FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Matt Brown, associate director of communications, Enough Project
[email protected], 202-468-2925
WASHINGTON – The partition of Sudan creates a major opportunity for a re-set in U.S. policy toward both Sudan and South Sudan, the Enough Project said in a new paper. The urgent human rights crisis in the Nuba Mountains, the continuing emergency in Darfur, the successful secession of the South, and the political reforms sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East provide unprecedented entry points for the U.S. and other interested parties to finally address the root causes of Sudan's cyclical conflicts.
The paper, “A New U.S. Policy for Two New Sudans,” explains the region’s disparate conflicts in the Nuba Mountains, Abyei, Darfur, Blue Nile and within South Sudan and calls on a comprehensive approach to ending these crises and dealing with the instigators in the Khartoum government.
“U.S. efforts to promote peace in Sudan have been undermined by a fatally flawed premise: that separate peace deals could be secured for each of Sudan’s multiple conflicts without finally dealing with the divisive, autocratic regime in Khartoum,” said John Prendergast, Enough co-founder and author of the paper. “The legacy of this policy demands a radical change in approach.”
The essay asserts that U.S. policy towards Sudan and South Sudan needs to be rooted in the responsibility to protect civilians. Prendergast calls on the Obama administration to consider all options to protect civilians from terrorizing airstrikes. Options that should be considered include a no-fly zone, targeted strikes against government air assets that are carrying out attacks, and the provision of appropriate air defense capabilities for the Nuba. Absent this, the cycle of war crimes will continue, moving from region to region as it fits Khartoum’s strategy, he said.
“The proverbial woods are on fire in the form of a major human rights crisis in the Nuba Mountains,” Prendergast said. “A specific focus on the responsibility to protect civilian populations must drive and inform international action. Prior efforts focused on peacekeeping missions that have proved incapable of protecting civilians. It is time to intensify a robust examination and discussion of all the options available to fulfill the international responsibility to protect mandate, with a focus on ending the air attacks and denial of food that are two of the primary tactics of the Khartoum regime in the Nuba Mountains.”
Read the full report: “A New U.S. Policy for Two New Sudans.”
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Enough is a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2007, the Enough Project focuses on crises in Sudan, eastern Congo, and areas of Africa affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Enough’s strategy papers and briefings provide sharp field analysis and targeted policy recommendations based on a “3P” crisis response strategy: promoting durable peace, providing civilian protection, and punishing perpetrators of atrocities. Enough works with concerned citizens, advocates, and policy makers to prevent, mitigate, and resolve these crises. For more information, please visit www.enoughproject.org.