President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today announced a new strategy for dealing with Sudan, promising incentives if the Sudanese government acts to improve the situation in Darfur, and tougher sanctions if it doesn’t.
Later this week Obama will renew the National Emergency declaration for Sudan, which will extend current sanctions, Obama said in a statement released by the White house.
“We must seek a definitive end to conflict, gross human rights abuses and genocide in Darfur,” he said. The UN estimates that 300,000 people have been killed in fighting between government-backed militias and rebels in the western region of Darfur, and 2.7 million have been displaced.
He also called for the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended the civil war between the North and South in 2005.
Clinton spoke this morning at the State Department, alongside UN Ambassador Susan Rice and Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration.
Clinton said any incentives would also depend on Sudan providing safe haven for refugees.
“There will be no rewards for the status quo, no incentives without tangible and concrete progress,” said Rice. “There will be significant consequences for parties that backslide or simply stand still.”
The administration did not specify what the incentives or further sanctions might look like.
According to an executive order signed by President Clinton in 1997, the U.S. cannot export anything to Sudan except for food, clothing and medicine, and cannot extend credit to the country. In order to lift these sanctions, the U.S. would have to certify that Sudan is disarming its militias and obeying peace accords, among other things.
During his campaign, Obama said he’d consider imposing a no-fly zone over Darfur to protect residents from Sudan’s air force.
