US Bush signs law setting sanctions on Darfur crimes

Oct 13, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday signed a law imposing sanctions against people responsible for genocide and war crimes in Sudan.

The Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, which passed the U.S. Congress last month with strong bipartisan support, freezes the assets of those deemed complicit in the atrocities and denies them entry into the United States.

It also encourages the Bush administration to deny Sudan’s government access to oil revenues.

Some 200,000 people have been killed and up to 2.5 million displaced by the 3-year-old conflict in Darfur, which Bush has labeled genocide.

Sudan has resisted international pressure to allow some 20,000 U.N. troops to replace a poorly funded, ill-equipped African Union force of 7,000.

U.S. firms have been barred from doing business in Sudan since 1997.

In addition to signing the legislation, Bush also signed an executive order that leaves in place the existing sanctions but eases some on parts of southern Sudan. It also includes exemptions to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid to Darfur.

But the order toughens some sanctions, including a provision that bars any American from engaging in oil-related transactions in Sudan.

The order comes as the Bush administration’s new special envoy for Sudan, Andrew Natsios, began a trip to Sudan, where he plans to meet with government officials and visit war-torn Darfur.

(Reuters)