Bush faces pressure on Sudan ‘genocide’
By Alex Barker
WASHINGTON, July 14, 2004 (Financial Times) — The White House faced growing political pressure from Congress yesterday to declare that the Sudanese government is carrying out genocide in western Sudan’s Darfur region.
Senators introduced a bipartisan resolution calling for action. If passed by Congress, the resolution – sponsored by Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican, and Jon Corzine, a New Jersey Democrat – would mark the first time Congress had passed a genocide measure while the reported violence was still in progress.
The Brownback-Corzine resolution urges the Bush administration to declare genocide in Darfur and to take steps with the international community to stop it.
The senators said they introduced the resolution not to oblige the US to intervene in Darfur, but to add moral weight to efforts to pass a United Nations resolution. A UN resolution declaring genocide in Sudan would place a legal obligation on member states to prevent the violence.
“We need to avert this tragedy,” said Mr Corzine. “Hundreds of thousands of people will die if effective action is not taken to stop the killing and provide humanitarian intervention. This is absolutely unacceptable.”
The Bush administration has not yet declared the Darfur crisis an act of genocide. But President George W. Bush called yesterday on the government of Sudan “for the sake of peace and basic humanity” to “stop the Janjaweed violence”, referring to the pro-government militia reportedly responsible for attacks in Darfur that have killed some 30,000 people and displaced about 1m. The Sudanese government has been accused of obstructing the delivery of humanitarian assistance to some 2m people in need.
“How many people will die before we reach that conclusion?” asked Mr Brownback, who recently visited the region. “How long are we going to debate while people continue to die?”
Mr Bush, speaking at the signing of the African Growth and Opportunity Act – which extends trade preferences across the region for a further seven years – added to the pressure on Khartoum, following a recent visit by Colin Powell, secretary of state. Mr Bush called for parties involved in the conflict to respect the current ceasefire, uphold human rights and allow for the free movement of humanitarian workers and aid into the region.
The 1948 genocide convention legally defines genocide as acts committed “with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, religious or racial group”.
The House of Representatives is expected to begin debating a similar resolution next week.
* Charles Rangel, a senior Democratic congressman, was arrested outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington yesterday for protesting against Sudan’s alleged involvement in Darfur.