Chronology of a Failure to Stop Genocide
Africa Action today released the following statement to mark the one-year anniversary of the Bush Administration’s declaration of genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
– Contact: Mvuselelo Ngcoya (202) 546-7961
Chronology of a Failure to Stop Genocide:
Bush Administration Policy on Darfur since September 9, 2004
On this day last year, the White House declared that genocide was taking
place in Darfur, Sudan. This announcement was the result of political
pressure from Congress and citizen pressure from across the U.S. The
legal finding was itself based on overwhelming evidence from a study of
the region completed by the State Department the previous month. The
U.S. remains the only government to acknowledge the crisis in Darfur as
genocide, thereby invoking special responsibilities to act.
However, since September 9, 2004, the Bush Administration has done
little to stop the violence and provide protection to the people of
Darfur. Despite important opportunities and obligations, and growing
public pressure, the President has failed to take the necessary steps to
ensure an urgent multinational intervention to stop this genocide.
Instead, the Bush Administration’s other interests in Sudan have
inhibited its response to the crisis in Darfur. U.S. diplomatic
engagement in ending the long-running civil war between the northern
government and southern rebels, and the U.S. desire to maintain an
intelligence-sharing relationship with the Sudanese government in
context of the so-called “War on Terror” have both been considered more
important than saving lives in Darfur.
A decade after the U.S. blocked international action on the genocide in
Rwanda, the White House has abdicated its responsibilities to stop the
genocide in Darfur. It has left the African Union (AU) to deal with this
crisis, even while it knows that the AU lacks the capacity and the
mandate to protect the people of Darfur. The death toll in Darfur now
exceeds 400,000 people, more than 2 million people have been displaced
and left homeless, and the genocide continues. It is clear that U.S.
financial support for humanitarian efforts in Darfur, limited official
travel to the region, and occasional remarks about U.S. engagement have
failed to substitute for assertive international leadership to provide
the protection to the people of Darfur necessary to stop the genocide.
Genocide is a unique crime against humanity and it demands a unique and
urgent response. Once the U.S. recognized that genocide was occurring in
Darfur, it should have immediately acted to provide protection to the
people of Darfur – to stop the killing and rapes, to restore security to
the region, to facilitate the urgent delivery of humanitarian
assistance, and ultimately to support the voluntary return of displaced
people to their land. A multinational intervention mission, approved by
the United Nations (UN) Security Council under Chapter 7 of its Charter,
would provide the mandate and authorize the force necessary to build on
the AU mission and stop this genocide. Instead, while the U.S. has
drafted all UN resolutions on Darfur in the past year, it has not once
sought to achieve such an intervention to stop this genocide.
The following is a chronology of the failure of the Bush Administration
over the past year to stop the genocide in Darfur:
September 9, 2004: President Bush issues a press statement acknowledging
that genocide is taking place in Darfur. Then-Secretary of State Colin
Powell testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that
genocide has been committed in Darfur, and that the government of Sudan
and its proxy militia bear responsibility, but he denies logic by
stating that “no new action is dictated by this determination.”
September 18, 2004: The United Nations (UN) Security Council passes a
weak U.S.-sponsored Resolution (1564), which presses the Government of
Sudan to end the violence in Darfur but fails to impose strong measures
to ensure this outcome. Indeed, this follows the expiration of a
deadline set in a previous resolution, by which the government was
supposed to have disarmed the Janjaweed militia. Resolution 1564 also
requests that the Secretary-General establish an International
Commission of Inquiry to investigate reports of violations of
international humanitarian law and human rights law in Darfur.
September 21, 2004: President Bush briefly mentions the “terrible
suffering and horrible crimes in Darfur” in remarks to the UN General
Assembly, and reiterates the U.S. finding that genocide is occurring,
but he fails to propose urgent international action to stop the genocide.
October 1, 2004: President Bush responds to a question on Darfur during
the first Presidential debate by emphasizing that genocide is occurring
but failing to propose action to address the crisis. He simply states
that the AU observer mission in Darfur should be supported.
October 18, 2004: President Bush commits to supplying two military
transport aircraft to support the small African Union mission in Darfur.
November 1, 2004: President Bush extends Executive Order 13067, which
was first invoked in 1997, and which maintains sanctions against Sudan
and states that the actions and policies of the Sudanese government pose
an extraordinary threat to U.S. national security.
November 19, 2004: The UN Security Council passes a weak U.S.-sponsored
Resolution (1574), which again demands that the government, its militia
forces and the rebel groups cease violence in Darfur, and expresses
support for AU plans to increase its mission to 3,320 observers.
January 9, 2005: President Bush commends the signing of the North-South
Peace Agreement in Sudan, and urges the government of Sudan to end
atrocities in Darfur and allow the free movement of humanitarian workers
and supplies.
February 1, 2005: In response to the UN Commission of Inquiry report on
Darfur, a State Department spokesperson emphasizes that the U.S. stands
by its conclusion that genocide had been occurring in Darfur, and states
that the continued accumulation of facts on the ground, and the facts in
the UN report itself, support that view, and that the U.S. continues to
hold that position.
March 31, 2005: The U.S. abstains as the UN Security Council adopts a
resolution to refer cases of war crimes in Darfur to the International
Criminal Court (ICC).
April 14-15, 2005: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick
travels to Sudan to meet with senior officials from the genocidal regime
in Khartoum. While in Sudan, Zoellick evades media questions on the
crisis in Darfur and refuses even to use the word “genocide”.
April 20-22, 2005: Maj. Gen. Salah Abdallah Gosh, Head of the Sudanese
intelligence agency, is flown to Washington on a Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) jet to discuss intelligence sharing in the context of the
so-called “War on Terror.” Gosh has been accused by numerous human
rights groups and members of Congress of planning attacks on civilians
in Darfur.
April 25, 2005: Media reports indicate that the White House has leaned
on Congressional allies to strike the Darfur Accountability Act from the
budget supplemental appropriation bill, claiming it might impede the
North-South peace process in Sudan.
May 27, 2005: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European
Union (EU) agree to send air transport, vehicles, training and other
materials to support the expansion of the AU mission in Darfur. The U.S.
agrees to provide additional financial support for this mission.
May 31, 2005: Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick again travels to
Sudan, continuing a policy of constructive engagement on the part of the
Bush Administration with the genocidal regime in Khartoum.
June 1, 2005: President Bush breaks months of silence on the crisis in
Darfur by repeating his Administration’s position that genocide is
occurring, but offers only a transport plane to support the AU mission.
June 9, 2005: NATO agrees to help the AU with airlifts and training for
its mission in Darfur.
June 22, 2005: Deputy Secretary Zoellick’s testimony before the House
Committee on International Relations confirms that the U.S. has an
intelligence-sharing relationship with Sudan, which is impacting the
U.S. response to the crisis in Darfur. Zoellick emphasizes that U.S.
support for the small AU operation is the centerpiece of U.S. policy on
Darfur.
July 7, 2005: NATO begins a three-month airlift of AU observers into
Darfur, and the U.S. commits to supporting NATO’s work in the coming
weeks by transporting about 1,200 Rwandan troops and equipment from
Rwanda to Sudan to participate in the AU observer mission.
July 9: Deputy Secretary of State Zoellick again visits Khartoum to
represent the U.S. at the inauguration of the Government of National
Unity. Zoellick also makes a third, and uneventful, trip to Darfur to
meet with local leaders, NGOs and humanitarian groups and internally
displaced people (IDPs).
July 21: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Sudan to meet with
senior government officials in Khartoum and to visit camps for displaced
people in Darfur. However, a fracas between Sudanese security officers
and Rice’s entourage appeared to generate greater attention and
indignation from U.S. officials and media than did the ongoing genocide
in that country. Rice repeats that the Administration’s position remains
that genocide is occurring in Darfur.
July 26, 2005: The State Department announces the appointment of Roger
P. Winter as Special Representative of the Deputy Secretary of State for
Sudan, tasked with engaging with the new Government of National Unity
and advising the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on policy related to
Darfur and to Sudan in general.
August 1, 2005: President Bush issues a statement expressing condolences
to the family of Dr. Garang, First Vice President in the Government of
National Unity, who has just died. Secretary of State Rice emphasizes
that the U.S. remains committed to the cause of peace in all of Sudan,
including resolution of the “humanitarian crisis” in Darfur.
September 8, 2005: For more than two years, a growing number of
communities and organizations across the U.S. have been demanding
leadership from the White House to stop the genocide in Darfur. This
diverse movement now includes a range of religious groups, student
activists, African-American groups, relief agencies, and human rights
organizations of all kinds.
On the one-year anniversary of the Bush Administration’s declaration of
genocide in Darfur, a coalition of these groups and their supporters
gather outside the White House to condemn the failure of political
leadership on the part of the President in ensuring protection for the
people of Darfur, and to urge immediate action to stop the genocide in
Darfur.
This event, called “A Day for Darfur”, is co-sponsored and endorsed by
the following groups: Africa Action, American Jewish World Service,
Armenian National Committee of America, Darfur Rehabilitation Project,
Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Faithful America, Greater
Washington Jewish Task Force on Darfur, Human Rights First, NAACP,
National Council of Churches, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism,
Save Darfur Coalition, Sojourners, STAND, Sudan Peace Advocates Network,
TransAfrica Forum, and the United Methodist Church.
NOTE:
U.S. Humanitarian Assistance for Darfur (2003-present) = $710,000,000
U.S. Spending on Iraq War & Occupation (2003-present) = $192,000,000,000
—
– www.africaaction.org
– Tel: 202-546 7961 Fax: 202 546 1545