Zoellick confirms Bush administration’s duplicity on Darfur

Africa Action

– Contact: Ann-Louise Colgan (202) 546-7961

Testimony Reveals Intelligence Relationship with Genocidal Regime;
U.S. Failing to Take Urgent Action to Protect Civilians in Darfur

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 (Washington, DC) — Africa Action today
expressed outrage at U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick’s
testimony before Congress, in which he acknowledged that the Bush
Administration is maintaining an intelligence-sharing partnership with
the government of Sudan, even as it continues its genocidal campaign
against the people of Darfur and prepares for more violence against the
people in eastern Sudan, who are also rebelling against Khartoum.
Zoellick also failed to describe any new and urgent U.S. action designed
to stop the genocide and protect civilians in Darfur.

Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action, said today, “Nine
months after acknowledging that genocide is taking place in Darfur, it
is undeniably clear that the Bush Administration is sacrificing the
people of Darfur for what it considers to be more pressing priorities.
Its ‘intelligence partnership’ with the genocidal regime in Khartoum is
being justified as part of the ‘war on terror’. And the U.S.’ previous
investment in the North-South peace process is also considered more
important than protecting the lives of people in Darfur.”

Booker added, “This Bush Administration policy of acquiescence to
genocide is indefensible. To the White House, the so-called ‘war on
terror’ trumps genocide in Africa.”

Africa Action emphasized that the growing humanitarian crisis in Darfur
must be clearly understood as part of the government-sponsored genocide.
The death toll in Darfur continues to grow beyond 400,000 people
according to comprehensive studies, though the State Department
consistently underestimates this number.

Zoellick, in testimony before the House International Relations
Committee this morning, sought to portray the U.S.’ limited logistical
support for the African Union mission in Darfur as the centerpiece of
its plan to stop the genocide.

But as Ann-Louise Colgan, Director of Policy Analysis and Communications
at Africa Action, said this morning, “As the genocide continues in
Darfur, the African Union’s ambitious plans to scale up its observer
mission on the ground are well-intended but unrealistic. The AU cannot
respond to Darfur alone, nor should it have to. Genocide is an
international crime and it requires an urgent international response.”

Colgan added, “The AU needs a mandate to protect civilians and a
greatly-expanded troop presence on the ground NOW in order to protect
the people of Darfur, and this is what the U.S. should be advocating at
the United Nations. The U.S. should be seeking to reinforce the AU’s
efforts, not hide behind them. Saving lives in Darfur must be the top
priority, and the U.S. must act urgently to achieve this.”

Africa Action continues to demand that the U.S. take every step
necessary through the United Nations to establish a mandate for an
international force to protect civilians, and to deploy such a force in
support of existing African Union efforts in Darfur.