Africa
Documents & Texts from America.gov
19 October 2009
Sudan Policy Aims at Ending Genocide, Implementing
Peace Accord
By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer
Related:
• Sudan: A Critical Moment, a Comprehensive
Approach
Washington — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled a “comprehensive” U.S.
policy for resolving the conflicts in Sudan, focused on ending human rights
abuses and genocide in the Darfur region, fully implementing the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement (CPA) between the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement (SPLM) and ensuring Sudan does not become a haven for violent extremists.
Speaking to reporters at the State Department October 19, Clinton said today’s
Sudan, four years after the signing of the CPA, is “at a critical juncture,
one that can lead to steady improvements in the lives of the Sudanese people
or degenerate into more conflict and violence.”
The people of Darfur still live in “unconscionable and unacceptable
conditions,” Clinton said. The U.S. focus, she said, is on “reversing
the ongoing dire human consequences of genocide by addressing the daily suffering
in the refugee camps, protecting civilians from continuing violence, helping
displaced persons return to their homes, ensuring that the militias are disarmed
and improving conditions on the ground.”
The situation in Sudan has emerged as one of the largest and most devastating
humanitarian crises for the 21st century, the State Department said in an October
19 statement. More than 20 years of fighting between the government and the
SPLM has killed more than 2 million people, and key portions of the 2005 CPA
remain unfulfilled and will be a flashpoint for future armed conflict unless
implemented, Clinton said.
In addition, Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party and government-supported
militia launched a genocidal campaign in 2003 against ethnic groups affiliated
with a potential rebellion, killing hundreds of thousands, displacing 2.7 million
people and creating more than 250,000 refugees, according to the State Department
statement. Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, has been indicted by the
International Criminal Court for his alleged role in the Darfur genocide.
Instability in Sudan not only jeopardizes the future of the country’s
40 million inhabitants, but can also “be an incubator of violence … in
an already volatile region,” Clinton said.
The fate of Sudan’s people is “profoundly important” to
U.S. officials, from President Obama on down, Clinton said. The decision to
pursue the two goals of improving human rights in Darfur and fully implementing
the CPA “simultaneously and in tandem” reflects the Obama administration’s “seriousness,
sense of urgency, and collective agreement about how best to address the complex
challenges” to both, she said.
“We are realistic about the hurdles to progress,” but “the
problems in Sudan cannot be ignored or willed away,” Clinton said, adding
that although dialogue will continue with the parties in the conflict, “words
alone are not enough” to end the conflict and humanitarian suffering,
and the United States is prepared to take measures to encourage progress.
“Assessment of progress and decisions regarding incentives and disincentives
will be based on verifiable changes in conditions on the ground. Backsliding
by any party will be met with credible pressure in the form of disincentives
leveraged by our government and our international partners,” Clinton
said.
The secretary said the United States has “a menu of incentives and disincentives” that
includes both political and economic measures, but added “we want to
be somewhat careful in putting those out” when she was asked to specify
potential actions.
In an October 19 statement on the comprehensive strategy, Obama warned that
Sudan is “poised to fall further into chaos if swift action is not taken,” and
the conscience of both the United States and the international community requires
action “with a sense of urgency and purpose.”
The president said he plans to renew U.S. sanctions on the Sudanese government. “If
the Government of Sudan acts to improve the situation on the ground and to
advance peace, there will be incentives; if it does not, then there will be
increased pressure imposed by the United States and the international community,” he
said.
At the State Department, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice
said there will be “no rewards for the status quo, no incentives without
concrete and tangible progress,” and “significant consequences
for parties that backslide or simply stand still.”
To track progress on the ground, the United States has more sources of information
than in the past, including the hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping
force in Darfur (UNAMID), the 10,000 U.N. peacekeepers in the south, and the
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. “We’re in contact with
all the parties, and I’d have every confidence that our challenge will
not be lack of information,” Rice said.
ELECTION, REFERENDUM SCHEDULE ADD TO URGENCY
Retired U.S. Air Force General Scott Gration, who is the Obama administration’s
special envoy for Sudan, said there is a strong sense of urgency to improve
the situation in the country because Sudan is scheduled to hold national elections
in April 2010. And a referendum in southern Sudan on self-determination, which
could lead to that region’s independence, is likely to be held before
the end of 2011.
“Success requires frank dialogue with all parties in Sudan, with the
regional states and international community. We all must work together to get
tangible results on the ground, to achieve a lasting peace, a better life for
future generations of Sudanese. And we must not stop until our task is complete,” Gration
said.
According to the October 19 statement from the State Department, the Obama
administration has learned “critical lessons” from previous U.S.
efforts to resolve the conflicts in Sudan, including the need to engage both
with allies and “with those with whom we disagree,” holding individuals
responsible for genocide and humanitarian atrocities, and valuing Sudanese
counterterrorism support, but not as “a bargaining chip to evade responsibilities
in Darfur or in implementing the CPA.”
The October 19 statement said that rather than viewing process-related accomplishments
such as the signing of a memorandum of understanding between two parties as
a means of determining progress, U.S. officials instead will base their assessments
on “verifiable changes in conditions on the ground.”
“Each quarter, the interagency at senior levels will assess a variety
of indicators of progress or of deepening crisis, and that assessment will
include calibrated steps to bolster support for positive change and to discourage
backsliding. Progress toward achievement of the strategic objectives will trigger
steps designed to strengthen the hands of those implementing the changes. Failure
to improve conditions will trigger increased pressure on recalcitrant actors,” the
statement said.
The statement also said the United States will be working with international
partners to provide assistance for the April 2010 elections and the 2011 referendum
with the goal of “a peaceful post-2011 Sudan or an orderly transition
to two separate and viable states at peace with each other.”
Along with providing assistance for voter registration and education, balloting,
election monitoring and other services, the Obama administration will encourage
parties in the north and south to enact legal reforms conducive to a more credible
electoral process, work for the “timely and transparent demarcation of
the north-south border,” and support efforts to develop a post-2011 wealth-sharing
agreement between the two.
The full
text of President Obama’s statement and a transcript
of the briefing by Clinton, Rice and Gration are available on America.gov.
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