Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Special Envoy for Sudan Scott Gration held a press conference marking the fifth anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South Sudan. The Secretary quite rightly noted the increasing levels of violence in South Sudan and the fact that the situation in Darfur remains dire.
Additionally, for the first time publicly, the Secretary demanded that President Omar al-Bashir’s National Congress Party “use its executive order to suspend elements of the national security and public order laws that are incompatible with free and fair elections.” She added that “there must be no efforts to restrict freedom of speech and assembly.” Her emphasis on these onerous laws which have prevented the proper political environment for free and fair elections from being created in Sudan is welcome and long-overdue.
Unfortunately, time has run out. We are now a slim three months away from the scheduled national election date of April 11th. Last minute changes (and make no mistake about it, we are now in the last minutes of the election preparation process) to the national security and public order laws will be insufficient. The proper electoral environment and freedoms must be created at least 90 days prior to any election – and unfortunately we are now inside that 90 day window. As a result, we do not believe that credible elections can take place in April.
Unfortunately, it appears as though the Obama administration still believes they can. At the press conference, Special Envoy Gration said that he “believe[s] that [the administration] is working hard on processes that will allow credible elections to be had in April.” Given the oppressive security environment throughout Sudan and, in particular, the completely insecure status of Darfur, we do not see how credible elections will be possible in April. The entire process has been tainted by government interference and restrictions on freedoms of assembly and speech. The arrest of top opposition leaders and journalists last month by the NCP proves the point.
The administration must quickly recognize that free and fair elections are not possible in Sudan in April and be forthright about it. President al-Bashir’s goal is to legitimize his regime in the eyes of the world, and particularly in the eyes of the Arab League and African Union. This cannot be permitted and the United States must not delude itself or the international community into believing that the April election will be anything other than fraudulent. The time to work on “processes that will allow credible elections…” is over. The election campaign has begun and last minute superficial legal changes will not change the result. Bashir will win, and democracy will lose. It’s time for the U.S. to fess up to that inconvenient truth.



Now that the dust is settling from the release of the Obama administration’s 
This morning Secretary Clinton, Ambassador Rice, and General Gration all spoke of the “sense of urgency” in dealing with Sudan’s interlocking crises. Two breaking headlines from Sudan today confirm the urgent necessity of finding a durable solution to Darfur and preventing the collapse of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
