Posts Tagged Scott Gration

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Statements from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on Sudan

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

Yesterday, U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The hearing, Sudan: A Critical Moment for the CPA, Darfur and the Region, focused on the United States’ Sudan strategy and the challenges facing Africa’s largest country as it prepares for a referendum on southern succession . Several Senators aggressively questioned General Gration about ongoing violence in Jebel Marra, the recently concluded national elections, implementation of the CPA, continued instability in Darfur, and preparations for next year’s referendum.

The Save Darfur Coalition and several of it’s core partners – American Jewish World Service, the Enough Project and Genocide Intervention Network – released a statement responding to the hearing.

You can watch Special Envoy Gration’s opening remarks above or read his entire prepared statement below (he was not able to deliver them in full at the hearing because of time constraints). You can also read the opening statements from Committee Chairman John Kerry and Ranking Member Richard Lugar.

General Gration’s prepared testimony:

Chairman Kerry, Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: I am honored by the opportunity to discuss with you today the situation in Sudan and the important challenges that lie ahead. As you noted in your invitation to testify, the coming months clearly bring a series of critical decision points for policymakers in Khartoum, Juba, neighboring capitals, and here in Washington as well. I will focus my remarks today primarily on the road to the referenda in January 2011, the post-2011 planning and capacity-building that need to continue at an accelerated pace, and issues of peace, accountability, and security for Darfur.

Prior to January 2011 there are a number of tasks to be undertaken in a short time period. The United States and the international community in general must be prepared to assist the parties in this endeavor to help maintain peace and stability in Sudan and the region. Before we look ahead, though, it’s important to take a moment to take stock of some of the most important recent developments.
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April’s Darfur Hero – David Rosenberg

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

David Rosenberg at the 2010 Sudanese Diaspora Summit in Pittsburgh. Photo Courtesy of PDEC

The Darfur Heroes program is a way for the Save Darfur Coalition to honor individuals and groups who have done inspiring and important work in an effort to end the violence in Sudan. This April, Save Darfur Coalition is proud to honor David Rosenberg.

David Rosenberg helped organize “The Way Forward in Darfur and South Sudan,” a Sudanese Diaspora Summit held on March 19 – March 21, 2010 in Pittsburgh. The summit focused on promoting dialogue, a unified Diaspora voice and recommendations on advocacy, capacity building, and the elections in Sudan.  David Rosenberg has been a longtime activist in the Sudan movement, and below are his words about his passion for the people of Sudan.


I co-founded the Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition (PDEC) in the summer of 2004 after seeing news accounts of the genocide in Darfur. I served as volunteer coordinator of the organization during my last two years as an archivist at the University of Pittsburgh and continued in this role after retiring. Already experienced in other community campaigns, I had been able to bring together diverse constituencies (students, retirees, religious and nonprofit organizations) in signature citywide campaigns which successfully impacted political leaders and media.

PDEC has supported Save Darfur Coalition initiatives in a number of ways. For the “Million Voices” campaign -an initiative to deliver 1 million signed postcards to President Bush demanding his support for a stronger multilateral force to protect Darfuris;  PDEC collected more than 15,400 postcards with help from student and religious organizations from Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania and Ohio.  PDEC collected an additional 15,000 postcards for the “Be a Voice for Darfur” campaign targeting President Obama, which called for the protection of civilians, sustainable peace, justice for victims, and accountability for perpetrators.

The PDEC cards included 4,704 signatures collected at President Obama’s Inauguration by more than 150 Pittsburghers who were part of the Save Darfur Coalition call to service around the Inauguration and Martin Luther King Day. When actor and activist George Clooney delivered PDEC’s postcards and 235,000 others to President Obama, he urged the president to appoint someone to work on Sudan full-time, an initiative which was influential in the appointment of U.S. Special Envoy Gen. Scott Gration.

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Election Intimidation and Delusions in Darfur

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Cross posted on the Huffington Post.

In scanning the news on Sudan early this morning, I came across a short item on Radio Dabanga’s website “Two opposition politicians arrested in Nyala” about a government security raid on the local headquarters of two national political parties. As I wrote in an article at The New Republic today, this type of incident has been fairly common place during the two-month election period in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan.

And then I realized that I had actually met one of those detained, Dr. Nour Al Sadiq. She is currently an appointed member of National Parliament representing the Communist Party. Along with her party, she chose not to contest the elections in Darfur. In a few days, therefore, she will lose her seat – and, as these arrests may signal, her limited protection from harassment by the Sudanese regime.

To check up on Dr. Nour—who in addition to her parliamentary responsibilities works with women in internally displaced camps—I called Salih Mahmoud Osman. Also from Darfur, he serves with Nour in the Parliament as one of two other appointed members from the Communist Party. Salih has received many awards for his legal and human rights advocacy since the beginning of the crisis in Darfur, and for these efforts endured a prolonged period of detention in 2004.

From Khartoum, Salih confirmed the arrests and that the security agents stormed their office in Nyala yesterday and seized documents and computers. It seems that the authorities targeted her and the other leader, Abdul Rahman Ahmed Hassan of the Umma Party for Reform and Renewal, for signing a statement with others this week urging Darfuris to not participate in the elections. Fortunately after four hours, Nour was released, but only after repeated threats and intimidation to stop these activities.

In our conversation, Salih expressed his profound frustration with current US policy toward Sudan. He said, “People are really really sad and they are asking themselves why President Obama and his administration have set such low standards for the elections.” When I asked him about the US Special Envoy’s last minute efforts to salvage the elections after a number of parties announced their boycotts, Salih brushed them aside saying, “He has lost the respect of most individuals in Sudan – except for maybe the National Congress Party [Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir’s ruling party].”

Salih, Nour and others right now fear what will come after the elections. In the week before the polls open, they have heard rhetoric from NCP leaders like Nafie Ali Nafie that begin to reveal the regime’s plans for a new painful chapter in Darfur and Sudan. At a rally this week, Nafie declared that overall participation of Darfuris in the election process will be high, and stated (article in Arabic):

“Darfuris will vote for the NCP to express their special relationship to the Salvation [the name for the Revolution of Salvation that seized power via military coup in 1989],” adding that Darfuris have sent clear signals to those trying to target the project of Sudan and the Salvation.

Nafie also promised the crowd that “Darfur will find salvation after an NCP victory.”

Perhaps what Nafie means by ‘salvation’ is what the International Crisis Group just predicted for post-election Darfur:

[T]he consequences for Darfur are catastrophic. Disenfranchising large numbers of people will only further marginalize them. Since the vote will impose illegitimate officials through rigged polls, they will be left with little or no hope of a peaceful change in the status quo, and many can be expected to look to rebel groups to fight and win back their lost rights and lands.

In addition, the report notes how “[w]inning big is…central to the NCP’s hopes of capturing enough votes in northern Sudan to ensure its continued national dominance.” It documents the numerous ways the NCP has cooked the books to achieve this objective.

The delusions of Nafie and the harassment yesterday of Nour and Abdul Rahman paint a bleak picture for Darfur and the rest of Sudan after the elections. It is clear that despite all of their protestations to the contrary the NCP and the Bashir regime have not changed. It is therefore vital that President Obama see these elections for what they really are: just a new device to maintain control across Sudan and avoid real peacemaking in Darfur.

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Darfur Now More than Ever

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Cross posted from the Huffington Post

In recent weeks several commentators have declared the Save Darfur movement variously as no longer useful, confused, or stuck in the past. Such assertions belie a misunderstanding of what the Save Darfur movement is all about. Darfuris continue to suffer, and as national elections and the referendum on independence for South Sudan grow closer, it is clear that the problems of Darfur will not be solved in the absence of major governance reform in Sudan, and conversely that the myriad of problems facing Sudan cannot be resolved until peace is secured in Darfur. Resolving the Darfur conflict is critical not just for the people of Darfur, but for the future of Sudan and the stability of the entire region. Rather than being past its expiration date, the Save Darfur movement is needed now more than ever.

The Save Darfur movement is perhaps, along with the anti-apartheid movement, the most successful domestic mobilization on a non-military international issue in American history. When the genocide began in 2003, few Americans knew of Sudan, let alone the distant region of Darfur. By raising awareness and communicating public outrage about the genocide to Congress and the Bush administration, the movement helped secure funds for one of the largest humanitarian operations in the world and hundreds of millions of dollars of US support for the eventual deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force. These actions have saved tens of thousands, if not millions, of lives, and have helped salvage millions of civilian livelihoods devastated by years of conflict and forced displacement.

As the conflict has evolved, the Save Darfur movement has matured. Mass janjaweed attacks on villages no longer take place with any regularity; prior to the recent Jebel Marra offensive, violence (thankfully) was at an all-time low, according to the United Nations. Our critics contend that our movement has refused to acknowledge that the face of the battle has changed; that we are adrift unless villages are burning and wells are being poisoned. We not only acknowledge that the contours of the conflict have changed, we welcome it. But success in raising domestic awareness of the issue and putting pressure on the Sudanese government to stop the most visible abuses does not mean that our work is done – in fact, much hard work remains.

According to UN estimates, 2.7 million Darfuris (a number equivalent to the population of the President’s home town of Chicago) remain in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. Over 4.7 million Darfuris rely on humanitarian aid. Compounding matters, levels of insecurity have only increased in recent months. A column of over sixty UN peacekeepers was recently disarmed and held overnight by parties allegedly unknown on its way to investigate claims of civilian deaths and displacement. Darfuri civilians, international aid workers, and UN peacekeepers all face daily threats of banditry; all (ironically) depend on the Sudanese government for protection, which it fails to provide. The scourge of rape plagues the IDP and refugee camps. Darfuri civilians cannot leave these designated areas of relative safety and return home because their safety is not guaranteed, and the protracted length of the conflict has made repatriation an uncomfortable and complex prospect, particularly for the hundreds of thousands of children who have grown up knowing nothing but insecurity.

While fewer Darfuris die today from direct violence than in 2003-2005, pervasive violent banditry, combined with the ever-present dangers of poor sanitation and hygiene, contaminated water supplies, and irregular food distribution poses daily risks. President Bashir demonstrated one year ago how quickly he can threaten the humanitarian lifeline when he expelled 13 international aid organizations, which collectively represented 40% of the humanitarian capacity in Darfur. Additionally, the Government of Sudan has failed to disarm the janjaweed and small arms’ trafficking has become a grave concern, so Khartoum easily could resume mass direct attacks if it desired. As I write, it is unclear what the current status of the fighting between Sudanese government forces and rebels in Jebel Marra is, or whether civilians have been intentionally targeted. Humanitarian agencies estimate over one hundred civilian casualties and tens of thousands of displaced civilians, but have been forced out by obstructionism and insecurity. The resulting silence is itself a condemnation of the lack of peace in the region.

In short, Darfuris today face different, but no less dangerous, challenges and they still depend upon international support to survive. Thus, there remains a political imperative for activists to continue to draw attention to their plight and engage with relevant domestic and international actors to build the political will to address both the immediate needs and the underlying cause of the danger.
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Women in Darfur: One Year On

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Cross posted from PHR’s Health Rights Advocate blog.

Last Thursday marked the end of General Gration’s first 12 months as US Special Envoy to Sudan — an event that closely followed the one year anniversary of the Government of Sudan’s expulsion of humanitarian organizations in March 2009.

In the course of the past 12 months, the humanitarian community and UN Country Team in Sudan have made significant efforts to rebuild programming disrupted by the expulsion of 13 international and 3 Sudanese NGOs — efforts that have been encouraged by the US Envoy’s office. Now one year on, however, the loss of specialized programming continues to challenge NGOs and UN agencies working on the ground.

As Physicians for Human Rights and numerous other organizations pointed out in a public letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last November, multi-sectoral programming addressing the vulnerability and needs of women and girls has been affected seriously by this disruption in programs and services. But broader efforts to re-establish programming lost in the expulsions have been unable to rebuild the base of gender expertise in the humanitarian community prior to 2009.

The range of women-specific concerns spans all areas of humanitarian programming in Darfur: specialized health needs; different levels of education; cultural issues concerning sanitation and hygiene services; and, not least, the widespread incidence of sexual violence across Darfur. There is an urgent need to improve the coverage of relief distribution to target women effectively, expand programming into rural areas, and encourage the mainstreaming of gender concerns by NGOs and UN agencies.

Even prior to the expulsions, the breadth and consistency of women-focused programming had suffered a number of setbacks in 2008, including the closure of many women’s centers, the suspension of psycho-social programming in some instances and increasing obstacles for NGOs to communicate with other agencies. In order to remedy this, we need strong sector coordination and the commitment of sufficient resources to the UN lead agency for Gender-based Violence (UNFPA) to implement the strategic plan designed to address these issues.

In response to this urgent crisis of treatment and services, Physicians for Human Rights has issued a briefing paper to the Special Envoy’s Office: Action Agenda for Realizing Treatment and Support for Women and Girls in Darfur, outlining the conditions of this crisis and immediate actions needed to realize both responsive and proactive programming to reduce the vulnerability of women and girls in Darfur and provide support to survivors. The paper outlines the need for a commitment from the US Government to expend the necessary resources for women and girls in Darfur and to establish a consistent message in the Special Envoy’s diplomatic relations. (more…)

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Women’s Day Reflections Must Be Backed with Action

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Last week, Special Envoy Scott Gration released a statement on International Women’s Day and Sudan, reflecting on “the unique challenges and horrors that women as a group have had to endure and continue to face in Sudan.” He described the women of Darfur and Sudan not as mere victims of events unfolding around them, but as key leaders and peacemakers. These statements are welcome. But as all Sudan advocates know by now, words must be backed with actions.

Aid and support for Darfuri women and girls

One year after Oxfam Great Britain had its license to operate in Northern Sudan revoked by the Government of Sudan, Oxfam’s Alun McDonald reflected on the lasting impact of the March 4th, 2009 expulsions:

Support for victims of violence, particularly rape and sexual assault, has also suffered. 14 of the 16 expelled agencies had projects working to support victims of sexual violence and many of the trauma counselling projects, women’s health centres and support networks that were shut down have not been adequately replaced.

In his International Women’s Day reflections, the Special Envoy concurred that since the March 2009 expulsion of aid groups by the government of Sudan, “many services for addressing gender-based violence and its consequences have not resumed, and the women of Darfur have suffered accordingly.” This recognition is welcome – especially after Gration’s early negotiations with the Government of Sudan on the restoration of aid following his appointment as Special Envoy failed to restore these critical services.

Its also worth noting that the US government – and indeed we as advocates – must take care not to portray the pre-expulsion aid environment as one in which SGBV services were widely available at adequate levels throughout Darfur. On the contrary, aid groups providing such services faced myriad hurdles even before the expulsions. Most importantly, the Special Envoy should explain how the US government is working to improve the availability of protection and human rights services in Darfur, in particular services designed to assist women and survivors of gender-based violence. Access to these services must be ensured not only in and around IDP camps and urban areas, but also to Darfur’s rural population. Recent violence in the Jebel Marra region has shown just how insecure much of Darfur – particularly rural areas – remains.

Addressing impunity

The Special Envoy’s statement notes only that “we should resolve to do better at ending impunity for GBV.” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice similarly declared last week: “We particularly are concerned about the importance of holding accountable violators who employ sexual violence against innocent civilians in Darfur.” Indeed, one of my colleague Sean Brooks’s primary impressions after returning from his recent trip to Darfur was just how pervasive impunity is in Darfur. The environment that UNAMID officials have described as “calm but unpredictable” can be terrifying for average civilians – and options for civilians to safely report acts of violence, particularly sexual violence, are extremely limited. The Special Envoy must go further than describing the need resolve to do better at ending impunity, and explain how the U.S. will work to end impunity in Darfur.

Women in the peace process

In his reflections, the Special Envoy noted that “On Darfur, women continue to play a significant role in peace process.” Gration must ensure that the input and recommendations of Darfuri women and civil society broadly are firmly integrated into peace negotiations. The Special Envoy has lauded recent progress made with the signing of a ceasefire and framework agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Justice and Equality movement, and is invested in supporting ongoing negotiations between these two parties and with other armed movements in Darfur. While these negotiations hold potential, they must focus on the specific concerns of the conflict’s victims, rather than attending mostly to the interests of the armed parties. The fact that the recent framework agreement between JEM and the Government of Sudan includes an amnesty provision offering “general amnesty for the civil and military members of the Justice and Equality Movement Sudan” is a worrisome sign that accountability remains a low priority for those negotiating.

As Sudan advocates, we must ensure that Darfuri and Sudanese women are not merely paid lip service on an annual international holiday, but that their capacity and concerns form pillars of the US’s Sudan policy. As Gration eloquently stated on International Women’s Day, “It is the strength, resolve, and leadership of the women of Sudan that will be the deciding factor in making Sudan a land of peace, stability, and prosperity.”

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A Hollow Framework

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

The big news as I arrived in Khartoum from Darfur earlier this week was of a “framework agreement” and ceasefire between the Sudanese government and one rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

The agreement was formally signed on Tuesday in Doha, Qatar.  Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir was there, as was JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim, Chadian President Idriss Deby and a host of envoys, including U.S. Special Envoy Scott Gration.  The agreement creates a “framework” for negotiations – basically a list of items to be discussed and agreed upon.

Notably, and worryingly, justice and accountability – which so many IDPs told us was important to them – are not on the list.  It also establishes a temporary ceasefire, although as with the whole framework, the details are still to be worked out.  A final agreement is supposed to be completed by March 15, a hugely ambitious – if not unrealistic – target.

Almost exactly a year ago, Khartoum and JEM signed another “framework agreement” and ceasefire in Doha.   It went nowhere, as have a sheaf of other agreements in recent years.  So there is ample reason to be skeptical.  Still, this year’s framework may be more robust.  It seems to have high level buy-in from Bashir and JEM leader Ibrahim.  And both sides have near term incentives to follow through.  Bashir  is running on a peace platform (“Symbol of Unity and Peace” says one of his omnipresent campaign posters) in the April elections.  JEM is pressed as a result of the recent peace agreement between Khartoum and Chad.  In fact, the Sudan-Chad rapprochement caused JEM to move more of its forces into northwestern Darfur, leading to a new round of fighting that promised to be devastating for the civilian population in that area.

To that extent, the ceasefire – if it holds – is definitely a good thing.  But although a step forward, a lasting ceasefire – even a final agreement – between JEM and the government is far from a final resolution of the Darfur crisis.  JEM is militarily the strongest rebel group, but it has a narrow constituency within Darfur.  Giving its officials a handful of government posts would scarcely begin to address the underlying problem of marginalization and exclusion.

Bashir traveled to Darfur after the framework agreement was signed and declared, “The crisis in Darfur is finished; the war in Darfur is over. Darfur is now at peace.” What we saw and heard in Darfur tells us this is plainly not true. The problem of insecurity is cited widely by internally displaced persons, UN officials, civil society leaders and others as one of the principal impediments to peace.  This day to day insecurity is felt all over Darfur, impedes a durable end to displacement and restricts the presence of NGOs and UN agencies in the “deep field.”

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Election Delusions at Foggy Bottom

Friday, January 8th, 2010
Secretary Clinton and Special Envoy Gration speak to the press on January 8, 2009

Secretary Clinton and Special Envoy Gration
speak to the press on January 8, 2009

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.

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Carter Center’s Wake-Up Call on Elections in Sudan

Friday, December 18th, 2009
Sudanese women registering to vote

Sudanese women registering to vote

A new report by the Carter Center on Sudan’s elections expresses grave concerns about recent security crackdowns. The report should serve as an urgent wake-up call for the international community that the necessary conditions for free and fair elections currently do not exist in Sudan. Instead, the lack of political freedoms and the gross registration violations, especially in Darfur, shed clear light on the ruling National Congress Party’s intentions for these elections: a fraudulent process designed to legitimize its undemocratic, repressive and genocidal rule.

Jerry Fowler, Save Darfur’s president, stated in a press release today:

The Carter Center’s report came as no surprise. Sudanese civil society and opposition leaders for the last two weeks have been speaking out loudly about the gross human rights and elections violations of a repressive regime. By and large, the international community has remained quiet while these activists and opposition leaders have been threatened, harassed, and beaten throughout Sudan.  The situation, as the Carter Center report acknowledges, is even more severe in Darfur. The heavy military and intelligence presence at the registration sites and the lack of even the basic freedoms make it impossible for the people of Darfur to participate in a credible elections process.

Given the alarming nature of the Carter Center’s report, Save Darfur has urged the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, General Scott Gration, to work with his international counterparts and demand answers from the Sudanese government on the following issues:

Lack of Basic Freedoms. Several recent incidents – such as the crackdown on protesters in Khartoum and the beating and detentions of journalists – have clearly demonstrated the lack of political rights and freedoms in Sudan necessary for free and fair elections.

The Carter Center reported:

  • [T]he Center…expressed serious concerns about incidents that undermine political rights and fundamental freedoms in Sudan, including: arrests, detention and harassment of civil society and political party members for constitutional and peaceful activity in Khartoum and other cities by security services, and attacks on the National Congress Party (NCP) premises in Wau and Rumbek. (more…)
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Sudan Hearing on Capitol Hill TODAY

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

This morning U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration is testifying before the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health. We will be live-tweeting the hearing, “A Review of the Administration’s New Policy and A Situation Update,” this morning so you can see what’s happening on Capitol Hill.

Update: The hearing has concluded. You can see our live-tweets after the jump or read a complete write-up of the hearing on our blog.

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