SURVIVORS' RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL

The State Department's Report regarding war crimes in Sudan, due on April 21, is likely to be wholly inadequate. Section 11 of the Sudan Peace Act ("the Act"), Pub. L. No. 107-245, requires the Secretary of State ("the Secretary") to submit a report to congressional committees concerning possible instances of genocide, war crimes, slavery, rape, bombardment of civilian targets, and other human rights violations in Sudan. Although filled with information related to these types of atrocities, the Report refrains from making any legal determinations. This omission guts the reporting requirement in the Act and frustrates congressional intent.

Legal conclusions with respect to war crimesÑessential to Congress's goal of assessing the situation in Sudan—are not a particularly burdensome aspect of reporting. In fact, the Report's contents reveal that the Secretary is indeed making legal determinations, just not expressly. Murder, rape, abduction, looting, and the burning of homes, all conducted on a massive scale to force the displacement of civilians in the Western Upper Nile, are discussed in the 2003 Report. Not coincidentally, these abuses fall within the definition of crimes against humanity under Article 7(1) of the Rome Statute. Similarly, the Geneva Conventions prohibit Parties from obstructing humanitarian relief, another urgent problem in Sudan and topic in the 2003 Report. The Secretary clearly is applying international humanitarian law to decide which facts to discuss in the Report. Without any explicit statements about how these assessments are made, however, the Report fails to keep Congress fully informed of violations of international law in Sudan.

In addition to lacking any legal determinations, the contents of the Report bear the mark of sloppy preparation. It apparently was a last-minute effort. On behalf of the Secretary, State Department officials working on the Report requested help from nongovernmental organizations this year on March 29, 2004, only 23 days before the Report's due date and 10 days before it was to be written. In this short time, the officials will draft, revise, and promulgate the 2004 Report—without ever setting foot inside Sudan to assess information or investigate.

In sum, the Report falls well short of giving Congress the tools it needs to deal with the serious situation in Sudan. This inadequate Report comes at a particularly bad time. Peace negotiations in Sudan, particularly over Darfur, have soured and led to an alarming escalation of atrocities such as alleged mass rape in that region. If the United States is to continue to exercise the leadership that Congress has deemed critical, the Report must accurately assess both the facts and the law incorporating legal assessments and analysis, and additionally legal conclusions when possible. Only with all this information can Congress—in accordance with its clear intent in the Sudan Peace Act—contribute to a solution to the ongoing tragedy in the Sudan.

Site development & hosting by Cyberian Frontier