إستجواب قريشن أمام الكونقرس .. لصمته عن القصف بدارفور .. الإنتخابات .. إتفاقية السلام الشامل

May 11, 2010


The Honorable Barbara Boxer
United States Senate
112 Hart Building
Washington, DC 20510

RE: SCFR Hearing, “SUDAN: A CRITICAL MOMENT FOR THE CPA, DARFUR AND THE REGION”
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Dear Senator Boxer:

The undersigned organizations and individuals representing thousands of Californians would like to thank you for your leadership in authoring the “Dear Colleague” letter to President Obama urging him to recognize the Armenian genocide.

We hope that you will attend the above-referenced hearing and respectfully request that you question General Gration regarding implementation of the U.S. Sudan policy. As you know, Sudan is once again at a critical moment. We write to you today with extreme concern for the deteriorating situation in Sudan and for the manner in which the U.S. Sudan policy has been implemented to date. We acknowledge and very much appreciate your longstanding advocacy on behalf of the Sudanese people and hope that you will continue supporting the millions who continue to suffer.

We offer the following questions of General Gration for your consideration:
1. What are you doing to hold President al-Bashir and any other responsible parties accountable for the failures to make “verifiable changes on the ground”, as the Administration indicated it would when the U.S. Sudan policy was announced?

Such failures include national elections that were neither free nor fair; laws guaranteeing freedom of speech, the press and assembly required by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement were not enacted; violations of the U.N. arms embargo continue; and aerial bombings of Darfuri civilians by the Government of Sudan have occurred since January 2010, killing at least hundreds and displacing tens of thousands.

2. What steps are you taking to ensure that when the International Criminal Court (ICC) rules on the charge of genocide against President al-Bashir that no harm is done to Sudanese civilians as a consequence?

When the ICC issued arrest warrants for al-Bashir on March 4, 2009, he expelled 13 humanitarian aid agencies and 3 Sudanese NGOs from Northern Sudan. The services provided prior to that date, inadequate as they were, have not been fully restored. The suffering of the Sudanese people must not be exacerbated when the ICC rules on the genocide charge.

3. Given the necessity of the January 2011 referenda to occur on schedule and credibly, what is your plan for ensuring that the specific required benchmarks are met?

Such key benchmarks include: rapid and mutually agreed-upon formation of the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission; progress toward the full demarcation of the North-South border; no use of direct or proxy violence in an effort to derail the referendum; no actions that subvert the will of the people in casting their votes freely; and neither party negotiating in such a way that makes direct North-South violence more likely.

4. What steps are you taking to ensure that attacks on civilians in all regions of Sudan stop and that UNAMID and humanitarian organizations are granted access to regions and camps in Darfur affected by violence and “non-essential” services, such as medical care and counseling for victims of gender-based violence, are restored?

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has rebuked the Sudanese government for denying UNAMID and humanitarian organizations access to sites of recent fighting and IDP camps. Your office continues not to acknowledge publicly appeals by Physicians for Human Rights and numerous other NGOs to restore such “non-essential” services. The absence of these services result in lost lives and other grievous permanent harms to the victims, their families, and their society. In addition, attacks in Southern Sudan against civilians (on the rise since 2009) continue without consequence to the perpetrators.

5. When will the next “Deputies review” of the U.S. Sudan policy take place and when will the members of this Committee be briefed on the outcome?

The Sudan policy requires a quarterly review of its implementation at the Deputy Secretaries level. The January 2010 review was incomplete; no results were ever provided. The next review, if on schedule, should have occurred in late April.

We thank you in advance for your participation in the hearing on Wednesday and for your continuing concern for Sudan.
Very truly yours,