Bush Urges Action on Darfur
18 April 2007
United States will step up sanctions unless Sudan honors pledges
Washington – President Bush says the United States will step up sanctions against Sudan if President Omar al-Bashir continues to ignore pledges to end the violence in the Darfur region of his country.
"President Bashir's record has been to promise cooperation while finding new ways to subvert and obstruct the U.N.’s efforts to bring peace to his country,” Bush said April 18 at Washington's Holocaust Memorial Museum. “The time for promises is over -- President Bashir must act."
Bush said the situation in Darfur shows that "evil is not a chapter in history, but a reality in the human heart" the international community still must face today.
“It is evil we are now seeing in Sudan -- and we're not going to back down,” Bush said.
Since 2005, Bush said, the Sudanese government has unleashed its Jingaweit militia against villages as part of a campaign against rebels in the western region. Violence and starvation have claimed between 200,000 and 400,000 lives and displaced more than 2 million people, including more than 200,000 refugees now in Chad.
The United States has delivered more than $2 billion in humanitarian aid to the region since 2005 and has tried to resolve the conflict by helping Sudan's government and the rebel groups reach a political settlement.
In May 2006, the United States helped broker an agreement with Bashir, who pledged to disarm the militias. The United States followed up with a successful U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing an extension of the existing U.N. mission in Sudan.
In November 2006, the United States joined 12 other nations, the African Union (AU), the European Union and the Arab League in reaching another agreement at a U.N.-sponsored meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the government of Sudan and rebel forces strengthened their cease-fire and agreed to expand the 7,000 member AU peacekeeping force into a blended U.N.-AU mission. (See related article.)
Since then, Bush said, rebel forces have splintered and the Sudanese government has undertaken a new offensive, using military aircraft painted to resemble those of humanitarian agencies and peacekeeping forces to move weapons into Darfur and bomb villages. Bashir’s government also has delayed the deployment of 3,000 U.N. peacekeepers.
“The increased lawlessness and instability has made it difficult for aid workers to deliver relief to those who need it -- some organizations have been forced to evacuate their staff for safety reasons. Once again, the consequences are being borne by defenseless men, women and children," Bush said.
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte recently traveled to Sudan, where he urged Bashir's government to reconsider its actions and follow through on pledges. (See related article.)
UNITED STATES WILL TAKE ADDITIONAL STEPS IF U.N. TALKS FAIL
If current talks between U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Bashir do not break the diplomatic deadlock, Bush said the United States would:
• Tighten its own sanctions on Sudan, blocking dollar transactions and adding 29 Sudanese firms to a Treasury Department list of companies barred from doing business in the United States;
• Implement sanctions against specific officials known to have been responsible personally for abuses in Darfur;
• Expand the U.S. arms embargo against Sudan;
• Begin consultations with members of the U.N. Security Council to develop a new sanctions resolution; and
• Increase monitoring of violations in Sudan and consider preventing offensive military flights.
Should these measures fail, Bush said, the United States might impose "sterner measures."
Bush said the United States will increase its support for the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority and urged the international community "to stand behind the Addis Ababa framework and reject efforts to obstruct its implementation."
U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL CONCERNED OVER ARMS AIRLIFT REPORT
At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Bush's statement that he would allow more time for diplomatic efforts. The secretary-general is "intensely working to expedite the political process and a hybrid [peacekeeping] operation," U.N. spokesperson Michele Montas said April 18.
According to the New York Times, investigators for the Security Council's Sudan sanctions committee have found the Sudanese government is flying arms and heavy military equipment into Darfur, in violation of Security Council Resolution 1591. (See related article.)
The investigators have found Sudanese military planes painted white in an attempt to disguise them as U.N. or AU aircraft, and noted the initials "U.N." stenciled on the wing of a whitewashed Sudanese armed forces plane at a Darfur airport, with bombs lying in rows next to it guarded by uniformed soldiers, the New York Times said, citing a report expected to be made public in a few days.
Montas said the secretary-general views these findings "with deep concern."
If the report is substantiated, "such actions would be in clear violation of international law and in contravention of the U.N.'s international status," she said.
"The secretary-general will continue to work closely with the Security Council on this issue and will expect full cooperation from the Government of Sudan, other governments, and all other parties to provide prompt clarification," she said.
A transcript of Bush’s remarks is available on the White House Web site. The full text of Montas’ statement is available on the U.N. Web site.
For more information, see Darfur Humanitarian Emergency.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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