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WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the vote count begins in Sudan amid continued reports of electoral rigging and widespread political oppression, leading human rights organizations call on the Obama administration to be honest with itself, the Sudanese people and the international community in evaluating the results.
Mia Farrow, Actress and Human Rights Advocate, states: "The incumbent Sudanese president is an indicted war criminal. He threatened to slice off the fingers of of election observers. The international community doesn't need a pile of bloody fingers to be able to point to the truth that this election is not free or fair."
The following advocacy group leaders are available for weekend interviews:
Mark Lotwis, Acting President, Save Darfur Coalition: ”Rather than confronting Sudan's regime and insisting on free and fair elections, the Obama administration and the international community has thus far gone silent in the face of voter intimidation, media censorship, and gross electoral irregularities. As attention moves toward the 2011 referendum, U.S. Special Envoy Gration must make respect for human rights a cornerstone of his engagement with all parties in Sudan.”
Sam Bell, Executive Director, Genocide Intervention Network: "The national elections are a wasted opportunity. Closing its eyes to widespread irregularities in the run up to the elections, the international community will encourage future manipulation of democratic process and violation of international agreements by Sudan's ruling party."
John Prendergast, Co-founder of the Enough Project at Center for American Progress: "As bad as the elections are, the elections are a real diversion from the issues that are going to determine whether Sudan goes back to full-scale, national war or not. By not responding robustly to the multiple violations of the electoral process, the U.S. sends a signal that emboldens the ruling National Congress Party and demoralizes the Sudanese people. We're not responding to the resurrection of the Lord's Resistance Army. We're not responding to the major offensive in Darfur, in Jebel Marra over the last couple of months that led to so many people being killed and displaced. We're not responding to the non-implementation of key provisions of the CPA, the north/south peace agreement, like border demarcation. The Obama administration rolled out the president's policy in October 2009, promising benchmarks, deputy reviews and consequences. Half a year later, we've got no sign of benchmarks. We have had one, inconclusive deputies' meeting and no consequences for all these violations.”
Sudan Now is a campaign led by a group of anti-genocide and human rights advocacy organizations committed to bringing meaningful and lasting peace to Sudan and encouraging strong American leadership and action to achieve this goal. The campaign challenges President Obama and top U.S. administration officials to live up to their promises to take strong and immediate action to help end the international crisis in Sudan and bring a lasting peace to SudanÂ’s people. Organizations participating in the campaign include Humanity United, the Enough Project at the Center for American Progress, Genocide Intervention Network, Stop Genocide Now, and Investors Against Genocide.
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