A few hours after news from a blogger roundtable with U.S. Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, filters out (see here and here), members of the advocacy community spoke with FP about their reactions to his statements. Here's a few key excerpts:
ON MEETING WITH SUDAN'S PRESIDENT OMAR EL-BASHIR
John Prendergast, co-founder of the Enough Project and former director of African affairs at the National Security Council
[I]f the U.S. collapsed under the weight of perceived expediency and
sold its moral authority for some belief that meeting the big man, the strong man, would
actually be dispositive in moving the peace process forward, I think it would be a
tragic mistake. It would undermine what leverage the United States has, which is rooted in
part in moral authority and in part in its advocacy for those victims and survivors of the wars in
Southern Sudan and Darfur."
Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition
I'm glad to hear that General Gration doesn't plan to meet
with President Bashir. U.S.
officials as a general matter should refrain from meeting with indicted war
criminals and should pressure other governments to do likewise."
Sam Bell, executive director of the Genocide Intervention Network
What's worrying [about the idea that Gration doesn't rule out a meeting with Bashir] is that we're going to play this on Bashir's terms. And his interests aren't necessarily the interests of
the rest of Sudan. The advocacy community that I'm a part of is not suggesting, and never has suggested, that the special envoy should not talk with the government of Sudan. But that doesn't have to be done with Bashir."
ON U.S. SUDAN POLICY
John Prendergast
[We believe that U.S. policy, implemented by Gration, is] heading into dangerous territory in
both Darfur and in the North-South process...[On the North-South
issue,] a dangerous mistake that's being made is to allow the U.S.
government to be part
of a process that includes the [ruling] National Congress Party, [Southern] SPLM, and
United States talking about renegotiating elements of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. This allows us to be
perceived as willing
to renegotiate certains things that have already been agreed
upon...instead of
renegotiating things that are hard, we need to demand strict
implementation [of the peace process] and
work to build a multilateral coalition that is willing to impose
consequences for
non-implemention."
Sam Bell
What makes us nervous
is this narrative that Darfur is solved, Sudan is solved, and that all we need
to do is talk to the two sides, and the conflicts will iron themselves out."
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