U.S. lifts ban on exports of computers to Sudan

November 19, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – The U.S. president Barack Obama on Friday issued an executive order allowing exports of computers to Sudan in order to facilitate the referendum process in the South.

In a presidential memorandum released on Friday, Obama allowed “the export of computers and related equipment that enables the United Nations to facilitate the referendum in Southern Sudan pursuant to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.”

The decision was based on Obama’s determination that it is “in the national security of the United States” to suspend the section of the law prohibiting computer exports to the African nation.

The referendum on southern Sudan independence is part of the 2005 north–south peace agreement, brokered by the administration of President Bush.

Obama pledged recently to improve relations with the northern Sudan government if it fully and timely implements the deal.

The US sanctions, originally issued in 1997, were in response to the Sudanese government’s support for terrorism, destabilizing of neighbor governments and human rights violations, which President Bill Clinton said constituted an “extraordinary threat” to the national security and foreign policy of the U.S.

President George W. Bush expanded those sanctions twice in 2006 to specifically target the war-torn Darfur region.

Voter registration is underway for those who are eligible to go to the polls next January and decide on whether they want the South to secede from the North and establish their own state.

The referendum timetable is very tight as the final voter list will be available just before voting begins on January 9, 2011.

The waiver is meant to facilitate the work of the United Nations mission in Sudan (UNMIS) which is tasked with supporting the implementation of the North-South peace accord.

Less than two months away from the referendum on self-determination for Southern Sudan, the UN budgetary committee today considered the Secretary-General’s request for $85.7 million for UNMIS, as it provides assistance to secure the voting process.

The amount would be added onto the $938 million already appropriated for the Mission during its 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 financing period.

UNMIS’s 2010-2011 budget did not include a provision for the referendums.

The requested $85 million appropriation includes $4.3 million for the Secretary-General’s Panel on the Referenda in the Sudan.

The United Nations has already started to deploy more than 500 temporary workers there in preparation for the referendum.

UNMIS’s mandate was established by the Security Council in its resolution 1590 (2005). In April of this year, the Council extended the Mission’s mandate until 30 April 2011 to support the agreement’s implementation.

(ST)