U.S. lays out new strategy for Sudan

Latest news: What does engagement with Sudan mean? New York Times, October 24, 2009

Photo by Reuters/ Finbarr O'Reilly, courtesy www.alertnet.org

While campaigning last year, President Obama spoke forcefully about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. He advocated a more confrontational approach, including tougher sanctions and establishing a no-fly zone that would prevent Sudanese fighter jets from bombing Darfurian villages.

"There must be real pressure placed on the Sudanese government," Obama said. "We know from past experience it will take a great deal to get them to do the right thing."
Since taking office, however, the administration has moved slowly and cautiously while privately debating its course of action in Sudan.

After months of anticipation, the Obama administration has released a comprehensive strategy to address the urgent and serious situation in Sudan. In a statement on October 19, President Obama said "we must act with a sense of urgency and purpose" in seeking an end to the violence and human rights abuses in Darfur and in carrying out the North-South peace deal (referring to the tenuous peace between northern and southern Sudan that ended 40 years of civil war).

The administration's new approach is considered neither punishing nor appeasing, and is instead being promoted as a campaign of "pressure and incentives." It aims to cajole the Sudanese government into pursuing peace in Darfur, settling disputes with the autonomous government in southern Sudan and providing the United States greater cooperation in stemming international terrorism.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reinforced the administration's new approach saying the administration would use "a menu of incentives and disincentives" to achieve its goals.

In a departure from previous U.S. positions regarding justice in Darfur, the policy paper notes that "accountability for genocide and atrocities is necessary for reconciliation and peace." The new policy also appears to acknowledge the likelihood that southern Sudan will opt for independence in the upcoming elections, and would therefore require U.S. efforts to support a two-state outcome.

Nongovernmental organizations have praised the new policy, recognizing the shift in giving equal weight to both the challenges of Darfur and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the North and the South; this new approach acknowledges the connections between these crises. The U.S. Special Envoy has been lauded as taking a comprehensive approach to building peace in Sudan.

The Special Envoy has also highlighted the importance of humanitarian issues, stressing the urgent need for unencumbered humanitarian access. President al-Bashir expelled over a dozen humanitarian aid organizations after the International Criminal Court released a warrant for his arrest earlier this year.

Under this new policy, administration officials say they would renew sanctions on Sudan for its actions on Darfur, a conflict that the U.S. has declared genocide. But the U.S. would also offer incentives for cooperation on key issues.

Read what Donald Steinberg, Women's Refugee Commission board member, says about the situation in Sudan to the New York Times.