Don't Quit Now: Bringing the Darfur Genocide to an End

Publication Date: December 2007

Publisher: Center for American Progress; International Crisis Group

Author(s): John Prendergast; Julia Spiegel; Lisa Rogoff

Research Area: Government; Human rights

Type: Report

Abstract:

Reading the headlines and watching the news about Sudan can certainly be discouraging. The litany of gloom and doom is well documented. The U.N.-authorized protection force for Darfur is being held up. Peace talks for that region are having difficulty getting off the ground. The peace deal in Southern Sudan is in trouble. And President Bashir presides gleefully over all this bad news, defying the international community and carrying out policies that—if unchecked—will lead to further war throughout the country.

What the media doesn’t tell you is that significant progress has been made in finally getting the policies right toward Sudan, mostly because of pressure from activists and the U.S. Congress. And if these policies are pursued with additional vigor, we have a real chance at ending the continuing cycles of violence in Sudan. This is the time to step up efforts to end the genocide in Darfur and consolidate the peace in Southern Sudan. We need to turn up the heat, demand real action from our policymakers, and forge links between those active on Darfur and those who worked for peace in Southern Sudan before that war ended in 2005.