose is a more credible peace process in Darfur that lays down a serious peace proposal which addresses the root causes of Darfur's conflict and builds internal and international support for the proposal. Carrots and sticks would be deployed in the service of resolving the conflict in Darfur, along with the equally important effort to fully implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which ended the 20-year war with southern-based rebels.

There is an answer to Sudan's agony. It is effective diplomacy in support of a just peace throughout the country. The biggest key to unlocking this outcome is held by the Obama administration. Let us keep demanding that it deploy that key properly and use its influence to help bring peace to all of Sudan.

John Prendergast is Co-Founder of Enough, the anti-genocide project at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.

Alex Thurston: A Domino Effect in the Horn of Africa?

2009-09-30T18:40:11Z

Somalia's civil war, pitting the Transitional Federal Government against al Shabab and other Islamist rebel groups, has been destabilizing Kenya and Ethiopia for some time now. Al Shabab recruits fighters from Kenya, and conflict on the Somali-Ethiopian border has provoked Ethiopian military interventions in Somalia even after the 2008 withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from the country. How far will chaos spread, and what is the appropriate US policy response?

At the United Nations General Assembly meeting last week, leaders from Kenya and Ethiopia openly warned of the consequences Somalia's instability could have for the region. Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga devoted a large portion of his floor speech to Somalia, saying that "the continuing inflow of refugees, small arms and light weapons [from Somalia] is the major source of insecurity in our country."

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Ato Seyoum Mesfin painted an even more alarming picture, arguing that not only might Somalia fall soon to al Shabab, but the conflict there could expose Sudan to radical influences from the Horn. Mesfin did not spell out precisely how he thought fighting in Somalia would destabilize Sudan, but likely he was alluding to North-South tensions stemming from the run-up to next year's presidential election and a 2011 referendum on Southern independence.

Unspoken, perhaps, was another, more immediate fear: that the Somali civil war will fan flames of conflict in Ethiopia's majority-Somali Ogaden region. Reports of collaboration between the Ogaden Liberation Front, a rebel group, and al Shabab undoubtedly have Ethiopian officials nervous.

How should the US react to these warnings? Washington should certainly take regional leaders' perspectives seriously, both as knowledgeable assessments of the situation on the ground and as political messages indicating the shape of Kenyan and Ethiopian foreign policy.

Yet Washington should not make the mistake of viewing all problems in the Horn as stemming from a single source. Somalia's civil war constitutes a danger to the whole region, but it is not the only cause of instability. Drought strains East African governments' capacities to provide for the welfare of their constituents. Ethnic tensions inside Ethiopia and Kenya cause strife, and maneuvering in advance of the next elections (Ethiopia's are in 2010, Kenya's in 2012) consumes a significant portion of leaders' energies.

These tensions would exist even if al Shabab -- or Somalia -- did not. Similarly, armed conflicts in the region that threaten to reignite - civil war between North and South Sudan, separatist violence in Ogaden, war between Ethiopia and Eritrea - began long before al Shabab formed. It is important to recognize the threat al Shabab poses to the region, but it is also important not to lose sight of the complexity of political relationships inside Somalia and across the region. This is especially true as al Shabab finds its political support slipping in some parts of Somalia. Even as the Islamist rebels bid for control of Mogadishu, other groups are challenging their dominance in strategic towns like Kismayo, a major port on the Indian Ocean, and Beledweyne, which sits near the border with Ethiopia.

In American policy toward the Horn, one feature appears settled: Washington will continue to support Somalia's Transitional Federal Government with aid and weapons. But this step does not in and of itself fulfill the need for a more developed policy toward Somalia. Going forward, Washington should think carefully about how Somalia fits into a regional context. Clearly Somalia's neighbors are worried. If the United States is to play a positive role in the region, we must think about whether our policies will help allay fears or increase them. Will missile strikes on terrorist suspects in Somalia do more harm - particularly to US relations with Kenya - than they will good? Will strategies of quarantining southern Somalia keep al Shabab out of Kenya's refugee camps and urban centers? Will the perceived need to stabilize Somalia eclipse other concerns in the region, such as the political and human rights situations in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan? All these questions bear scrutiny as the Somali civil war rages on, creating unpredictable effects both inside and outside of the country.