Corzine’s Darfur bill passes Senate

NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS

With the killings continuing and international relief efforts faltering, the Senate last week passed the Darfur Accountability Act, which calls for international sanctions against the Sudanese government.

The measure — sponsored by Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) — was actively supported by a broad spectrum of Jewish groups, including the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the American Jewish World Service.

The government in Khartoum is widely seen as responsible for fomenting killings in the Darfur region that Washington has officially labeled “genocide.” The measure calls for a variety of U.S. sanctions, including freezing the assets of those accused of responsibility for the widespread atrocities and denying them visas.

The measure also beefs up the arms embargo against Sudan, calls for a special presidential envoy to the region, and demands “accelerated and expanded assistance to the African Union, whose peacekeeping troops patrol the region.”

In a region the size of Texas, Corzine said in a statement, the AU’s contingent of 5,600 troops is “grossly inadequate.”

In an electrifying speech at last week’s Union for Reform Judaism biennial in Houston, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright referred to the situation in Sudan as “volcanic genocide,” different from the “rolling genocide” that led to an ineffective U.S. and world response during the Rwanda massacres during the 1990s.

“In Rwanda, we didn’t do the right thing, and President [Bill] Clinton and I apologized for that,” she told the group. Albright argued for “more pressure on the government of Sudan” and more involvement by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

But she also said America’s ability to act in Sudan has been impaired by the ongoing war in Iraq. “Iraq has sucked our ability to do more” in Sudan, she told the Reform group.

Darfur activists see the Corzine-Brownback legislation as an important, if limited, step to increase the pressure on the rogue government in Khartoum.

“This legislation is crucial because it provides a number of responses that are urgently needed to deal with the ongoing atrocities in Darfur,” said Richard Foltin, legislative director for the American Jewish Committee.

Foltin conceded that the situation in the Sudanese region may be getting worse and that sanctions are unlikely to force a quick change in policy by the Sudanese government, but said that “we have to start somewhere. We believe the administration and Congress together can take effective steps to start that process.”

Corzine, in a statement, said the bill is “an important step toward helping the people of Darfur. The House of Representatives must take the next step. The situation in Sudan continues to be dire. Brutal killers continue to terrorize the people of the region with impunity. When genocide is taking place, we have a duty to act.”

“Sixty years after the end of World War II and the creation of a new word, ‘genocide,’ thousands and thousands of human beings are being destroyed simply because of who and where they are,” said Jeffrey Maas, executive director of the NJ State Association of Jewish Federations. “Any congressional action is important because ‘Never Again’ is happening all over again.”

A companion bill has been introduced in the House by Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ, Dist. 10) and Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.)

“We feel gratified that this unanimous vote was in part attributable to advocacy efforts we and other groups have spent on the issue,” said Stephen M. Flatow, chair of the Community Relations Committee of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, which in August 2004 helped forge a broad-based coalition to raise awareness about Darfur. “As Jews, with our unique history, we have felt compelled to continually involve ourselves in protesting this genocide.”

Chuck Grossman, vice chair of the CRC, agreed. “We will continue to make the appropriate noise — and put pressure on our congressional leaders to pass the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act in the House after the Thanksgiving break,” he said. “We also feel good that the leadership on this issue has come from two of our own — Senator Jon Corzine and Congressman Donald Payne,” the Newark Democrat who has been active in efforts to halt the Darfur genocide.

— JAMES D. BESSER