U.S. and European media

October 30, 2022

Voice of America: SPLM Dissatisfied With African Union Darfur Recommendation. Sudan's People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) says it is displeased with a proposal by African leaders to end the conflict in Sudan's restive Darfur region.  The African leaders under the auspices of the African Union recommended the setting up of a special court including foreign judges to prosecute those behind the Darfur atrocities. Sudan's Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha welcomed the recommendation and called for more scrutiny to ensure it does not contravene Sudan's constitution.  But the SPLM called the recommendation a compromise of the atrocities against the people of Darfur.

World Politics Review: In Sudan, the Pitfalls of Advocacy-Led Foreign Policy. As the highly publicized rollout of the new U.S. policy on Sudan made clear, Sudan has become an unlikely foreign policy priority for the Obama administration. For this, the Sudanese can thank the Darfur advocacy movement, which effectively put the nation on the map for the American public over the past six years.  Sudan certainly deserves every bit of attention it receives. If Africa's largest nation again implodes, it threatens to further destabilize what is already an unstable region of the world.

Voice of America News: ICC Indictment Forcing Bashir to Stay at Home.  An African Union summit in Nigeria was held to discuss the recommendations of a high-level panel report on resolving the Darfur conflict. Noticeably absent from the conference was Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, despite a formal invitation from Abuja to attend.  Since acquiring the distinction of being the first head of state to officially double as an international fugitive, the president has categorically avoided stepping foot in any country that is a signatory to the ICC. Nigeria is just the latest in a number of African invitations skipped by the Sudanese leader, despite the defiance taken by the African Union against the arrest warrant.

The following Letter To the Editor was in the Boston Globe by Representative Michael Capuano. US policy in Sudan must apply firm hand to Khartoum.  THE OBAMA administration's long-overdue new Sudan policy looks good on paper, and I hope it will be successful in practice ("In Sudan, dialogue has limits," Editorial, Oct. 24). When some of my House Sudan Caucus colleagues and I met recently with the special US envoy for Sudan, we made it clear that implementation of the policy - with its emphasis on treating Darfur, southern Sudan, and counterterrorism in a comprehensive manner - will be key. The violence and chaos in Darfur have gone on for far too long, while efforts to create a stable and functioning government in southern Sudan have been deliberately frustrated. I recognize that engagement with the government of Khartoum may be necessary to achieve those ends. I am not, however, ready to embrace President Omar al-Bashir's government as a changed entity. There are still fundamental baseline commitments, such as implementation of the 2005 comprehensive peace agreement, that it must fulfill. At the same time, it is critical to take concerted action, with other nations and with all parties to the conflict, to halt the violence and promote peace. Those of us in Congress who have long sought to end genocide in Darfur and enforce the peace treaty with the south will remain vigilant. We will continue to press the administration to ensure that carrots do not obscure the necessary sticks. It is not unreasonable to seek progress through greater dialogue, but experience has taught us that Khartoum must be made to understand that evasion or inaction will be met with grave consequences.

The Darfur Daily News is a service of the Save Darfur Coalition. To subscribe to the Daily News, please email [email protected]. For media inquiries, please contact Ashley Roberts at (202) 478-6181, or [email protected].