Darfur activists pitch tents to influence Washington

By Daniel Van Oudenaren

November 10, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – Activists set up some 350 tents on the national mall in front of the United States Capitol building this weekend, hoping to reenergize the U.S. Darfur movement and influence the president-elect.

Each of the tents was sent by a community somewhere in the United States, representing approximately 350 cities in 48 states.

Organizers envisioned that the tents, painted by congregations, schools and groups from around the country, would raise awareness and funds to address the crisis in Darfur.

The tents will be shipped to Darfur for use as classrooms and as symbols of hope.

The one-year Tents of Hope campaign culminated this weekend as part of a series of events in which activists gathered in Washington.

As part of the events, about 450 students from around the country traveled to the capitol for leadership training in grassroots mobilization for genocide prevention, said a student activist representative.

About 160 of them arrived on Friday for a march on the national mall before they split up to rally at the Whitehouse and the offices of President-elect Obama.

The crowds then joined up with Tents of Hope participants at the Sudanese embassy, where 250 people rallied, calling for the arrest of President Omar Al-Bashir, who is indicted on ten counts of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

EXPECTATIONS

The Darfur activists discussed their high expectations from the Obama administration.

The leaders of the movement cited benchmarks by which they will assess the effectiveness of the Obama administration several months from when he first takes office in January.

They expect the president-elect to prioritize the issue and hope that a figure of high stature will be tasked with handling Sudan policy.

“It will be critical that this individual has the ear of the president and the appropriate members of the National Security Council, and that he or she be in frequent communication with a principal member of the National Security Council as designated by the president,” said Save Darfur in a plan for the Obama administration issued on Tuesday.

Other significant benchmarks will include whether or not the UNAMID peacekeeping force receives the equipment that it has thus far been denied, such as transport and attack helicopters, and whether the president initiates a U.S.-led “peace surge” that three activist groups demanded on Thursday.

DIVERSE MOVEMENT SEEKS ONE STRATEGY

The leadership of the movement is seeking sustained attention to implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005, which the Bush administration helped to broker. On Tuesday, Save Darfur called for “full implementation of the CPA, including free and fair elections throughout Sudan in 2009 and a referendum in South Sudan in 2011.”

Former U.S. Special Representative to Sudan Roger Winter said that he urged activists to widen their advocacy from Darfur to Sudan as a whole.

Winter praised the all-Sudan “peace surge” being advocated by Save Darfur, Genocide Intervention Network and Enough Project, but suggested he would like to see even more attention to a policy that places Darfur within a broader political context.

Addressing at least 450 student leaders on Saturday, Winter remarked, “in the eyes of the international community, Darfur has no ‘sovereignty,’ no ‘supreme and independent political authority.’ Darfur is one piece of Sudan. It is the criminally-run government of Sudan based in Khartoum that is recognized by the United Nations and the international community as sovereign over Darfur.”

Winter continued, “it is because of this political reality that Dr. John Garang and the leadership of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement built their own liberation struggle around the vision of ‘New Sudan,’ not around a vision of a ‘New South Sudan.’ This formulation was essentially an assertion of the need for the people of Sudan to change all of Sudan at its very core.”

The broader approach to Sudan represents an uncomfortable leap for some activists, most of whom were energized primarily by the designation of Darfur as a genocide—elections, democracy promotion and even peace agreements simply do not have the same galvanizing effect.

A matter of some concern to southern Sudanese has thus been whether or not the U.S. attention to Darfur will supplant its focus on implementation of the north-south peace agreement.

But the tension between an all-Sudan focus and a Darfur focus was actually reconciled several months ago by the leadership of the three largest activist organizations, said one activist in Washington.

In fact, he added, the pro-southern element has been involved in the movement since the beginning. For instance, the Rev. Gloria White-Hammond, a long-time supporter of southern Sudanese communities, is the chairperson of the board of directors of Save Darfur.

Yet Winter stressed, “in my view, drawing our advocacy parameters too narrowly enables Khartoum and the NCP to escape fundamental change and buy precious time by tossing crumbs. The ‘Center’ is the common problem for all of Sudan’s marginalized populations. The NCP is the only power structure ruling in Khartoum. It needs to go. As Dr. John Garang used to say, ‘The NCP is too deformed to be reformed.’”

Winter noted, “Sudan can get much worse. Note that I did not say Darfur can get much worse; I said Sudan can get much worse.”

‘CLEAR MESSAGES NEED TO BE RECEIVED IN KHARTOUM’

Alleging that the government of Sudan has deliberately obstructed UNAMID deployment, Save Darfur stated Tuesday that if it becomes apparent that UNAMID cannot succeed, “then the Obama administration should explore other options for protecting Darfuri civilians.”

“The U.S. leadership role on Sudan has crumbled over the last few years,” said Winter.

“The current Administration has been embarrassingly impotent regarding Darfur and way out of touch on the CPA,” said the former U.S. official, who helped Senator Jack Danforth’s team negotiate the CPA.

“A great initiative has been fumbled. The handoff to the incoming Obama administration has to be well-coordinated,” he cautioned.

“Clear messages need to be received in Khartoum now as the NCP may well try to create new unacceptable realities on the ground over the next few months while our presidential transition process moves along. The priority from the president-elect needs to be clear,” stated Winter.

(ST)