Published: January 11, 2010
To the Editor:

Re “After Years of Mass Killings, Fragile Calm Holds in Darfur” (front page, Jan. 2):

Contrary to the impression given in your article, it is not the rebels but Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Sudan’s president, who is the real catalyst for seven years of government-sponsored terror in Darfur, resulting in 300,000 deaths and the displacement of about three million more.

This same man, who has been indicted on war crime charges, and his National Congress Party were responsible for the deaths of two million in southern Sudan during two decades of civil war as they sought to protect their hold on oil resources.

The “fragile calm” your article depicts in Darfur exists only because Mr. Bashir has largely finished his work there. He is now focused on other priorities, most important of which is rigging the coming elections to maintain his grip on power. Before an election farce legitimizes his reign, the Obama administration should impose strict consequences on his brutal regime. Otherwise, southern Sudan may descend into another war, and three million Darfuris suffering in camps may never be able to go home.

Susan Morgan
Wellesley, Mass., Jan.
3, 2010

The writer is co-founder of Investors Against Genocide and executive director of Pax Communications.

Here is a link to the original article.

The letter recommends that President Obama 1) Lead the United States and the broader international community in applying the pressures necessary to ensure that the conditions for credible elections mandated by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) are enacted and implemented without further delay, 2) Act immediately to secure multilateral asset freezes and travel bans on National Congress Party (NCP) leaders, multilateral support of the International Criminal Court cases against key Sudanese officials, multilateral enforcement of the UN Security Council arms embargo; and denial of multilateral debt relief, 3) Direct Special Envoy Gration, the State Department and USAID to conduct and make public an assessment of the current status of humanitarian services and 4) Direct Special Envoy Gration to promptly brief the appropriate House and Senate committees on the contents of the classified documents that are part of the Administration’s Sudan policy.

According to the letter, the Administration’s Sudan policy review promised a balanced approach of both incentives and pressures. “The policy will lack credibility if no consequences are imposed now, particularly after the very public violations of human rights on December 7 and 14 and the eroding situation on the ground. There is no need to wait further to impose consequences on Sudan for these clear and critical violations. These actions by the Government of Sudan illustrate the importance of the United States acting with a fierce urgency to deliver the promised consequences. Merely condemning the NCP’s action is not a sufficient consequence,” the letter states.

On Sunday, the NCP and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and south agreed to the terms of a controversial referendum on southern independence on Sunday. However, according to Mohamed Suleiman, a Darfuri and a spokesman for the group, the NCP has a consistent track record of breaking its agreements. “The fact that the government violently quelled a peaceful demonstration the day after announcing this agreement demonstrates that it will not honor the reform of Sudanese laws necessary for credible elections, including freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and association, and freedom of speech,” he said.

The letter cites Obama’s recent address in Oslo where he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. “Those regimes that break the rules must be held accountable. Sanctions must exact a real price. Intransigence must be met with increased pressure — and such pressure exists only when the world stands together as one,” President Obama said in his speech there.

FULL TEXT OF DECEMBER 15 LETTER

December 15, 2009
The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama,

As members of the nationwide anti-genocide movement, our organizations represent many Americans around the country watching the escalating crisis in Sudan with increasing concern and outrage. You provided a brief spark of optimism with the release of the long-awaited Sudan policy on October 19, 2009. Since then, however, we have become increasingly concerned about the lack of transparency and implementation of the policy, while conditions on the ground in Sudan have become even more alarming.

We have four primary areas of concern:

1) 2010 Elections. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 (CPA) mandates the reform of Sudanese laws necessary for credible elections, including freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and association, and freedom of speech. In its all too customary disregard for signed agreements, Sudan’s National Congress Party (NCP) has obstructed passage of these reforms.

We ask that you lead the United States and the broader international community in applying the pressures necessary to ensure that the CPA-mandated conditions for credible elections are enacted and implemented without further delay. These pressures should include clear and public messages that the United States will under no circumstances fund, assist or support elections that lack credibility. To date there has been too much focus on the mechanics of elections, with little emphasis placed on the fundamental reforms contained in the CPA that would allow for a fair election and the eventual transformation of Sudanese society.

2) Disincentives for NCP leaders. Since announcement of the United States’ new Sudan policy, the situation in Sudan has deteriorated. Despite the promises and assurances of the NCP to your Special Envoy, Major General Gration, and others, the NCP continues to brutally violate Sudanese citizens’ most fundamental human rights. On December 14, Sudanese security forces fired tear gas to disperse about 200 opposition protesters on Monday who tried to rally near Sudan’s parliament to demand democratic reforms before presidential and parliamentary polls. According to Reuters, riot police with batons and shields lined the streets near parliament before the planned rally, a Reuters witness said. Early reports say dozens of protesters were arrested during the protest. This recent news follows the government’s repression on December 7, 2009 when Government of Sudan officials arrested hundreds of people – including several SPLM and northern opposition leaders – participating in a peaceful rally calling for electoral reforms. Amnesty International received reports that some of those arrested were tortured in detention. Some of those detained are still reported as missing. The NCP’s arrest of opposition leaders and protesters is a blatant violation of commitments it made in the CPA, as are the continued problems and delays in demarcating borders; in Darfur, it continues to restrict and disrupt UNAMID operations. Further, there are disturbing signs that the NCP has a hand in the increased militia violence that has claimed more than 2,000 lives in South Sudan this year alone.

The policy review promised a balanced approach of both incentives and pressures. The policy will lack credibility if no consequences are imposed now, particularly after the very public violations of human rights on December 7 and 14 and the eroding situation on the ground. There is no need to wait further to impose consequences on Sudan for these clear and critical violations. These actions by the Government of Sudan illustrate the importance of the United States acting with a fierce urgency to deliver the promised consequences. Merely condemning the NCP’s action is not a sufficient consequence. As you stated in your Nobel Prize acceptance speech:

“…[I]n dealing with those nations that break rules and laws,…we must develop alternatives to violence that are tough enough to actually change behavior — for if we want a lasting peace, then the words of the international community must mean something. Those regimes that break the rules must be held accountable. Sanctions must exact a real price. Intransigence must be met with increased pressure — and such pressure exists only when the world stands together as one…The same principle applies to those who violate international laws by brutalizing their own people. When there is genocide in Darfur,…there must be consequences…the closer we stand together, the less likely we will be faced with the choice between armed intervention and complicity in oppression.”

The world will not “stand together as one” without your personal engagement and leadership and that of the Secretary of State. Such engagement and leadership are also indispensable to securing:

- Multilateral asset freezes and travel bans on individual NCP leaders as provided for in UN Security Council Resolution 1591. Likely candidates for such sanction include: Nafi Ali Nafi (Presidential assistant and NCP Deputy chief), Bakri Hasan Salih (Presidential Adviser for security),Gutbi Almahdi (High ranking NCP official), Ahmed Ibrahim Eltahir (Parliament Speaker), and Altaib Mustafa (President al-Bashir’s uncle and owner of AlIntibaha, a newspaper publishing hate against Pagan Amum and Yasir Arman, two arrested SPLM leaders);

- Multilateral support of the International Criminal Court case against key Sudanese officials with respect to both existing indictments and further expansion of cases;

- Multilateral enforcement of the UN Security Council arms embargo, first set out in UN Security Council resolution 1556 (2004) and strengthened in resolution 1591 (2005); and

- Denial of the multilateral debt relief sought by the NCP.

3) Humanitarian Aid in Darfur. In addition to the obstruction of UNAMID mentioned above and broader concerns over security, humanitarian access continues to be a major problem in Darfur. General Gration has made conflicting statements regarding the status of humanitarian aid in Darfur. Darfuris, the United Nations, Physicians for Human Rights and others have reported that humanitarian organizations are working with severely limited access in Darfur and, since the expulsion of aid workers in March 2009, the fragile network of medical and psycho-social services for victims of gender-based violence has collapsed. In a recent exacerbation of the crisis, the withdrawal of the International Red Cross after the kidnapping of two of its workers has left parts of Jebel Marra and Jebel Si (not served by the UN) without aid.

Please direct General Gration to work in consultation with the State Department and USAID to conduct and make public an assessment of the current status of, and future outlook for, the provision of all services in each area of Northern Sudan, the specific steps being taken to ensure their restoration, and the benchmarks he is using to measure progress.

4) The U.S. Sudan Policy. Regardless of the words used to describe the classified components of the Sudan policy, Congress should know its contents and have a clear understanding of the benchmarks by which progress or the lack thereof will be measured and the incentives and pressures that will be deployed as the parties meet or fail to meet these benchmarks.

We ask that Special Envoy Gration promptly brief the appropriate House and Senate committees on the contents of these classified documents. In addition, Senators and Representatives should receive the National Security Council working papers and other relevant documents without delay.

In anticipation of your prompt action on these matters, we remain very truly yours,

Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan
Joan Hecht CEO
Jacksonville, Florida

American Friends Service Committee
Stephen McNeil, Assistant Regional Director for Peacebuilding
San Francisco, California

American Jewish Committee
Eliseo Neuman, Director, The Africa Institute
New York, New York

Americans Against the Darfur Genocide
Nikki Serapio, Director
San Francisco, California

ChampionDarfur.com
Corey Dragge, Founder
Las Vegas, Nevada

Congregation Emanu-El
Rabbi Sydney Mintz
San Francisco, CA

Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries (CMM)
Alexander Levering Kern, Executive Director
Boston, Massachusetts

Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy
Mohamed Yahya, Founder and Executive Director
Washington, D.C

Darfur Human Rights Organization of the USA
Abdelgabar Adam, President
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Darfur Reconciliation and Development Organization
Adeeb Yousif, Founder & Chairperson
Zalingei, West Darfur and San Francisco, California

Darfur Rehabilitation Project
Yahya Osman, President
Newark, New Jersey

Darfur Self Reliance Education
Mohamed Suleiman, President
Alameda, California

Darfur and Beyond
Cory Williams, Founder
Phoenix, Arizona

Darfur Community Organization
Bakheit A Shata, Founder/Executive Director
Omaha, Nebraska

Darfur People’s Association of New York
Bushara Dosa, President
Church Ave Brooklyn, New York

Dear Sudan, Love Marin
Gerri Miller, Founder and Coordinator
Tiburon, California

Elizabeth Hankins
Author of “I Learned a New Word Today…Genocide”
Houston, Texas

Enough Project at the Center for American Progress
John Norris, Executive Director
Washington, D.C.

Eric Reeves
Author of “A Long Day’s Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide”

Essex County Coalition for Darfur
Gloria Crist, Co-Founder
Montclair, New Jersey

Fur Cultural Revival
Mansour Ahmed, President
Portland, Maine

Genocide No More – Save Darfur
Marv Steinberg, Coordinator
Redding, California

Hudson Institute
Nina Shea, Director, Center for Religious Freedom
Washington, DC 20005

Idaho Darfur Coalition
A.J. Fay, Co-Founder
Boise, Idaho

Investors Against Genocide
Susan Morgan, Co-founder
Boston, Massachusetts

Jacob Blaustein for the Advancement of Human Rights
Felice Gaer, Director
New York, New York

Jewish Community Relations Council of
San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin,
Sonoma, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties
Rabbi Doug Kahn, Executive Director
San Francisco, California

Jewish World Watch
Tzivia Schwartz-Getzug, Executive Director
Los Angeles, California

Kentuckiana Interfaith Taskforce On Darfur
Bob Brousseau, chair
Louisville, Kentucky

Keokuk for Darfur
Julia Hays, Founder/Director
Keokuk, Iowa

Living Ubuntu/Orange County for Darfur
Barbara English, Executive Director
Newport Beach, California

Long Island Darfur Action Group
Nancy Walsh, Coordinator
Long Island, New York

The Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan National Network
Julie Hines Mabus, President
Washington, D.C.

Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur
Eric Cohen, Chairperson
Boston, Massachusetts

Mia Farrow
Sudan Advocate, Actor

Michigan Darfur Coalition
Dr. Tim Page, General Coordinator
Birmingham, Michigan

New York City Coalition for Darfur
Sharon Silber, Co-founder
New York, New York

Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns,
Archdiocese of San Francisco
George Wesolek, Director
San Francisco, California

San Antonio Interfaith Darfur Coalition
Susan Smylie, Coordinator of Advocacy
San Antonio, Texas

San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition
Martina Knee, Member, Executive Committee
San Francisco, California

Save Darfur: Central PA
Lee Ann De Reus, Co-founder
Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania

Save Darfur Washington State
Deborah Jones, President
Seattle, Washington

South Sudan Women’s Empowerment Network
Lilian Riziq, President & CEO
Phoenix, Arizona

Southern Sudanese Community Center of San Diego
Chuol P.Tut, Executive Director
San Diego, California

STAND at University of California, Davis
Jessica Verhein, President
Davis, California

Stop Genocide Now
Gabriel Stauring, Director
Los Angeles, California

Sudan Advocacy Action Forum
Bill Andress, Director
Lexington, SC, USA

Sudan for All
Emad Bukhari, Founder
Phoenix, Arizona

Sudan Unlimited
Esther Sprague, Founder,
San Francisco, California

Temple Beth Elohim
Michael Gilman, Trustee and Past President
Wellesley, Massachusetts

Texans Against Genocide
Laura McCarthy and Susan Smylie, Co-Founders
Dallas and San Antonio, Texas

The Institute on Religion and Democracy
Faith McDonnell, Director, Church Alliance for a New Sudan
Washington, DC

Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Rob Keithan, Director, Washington Office for Advocacy
Washington, DC

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Charlie Clements, President and CEO
Cambridge, Mass.

Use Your Voice to Save Darfur Rhode Island
Sandra Hammel, Director
Providence, Rhode Island

Voices for Sudan
Gafar O. Kangam, Public Relations Representative
Washington, DC

World Relief Organization
Elgasim Salih, President
Philadelphia PA

cc: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Boston, MA – November 12, 2009 – Investors Against Genocide commends iShares for its announcement today that it will develop an iShares Genocide-Free Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). The company plans to rely on a reputable third-party index provider to identify companies around the world that they believe are strongly connected to genocide to screen out of an established, broad-based international benchmark.

“We consider this announcement by iShares an important step forward in the effort to advance the practice of genocide-free investing,” said Eric Cohen, Chairperson of Investors Against Genocide. “While most US mutual fund companies have declined to take any action, iShares has listened to the marketplace and has taken a significant step forward by announcing plans to develop the first international genocide-free fund for retail investors.”

A 2007 study by KRC Research demonstrated that Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to being financially connected to genocide. In the study, 71% of respondents said companies should take extreme cases of human rights abuses, such as genocide, into account rather than base investment decisions solely on economic criteria. In that same study, 77% said they would switch to a different investment company if they learned that those managing their funds had significant investments in firms that were active in Sudan.

“For the many millions of American families who do not want their hard-earned savings to be invested in companies that help support genocide, the introduction of this new fund by iShares will make it easier to find genocide-free investment alternatives, said Cohen. “We hope experience with this new fund will further encourage development of genocide-free alternatives for all fund types in the future,” said Cohen.

For the last three years, Investors Against Genocide (IAG), a Boston-based non-profit organization, has led a campaign dedicated to convincing mutual fund and other investment firms to change their investing strategy so as to avoid complicity in genocide. Although federal law prevents most US companies from operating in Sudan, most large mutual fund companies are major investors in one or more of the Chinese, Indian, and Malaysian oil companies involved in Sudan that have been helping to fund the genocide in Darfur. As a result, ordinary investors, through their mutual funds, family savings, and pension plans entrusted to these financial institutions, have been inadvertently investing in genocide.

According to Cohen, IAG has been in contact with iShares for over two years. “We’re pleased that iShares, having studied the information provided by IAG, and having listened to the marketplace, determined that developing this new genocide-free fund and providing its customers with a clear choice would help address investors’ concerns about this issue,” he said.

####

Investors Against Genocide is a non-profit organization dedicated to convincing mutual fund and other investment firms to change their investing strategy so as to avoid complicity in genocide. The organization works with individuals, companies, organizations, financial institutions, the press, and government agencies to build awareness and to create financial, public relations, and regulatory pressure for investment firms to change. The ultimate goals are that the Government of Sudan ends its deadly genocide in Darfur and that investment firms avoid investing in genocide. For more information, visit www.investorsagainstgenocide.org.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Enough Project at the Center for American Progress released the following statement today concerning the remarks of departing UNAMID commander Martin Luther Agwai who declared, “As of today, I would not say there is a war going on in Darfur.”

Enough Project Executive Director John Norris noted, “The outgoing commander is correct that there has been a lull in fighting in Darfur, but he entirely misses the big picture in doing so. What he and others conveniently fail to mention: the three million Darfuris stuck in refugee and displaced camps unable to return to their homes because of insecurity and violence. Instead of offering self-congratulatory remarks, the entire international community should be appalled that after more than six years they have failed to create the conditions on the ground that would allow displaced people to return home by disarming the janjaweed, holding perpetrators of earlier war crimes accountable, securing a viable peace deal, and putting a credible peacekeeping force in place.”
Enough project co-Founder John Prendergast added, “The Obama administration is not leading a new peace process for Darfur; it is more energetically supporting a failed one. The United States must urgently lead a group of concerned nations—including Egypt and China—to offer sustained, high-level support for peace talks that focus on developing a draft peace proposal that addresses the core issues of the conflict and empowers the head mediator to reach a political settlement.” As U.N. General Downplays Crisis, Enough and Sudan Now Stress Urgency for Obama Administration

This week the coalition of anti-genocide advocacy organizations announced the launch of a bold new campaign called Sudan Now: Keep the Promise. The campaign challenges President Barack Obama and top U.S. administration officials to live up to their campaign and political promises by taking strong and immediate action to help end the international crisis in Sudan and bring a lasting peace to the people of that country. Members of the coalition include Humanity United, the Enough Project at the Center for American Progress, Stop Genocide Now, and Investors Against Genocide.

As part of the campaign’s launch, a series of print and online advertisements are appearing in national publications this week. The advertisements feature statements made by President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Secretary Clinton, which focused on applying “real pressure” to, and ensuring “strong consequences” for, the government of Sudan. In sharp contrast, the U.S. administration’s current approach, according to Sudan Now members, seems to favor incentives and concessions over strong, comprehensive action.

For additional information:

VISIT the Enough Project’s blog, Enough Said, for updates on this issue.
FOLLOW the Enough Project on Twitter, http://twitter.com/enoughproject.

Question 3, the first ever shareholder proposal included on a Vanguard proxy, is part of broad campaign of shareholder action coordinated by Investors Against Genocide. The proposal will also be voted on at Fidelity’s July 15 shareholders meeting and is expected to be on the ballot in August for The Investment Company of America, a $53 billion fund, from American Funds, with more than 4 million shareholders.

“Favorable votes at Vanguard’s meeting today were unnaturally low because Vanguard’s active opposition and misleading statement of opposition tilted the vote against the proposal,” said Eric Cohen, Chairperson of Investors Against Genocide. “If Vanguard wanted a good test of shareholder support, it would have taken a neutral stance, rather than seeking to obscure the interests of shareholders, especially since it is common practice for ordinary investors to ignore and discard their proxy materials.”

In Vanguard’s proxy materials, the company asked its shareholders to vote against the proposal because it calls for procedures that “duplicate” existing practices and is “substantially identical” to existing procedures of the Vanguard funds. However, Vanguard has not released the text of a Board policy, beyond the statement of opposition, that details how Vanguard will avoid holdings that are tied to genocide or crimes against humanity. Also, Vanguard’s quarterly holdings reports showed that it continues to hold and purchase additional shares of PetroChina (NYSE: PTR) and other oil companies tied to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

At the meeting, concerned individuals, including two men from Darfur, repeatedly asked John Brennan, Vanguard’s Chairman of the Board, for an explanation regarding Vanguard’s decision to hold PetroChina. Mr. Brennan declined to answer the question directly stating only that “it was the judgment of the board.”

“This lack of candor and transparency as well as Vanguard’s continued investments in companies which help to fund the genocide in Darfur contrast directly with Vanguard’s published ‘pledge to clients’ to ‘communicate candidly’ and to ‘adhere to the highest standards of ethical behavior and fiduciary responsibility,’” said Cohen.

In his prepared remarks at the Vanguard shareholder meeting, Cohen stated, “Many shareholders, whose votes will be recorded today, read Vanguard’s statement and believed that the issue raised in the proposal no longer applied. Those shareholders have been misled by Vanguard.

“The shareholder proposal requires proactive attention to prevent acquiring problem companies and requires corrective action if they are already in the portfolio,” explained Cohen. “Vanguard has made no commitment to taking any such action. Rather, Vanguard’s Plain Talk About Proxy Proposal 3 web page says that ‘the trustees have determined that no companies have warranted divestment.’ Even worse, Vanguard’s quarterly report of its holdings, after filing its proxy materials, showed that Vanguard had increased its holdings in PetroChina and the other worst offenders complicit in Sudan: Petronas, ONGC and Sinopec.”

Since early April, Investors Against Genocide attempted to engage in dialog with Vanguard in the hopes that the company would offer its customers the necessary information to properly evaluate whether the shareholder proposal and Vanguard’s policy are indeed duplicative. However, the company declined to engage in dialog.

According to Cohen, Vanguard’s lack of transparency stands in stark contrast to the recent, clear, public statements by TIAA-CREF to take strong action against problem companies, and the public action by 27 states and 61 colleges and universities that have divested from targeted companies with ties to the Sudanese government.

The shareholder proposal for genocide-free investing raises the issue of the fundamental management responsibilities of financial institutions and whether shareholders should be able to expect mainstream funds to avoid investing in companies contributing to genocide. The public’s interest in this expectation was highlighted by a 2007 study by KRC Research, in which 71% of respondents said companies should take into account extreme cases of human rights abuses, such as genocide, when investing overseas, rather than base their investment decisions on economic criteria only.

Investors Against Genocide is a non-profit organization dedicated to convincing mutual fund and other investment firms to change their investing strategy so as to avoid complicity in genocide. The organization works with individuals, companies, organizations, financial institutions, the press, and government agencies to build awareness and to create financial, public relations, and regulatory pressure for investment firms to change. The ultimate goals are that the Government of Sudan ends its deadly genocide in Darfur and that investment firms avoid investing in genocide. For more information, visit www.investorsagainstgenocide.org.

Contacts
Investors Against Genocide
Susan Morgan, 617-797-0451

ADDIS ABABA – African civil society leaders, Nobel Laureates, and justice experts from across the continent are uniting ahead of the African Union summit to call for action on the crisis in Sudan. In particular, the leaders are supporting the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and calling for humanitarian access.

The statement, signed by Nobel Laureates Wangari Maathai (Peace, 2004), Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Peace, 1984), and Wole Soyinka (Literature, 1986), as well as 39 other prominent African experts, emphasizes that the ICC plays a critical role in achieving the objectives of “justice and accountability for the peoples of Sudan.”

“The people of Darfur deserve more than negotiating warlords forgiving each other for the violence – including brutal sexual violence – they have perpetrated primarily against women, children and other non-combatants.”

The signatories call for accountability and urge African political leaders to dramatically step up efforts to negotiate an end to the violence in Darfur and ensure that all parties to the conflict, including the government, armed groups, and especially women who have been building the path to peace, are at the peace table.

The statement comes on the heels of an Opinion Editorial piece penned by Maathai, Soyinka, and Archbishop Tutu, which was published in Jeune Afrique and other African media.

The complete statements and the list of signatories is included below.

African Civic Leaders Statement on the situation in Sudan

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned by the ongoing violence, displacement and repression in Sudan. We seek to urge the international community–including Sudan’s neighbors and friends and, in particular, the leaders and peoples of Africa–to support the search for credible justice and accountability in Sudan and the International Criminal Court’s role in promoting these.

We view the need for justice and accountability for the peoples of Sudan, in addition to adequate humanitarian assistance and physical protection, as vital to any durable peace, and support the role of the ICC in achieving these objectives. We are hopeful that this work will help break the cycles of violence and the culture of silence in the Darfur region and throughout Sudan.

We are convinced that the ICC can be one effective vehicle, alongside national and regional mechanisms, for achieving justice for the gross violations committed by all sides in the conflict in Darfur. The people of Darfur deserve more than negotiating warlords forgiving each other for the violence–including brutal sexual violence–they have perpetrated primarily against women, children and other non-combatants. There can be no real peace without justice and security.

The people of Darfur have clearly vocalized a desire for justice and accountability. The ICC has the potential to help break the cycle of death and devastation caused by years of violent conflict and abuses of power.

We are deeply disheartened by the response of the government of Sudan to the ICC’s decision on March 4, 2009 to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Al-Bashir. By expelling and restricting humanitarian NGOs and relief workers in the desperate Darfur region, the government of Sudan further endangers the estimated 4.7 million people in the region who rely on food, medical and water aid. The expelled organizations were responsible for some 50 percent of this aid. The Sudanese government has an obligation to ensure that the needs of its people are met and to that end must either allow these organizations back into the region, or ensure that alternative and equally capable delivery mechanisms are promptly deployed without further delay.

We are also disturbed by reports that Sudanese human rights defenders, their families and local staff of international organizations expelled from Sudan are increasingly subject to harassment, interrogation, detention, banishment, exile, torture and unfounded criminal charges in a campaign which appears to be aimed at dismantling Sudan’s independent human rights movement with long term implications for Sudan’s democratic transition. Three of the leading indigenous civil society human rights and development organizations have had their operations suspended. These organizations had provided legal aid, psycho-social services and humanitarian and development assistance and supported networks of local human rights monitors.

In the long-term, the international community must come together to find a way forward and to help Darfuris and all Sudanese find justice and peace.

We believe that progress in the peace talks must happen in tandem with the ICC’s work for justice and cooperation by all in restoring the capabilities of Sudan’s institutions to ensure accountability for crimes. We call on leaders to dramatically step up efforts to negotiate an end to the violence in Darfur, actively involving the armed groups and the Sudanese government. The Sudanese women who have been building the path to peace through their dialogue and consultation efforts must be at the peace table.

We call on the friends of Sudan to join in supporting the independence of the ICC and the ICC’s work for justice and peace in Sudan.

Prof. Wangari Maathai
Nobel Peace Laureate

Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Nobel Peace Laureate

Wole Soyinka
Nobel Laureate, Literature

Adeeb Yousif
Chairperson, Darfur Reconciliation and Development Organization (DRDO)

Dr Mahoud Braima
Darfuri Leaders Network in the United States

Mohammadain Eshak
President, Darfur Organization for Peace and Cultural Heritage

Abdelbagi Jibril
Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre (DRDC) – Geneva

Dr. Ali Dinar
President of Darfur Alert Coalition, Descendant of last independent ruler of Darfur

Daniel Selala
South African HR Commission

Mr. Haggag Nayel
Arab Program for HR Activists – Secretary General

Marie Edith Douzima-Lawson
Lawyer, Central African Republic

Eva Mappy Morgan
Deputy Minister of Justice for Public Safety and Administration, Liberia

Igeny Shone
Coalition for Social Justice, Capetown, South Africa

Nixon Mao Nyikadzino
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, South Africa

Clever Bere
Zimbabwe National Students Union – Zimbabwe

Madock Chivasa
National Constitutional Assembly, Zimbabwe

Fatima M. Haroun
President, Board of Darfur Rehabilitation Project

Maetre Fatimata MBAYE
Pr?sidente de l’Association Mauritanienne des droits de l’Homme(AMDH), vice presidente de la FIDH,Mauritanie

Aminetou mint El Mokhtar
Pr?sidente de l’Association des femmes chefs de famille (AFC)

Aissata satigui Sy
Coordinatrice de L’IPCD, Mauritanie

L. Muthoni Wanyeki
Executive Director, Kenya Human Rights Commission
(KHRC)

Mabassa Fall
Centre africain pour la d?mocratie et les etudes des droits de l’Homme
Professor Kwesi Kwaa Prah
Executive Director, Centre for the Advanced Studies of African Society – South Africa

Issa Tahar Abderaman
President, Association of Darfuri Communities in France

Professor Kwame Karikari
Executive Director, Media Foundation for West Africa- Ghana

Alioune Tine
Rencontre Africaine Pour la Defense des Droits de l’Homme (RADDHO), Senegal

Mercy Ohene
Director of Ghana Judicial Training Institute

Hauwa Ibrahim
Lawyer, Nigeria

Safia Fahasi
Algerian Coordination Org for the Families of the Missing

Beatrice Bernice Boateng
MP, Ghana

Elinor Sisulu
Author, Civic leader, South Africa

Dr. Susan Nagele
Maryknoll Lay Missioner – Kenya

Peter Muzambwe
Amandla Centre, Zimbabwe

Adonio Mutero
Zimbabwe Labor Centre

Ken Thesing, M.M
Maryknoll Missioner, Kenya

Sidiki Kaba
Lawyer, Senegal

Boubacar Messaoud
President de Sos-esclaves Mauritanie

Sarr Mamadou
Secretaire executif du Forum des organisations nationales de defense des droits de l’Homme, Mauritanie

Norah Matovu Winyi
Executive Director, Africa Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)

Adetokunbo Mumuni
Executive Director, Socio-Economic Rights & Accountability Project, Lagos, Nigeria

M. Dismas Kitenge
President du Groupe LOTUS (DRC)

Dismas Nkunda
Co-Director of International Refugee Rights Initiative

###

Fast forward to June 2009. Thus far, President Obama and his Administration have displayed no “immediate” response to the Darfur crisis or any willingness to “pressure” the Sudanese government. Instead we have seen stalls, delays and a very worrisome conciliatory tone in the U.S. response to the ongoing genocide in Darfur. According to a recent article in the Washington Post, Obama’s Special Envoy to Sudan, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration, has advocated easing some American sanctions and upgrading U.S. diplomatic relations with Sudan’s government to induce cooperation.

To read complete article on Huffington Post, click here.

According to leading Darfur activists, yesterday’s press conference with General Scott Gration confirmed their worst fears that he is the wrong person for the job. “I fear we are going from bad to worse with Envoy Gration,” said Eric Cohen, Chairperson of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur.

Cohen was responding to the very concerning article in the Washington Post which reports that Gration has advocated easing some American sanctions and upgrading U.S. diplomatic relations with Sudan’s government to induce cooperation. According to the Post, Gration’s conciliatory approach has stalled high-level talks within the Obama administration to finalize a comprehensive policy plan to be presented to Cabinet members and later to the president.

In Gration’s first press conference, he contradicted US policy by downplaying the genocide (referring to “remnants of genocide” only) and declaring over the humanitarian crisis that was brought on by GoS expelling 16 NGO (“we’ve closed the gap.”)

Having come to the Special Envoy role with no experience with Sudan nor diplomacy, one has to wonder what lessons Gration has learned from President Omer al-Bashir’s catastrophic 20-year reign of terror in Sudan.

Activists understandably feel betrayed by the Administration. Tough talk regarding Darfur helped get Obama elected. Then after a long delay, Obama finally selected Special Envoy Gration. Gration then travels to Sudan with “no preconceptions” and visits model IDP camps under the supervision of the GoS and proclaims, in essence, “it’s not so bad.” Gration has had no tough reactions nor suggested any consequences for the expulsion of 16 NGOs, the ongoing bombings, the executions of Darfuris without due process and other ongoing atrocities comitted by the Government of Sudan.

According to Darfuri sources here in the United States, the NCP leadership is doing cartwheels of delight following this press conference. Khartoum seems to have the man they want in Washington — Scott Gration.

Please contact the White House in any of the following ways immediately and call for the replacement of Envoy Gration with someone ready to take IMMEDIATE action to PRESSURE Sudan, as Obama promised during the campaign:

1) Call the White House at 202-456-1111. Lines are often busy. Keep trying.
2) Fax the White House at 202-456-2461
3) Email the White House at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
4) Become a fan of the WH Facebook page and post a comment at http://www.facebook.com/WhiteHouse
5) Send a message via Twitter to @whitehouse. Follow at http://twitter.com/whitehouse

Do you think that President Obama has kept his campaign promise about the genocide in Darfur? Many Darfur advocates do not. Please read the reasons below and decide for yourself. For daily updates on the news from Darfur from the viewpoint of those who live there, visit http://whilewewaitsudan.blogspot.com

If you agree that Obama has broken his promise, send an email to the “Obameter” at obameter@politifact.com and tell the editors why you believe Obama has broken Promise #430.

If we can tilt the Obameter to count immediate action on Darfur as one of Obama’s broken promises, we just might get his long overdue attention.

President Obama’s Promise on Darfur

“As president, Obama will take immediate steps to end the genocide in Darfur by increasing pressure on the Sudanese and pressure the government to halt the killing and stop impeding the deployment of a robust international force.”

Source – The Change We Need – Foreign Policy

Has Obama’s promise been broken? You decide.

FACT: Over four months after inauguration, Government of Sudan (GoS) planes have been bombing defenseless Darfuri refugees in camps in Chad and its own citizens in IDP camps in Darfur.

OBAMA’S RESPONSE: None

FACT: Nearly three months after the GoS expelled 13 foreign aid groups from the country, 1.5 million people are still waiting for adequate food, water, sanitation and medical care to be restored. The GoS has repeatedly refused to permit these humanitarian aid organizations to return, instead claiming to provide aid itself. This claim is disputed by Darfuris and the expelled organizations.

OBAMA’S RESPONSE: On March 10, Obama said it is “not acceptable to put that many people’s lives at risk” and “We need to be able to get those humanitarian organizations back on the ground.” No further response since then.

FACT: Four months after inauguration, the US State Department, has yet to unveil its long-awaited Sudan policy review.

OBAMA’S RESPONSE: Since the State Department answers to the White House, the slow pace of this review is a direct contradiction of his promise for “immediate” steps.

FACT: Retired Maj. General Scott Gration, the President’s Special Envoy to Sudan, spoke of the need to “look, learn and listen” from the regime of indicted war criminal President Omar al-Bashir and has extended the hand of America in friendship.

OBAMA’S RESPONSE: Under Obama, the new administration has not made any comments regarding “increasing pressure” on the GoS.

FACT: Three months after inauguration, the State Department released a report which, according to Senator Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., overstates Sudan’s cooperation with the United States on counterterrorism. Feingold has asked for a response from the State Department.

OBAMA’S RESPONSE: None

FACT: Efforts to convene a civil society conference on Darfur with the aim of building what its organizers call “a mandate for peace” were derailed by the GoS.

OBAMA’S RESPONSE: None

FACT: The GoS executed 9 men on April 1, who may have been innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. Over 70 more men await a similar fate. Their confessions were reported to have been extracted under torture.

OBAMA’S RESPONSE: None

The facts speak for themselves. If you agree that President Obama has broken his promise, send an email to the “Obameter” at obameter@politifact.com and tell the editors why Obama has broken Promise #430. It’s not too late to get the President to live up to his word.

For daily updates on the news from Darfur from the viewpoint of those who live there, visit http://whilewewaitsudan.blogspot.com