Judging Khartoum's Good Will - Change.org

Judging Khartoum's Good Will
 
by Michelle
categories: Darfur & Sudan, Obama Administration
Published January 20, 2010 @ 09:29AM PT
 
The deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid is a tried and true tactic used by the Sudanese government to collectively punish millions of civilians caught in the middle of its conflicts with various rebel groups. They did it during the war with the south, and they continue to do it in Darfur.
But the tactic is a violation of international law, and it should get far, far more attention from international diplomats than it currently receives.
A new report out from the Enough Project and the Sudan Now campaign lists humanitarian access and freedom of movement to reach affected populations in Darfur, as well as an end to the systematic denial of services to victims of sexual violence, as a key benchmark that the Obama administration should use to gauge progress towards peace in Sudan -- "should," because the actual benchmarks have not been made public. And while the report includes many important reforms necessary for peace, many of which have been delayed or outright ignored by the government thus far, nothing is a better, more obvious indicator of the regime's -- and especially the ruling National Congress Party's -- intentions than the provision (or lack thereof) of humanitarian assistance to four million conflict-affected civilians.
Read more.