Letters and Memoranda

What would easily be the world’s deadliest war in 2011 could erupt in Sudan around the coming January 9 referenda on self-determination for oil-rich Southern Sudan and Abyei. The time has come for bold diplomacy, in which the interests of the parties are addressed in a way that lays the foundation for a lasting peace in all of Sudan.

This is the third installment in a series of open letters to President Obama spelling out a practical roadmap to end the crisis in Sudan. Co-authored by Enough, the Save Darfur Coalition, and the Genocide Intervention Network, the letter outlines a blueprint to achieve President Obama’s objective of a comprehensive peace for all of Sudan, a goal shared widely throughout the international community.

A coalition of 100 humanitarian and human rights organizations today called on John Holmes, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, to insist that protecting civilians be a top priority of the joint Congolese and Rwandan military operation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Holmes is due to arrive in Goma, the North Kivu capital, on February 7, 2009.

This is the second installment in a series of letters to President Obama spelling out a practical roadmap to end the crisis in Sudan.

We congratulate you and welcome your appointment as mediator for the Darfur peace process. Your work is as vital as it will be challenging, and we believe that with leadership,and credible support from the international community, peace is within reach for Darfur. Equally clear without an effective peace process, Darfur’s violence will continue, and Sudan’s ultimate fragmentation will only become more likely.

The message of Sudan activists all over the United States is clear: Don't try to contain the damage from the war in Darfur--end the war. Don't just declare that genocide is taking place--end the genocide. Don't just try to manage the consequences of crisis after crisis in Sudan--end these crises.

China has again assumed the Presidency of the U.N. Security Council, a position that it last held in July 2007 when it led the authorization of a U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur. At that time, Beijing appeared to be responding to a global campaign by activists, in advance of the Olympics, to shame China into using its influence to address human rights crises in locales in which it has significant economic investments. But China's actions have belied its rhetoric, and it has continued to protect its favorite deadly dictators in places like Darfur, Burma, and Zimbabwe. The Chinese government is not entirely a lost human rights cause, but its roadmap badly needs revision.