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July 13, 2005
That's something I guess
From the Coalition for Darfur blog.
As Mark Leon Goldberg of the American Prospect reported back in April, the Bush administration was leaning heavily on congressional leaders and managed to stall, and probably killed, the Darfur Accountability Act.
As Goldberg explained, the bill
[E]stablishes targeted U.S. sanctions against the Sudanese regime, accelerates assistance to expand the size and mandate of the African Union mission in Darfur, expands the United Nations Mission in Sudan to include the protection of civilians in Darfur, establishes a no-fly zone over Darfur, and calls for a presidential envoy to Sudan.Because of this pressure, the bill appears to be trapped in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Relations, presumably never to be seen again.
So what is Congress going to do now that sanctions, a no-fly zone and civilian protection are off the table? Apparently it has been reduced to "[encouraging] the people of the United States [to pray] for an end to the genocide and crimes against humanity and for lasting peace in Darfur, Sudan."
That's right, the US Congress has been reduced to calling on the American people to pray that somehow this genocide ends.
On July 1st, the US Senate quietly passed S.RES.186
A resolution affirming the importance of a national weekend of prayer for the victims of genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur, Sudan, and expressing the sense of the Senate that July 15 through July 17, 2005, should be designated as a national weekend of prayer and reflection for the people of Darfur.
The House passed a companion resolution (H.RES.333) just yesterday.
The key portion of the resolution reads as follows
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the goals and ideals of a National Weekend of Prayer and Reflection for Darfur, Sudan;
(2) encourages the people of the United States to observe that weekend by praying for an end to the genocide and crimes against humanity and for lasting peace in Darfur, Sudan; and
(3) urges all churches, synagogues, mosques, and religious institutions in the United States to consider the issue of Darfur in their activities and to observe the National Weekend of Prayer and Reflection with appropriate activities and services.
This resolution appears to be the work of the Save Darfur Coalition, a vital organization that has done a great deal to raise awareness of the genocide - but what does it say about the level of US commitment to address this situation when Congress is unwilling to do anything beyond simply asking the American people to pray for the dying people of Darfur?
If members of Congress are truly concerned about the deaths of nearly 400,000 Darfuris, or the fates of an estimated 3 million more, they are certainly capable of doing more than quietly declaring a "National Weekend of Prayer and Reflection."
Save Darfur deserves credit for getting Congress to even do this much, but this resolution cannot absolve Congress of its pathetic failure to adequately address the situation in Darfur. If anything, it only serves to highlight the government's utter lack of concern.
The following is my material, posted elsewhere in a longer version.
As I was browsing recent legal decisions I came across this Darfur related case: Presbyterian Church of Sudan v. Talisman Energy, Inc. (2005 WL 1385326 for you lawyers).
The Church, among other things, alleged a conspiracy between the Sudanese government and Talisman Energy to clear out Sudanese Christians from possible oil-producing areas of southern Sudan. The complaint alleges that the Sudanese government was using Talisman airfields and equipment for its attacks. There are references in the complaint to specific incidents of government attacks timed right before Talisman began exploring for oil in certain areas.
39. Another Talisman airfield, known as the Unity field is used as military airbase for attacks on civilians in neighboring villages, including Kaikang, a village of 7,000. which was bombed and burned until it was uninhabitable. Recently, two Hind helicopter gun ships were using the Unity field as a base of operations for daily sorties against civilian targets.
40. GNPOC has provided vehicles for use by the Government in its war against the ethnic and religious minorities in the south. For example, at the end of 1998, GNPOC handed over some 50 transport vehicles painted in camouflage to the Government in a ceremony at Bentiu. When its oil development activities expanded westward, Talisman worked with the Government to establish a military garrison at Wangkei. Talisman facilitated shipments of four barges providing fuel and rations for this purpose.
41. In Block 4, Talisman began operations around the village of Mankien. Just before Talisman announced its drilling operations in November 2000, Government aircraft_bombed local villages in Block 4 wounding at least 50 people in an effort to displace local inhabitants.
42. In 2001, Talisman expanded its operations in Block 4. This was preceded by an extensive Government military operation which resulted in the devastation of at least 7 Nuer villages and the bombing of other nearby villages, all of which were inhabited by non-Muslim, African Sudanese. In March 2001, Christian Aid published a report linking Talisman's oil exploration activities to military strikes in the oil concession areas: "There is already concern about new displacement from heavily populated SPLA-controlled areas close to the town of Mankien in Block 4, where Talisman is drilling three new wells. Shortly before Talimsna announced the venture in November 2000, helicopter gunships firing rockets filled with metal shards wounded more than 50 people in a two-minute attack on Mankien. Ten days after the announcement, government Antonovs subjected the villages in the area to high-altitude, indiscriminate bombing."
The court basically held that corporations could be found liable under the Alien Tort Statute for war crimes and other violations of jus cogens, the higher laws between nations governing torture, slavery, extrajudicial killing and the like. It will be interesting to see where this goes now that the Sudanese have overcome all the challenges to this case going to trial.
Posted by Half-Cocked at July 13, 2005 08:30 PM
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