Bush administration misses key Sudan sanctions deadline, sends wrong message to Khartoum

Darfur groups urge prohibition of federal contracts with foreign companies helping to fuel Darfur genocide

WASHINGTON – A coalition of Darfur advocacy groups today chided the Bush administration’s Office of Management and Budget for missing an important deadline yesterday for implementation of a tough sanction against the Khartoum regime – the prohibition of federal contracts with foreign companies helping to fuel the genocide in Sudan. The Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act, which President Bush signed into law last December, directed his administration to amend the federal procurement guidelines to require any company seeking to receive or renew U.S. government contracts to certify that it does not have operations in Sudan’s oil, mineral extraction, power or defense sectors. The law called for the Bush administration to implement this new guideline within 120 days – a deadline which has passed.

Groups – including the Genocide Intervention Network, the Save Darfur Coalition, the NAACP, American Jewish World Service, the National Association of Evangelicals and STAND – stressed that federal contract prohibition, and the accompanying state contract prohibition authorized by SADA, will put much needed pressure on the Sudanese government. Khartoum is dependent on foreign investment to fund continued atrocities in Darfur and resist international pressure over its policies there. While the United States has taken action to prevent American companies from investing in genocide, European and Asian companies continue to economically support the Khartoum regime.

“Contract prohibition sends a clear message to these foreign companies that the privilege of receiving U.S. contracts will not be extended to those who fund genocide,” said Mark Hanis, executive director of the Genocide Intervention Network. “Focused pressure must be applied to Khartoum to change its behavior with respect to Darfur.”

One of the “highest offending” companies that will be affected by contract prohibition is Alstom of France, which is currently engaged in the Merowe Dam, a major Sudanese government-sponsored power project that has already displaced tens of thousands of Sudanese and will provide Khartoum with the resources to continue the genocide in Darfur. Alstom stands to lose more than $100 million in contracts with the U.S. government when the provision is implemented. Hundreds of millions more in Alstom contracts – including a $323 million contract with the Washington Metro Area Transport Authority to build metro cars – will be in jeopardy if states and municipalities follow the federal government’s lead in prohibiting these contracts as authorized by the law.

SADA is narrowly targeted to affect only those companies that provide Khartoum with the most funding and support. Of the hundreds of foreign companies operating in Sudan, only a small subset – the approximately two dozen companies that maintain the regime’s financial lifeline – would be targets of this sanction. The legislation comes off the books when the President certifies that the Sudanese government has met its international obligations to end genocide in Darfur.

In 2007, thousands of Americans lobbied their members of Congress for the passage of SADA, which was spearheaded by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL). The bipartisan legislation, which also authorized states and other entities to adopt targeted Sudan divestment legislation, passed unanimously in both chambers. To date, twenty-four states have taken action to restrict their Sudan investments. Several states have also begun to consider contract prohibition.
 
After more than five years of conflict and despite the as-yet unfulfilled promise of peacekeepers authorized by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1769, Darfur continues to be plagued by violence and insecurity. Since the beginning of this year, incidents of violence in camps and throughout Darfur have increased dramatically – including at least four attacks on UNAMID and the displacement of 100,000 Darfuri civilians. Additionally, just as aid organizations are scaling back operations due to increasing violence, child malnutrition rates are again passing the 15 percent emergency threshold.