Fwd: Patience and genocide rewarded…Trump admin to lift sanctions on Khartoum permanently
Elisabeth Janaina
From: Eric Reeves <ere...@smith.edu>
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2017 at 01:34
Subject: Patience and genocide rewarded…Trump admin to lift sanctions on Khartoum permanently
To: Eric Reeves <ere...@smith.edu>
Trump administration has decided to lift permanently longstanding U.S. economic sanctions on the Khartoum regime (see paragraph #8). Patience and genocide rewarded, indeed…
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"Sudan Ramps Up Washington Lobbying as Sanctions
Deadline Looms"
June 15, 2017 | Nick Wadhams and Jennifer Jacobs
Bloomberg News
Sudan is on the cusp of ending its long status as a pariah in Washington, and the African nation is bolstering its stable of lobbyists to ensure that it happens soon. The government of President Umar al-Bashir—which is listed by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terrorism—has hired Washington law firm Squire Patton Boggs LLP at a cost of $40,000 a month to lobby on its behalf as part of its accelerating campaign to ensure that President Donald Trump permanently lifts sanctions against the country ahead of a deadline next month, according to a filing with the Justice Department.
Under an executive order signed by President
Barack Obama in January, a temporary
easing of sanctions against Sudan would be
made permanent after six months if Khartoum sustains progress in five key areas, including helping the U.S. in the
fight against terror, allowing
humanitarian access and easing conflict throughout
the country. That would allow fresh investment into an oil-exporting nation that remains one of the
world’s poorest.
“That
would open a door to heaven between the two countries,” Maowia Osman Khalid, Sudan’s
ambassador to the U.S., said in an interview.
"I can assure you too that many major U.S. companies are knocking on the door right now. They are
just waiting for the report in July.”
Avoiding
‘Snap Back’
According to a letter included with a required
filing on June 1 under the Foreign
Agent Registration Act, Squire Patton Boggs
will help Sudan “avoid ‘snap back’ of U.S. sanctions” and help improve the $84 billion economy’s investment
climate. As part of the deal, the
lobbying firm will help Sudan “with its
economic development agenda” and “identify and
implement strategies to improve Sudan’s
investment climate,” according to the
filing. Squire Patton Boggs spokesman Angelo Kakolyris didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the contract.
The contract with Squire Patton Boggs isn’t Sudan’s
first with a Washington firm this year.
In February, Sudan hired Cooke Robotham
LLC under the terms of the January sanctions waiver to help advise it as it restructures its debt. The
contract was signed at a fixed fee
of $300,000.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s formal
recommendation to Trump on the sanctions,
which must be made by July 12, requires weighing a host of political considerations.
For
starters, Sudan is one of the six countries on Trump’s “travel ban” list of nations
facing restrictions on entry to the U.S.,
an initiative that has been held up by the courts. And Bashir continues to be sought by the International
Criminal Court on allegations of war
crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity
related to the unresolved conflict in the country’s Darfur region.
Sharing
Intelligence
At the same time, Sudan has shared intelligence
with the U.S. and is a strategically
placed ally in the fight against terrorist
groups even as it remains one of three countries listed as state sponsors of terror. The other two are Syria and Iran. Sudan was placed on the list in part for
sheltering al- Qaeda leader Osama bin
Laden in the 1990s.
While Tillerson hasn’t made a final decision, the recommendation from key aides involved in the process is that he support the lifting of sanctions, according to a person familiar with the decision who asked not to be identified because it isn’t public yet. Tillerson and the State Department must also weigh the likelihood of blowback if it goes ahead with plans to improve ties with Sudan while also proceeding with plans—expected to be announced Friday—to scale back new business links with Cuba because of human rights concerns.
The U.S. Agency for International Development
says Sudan has made progress in
humanitarian access—allowing in humanitarian
organizations and the aid they provide—but the potential change is questioned by human rights groups. They argue that the U.S. may let Sudan off the hook because
it’s seen as too important in
counterterrorism efforts to risk reimposing sanctions and jeopardizing the burgeoning relationship.
“The notion that humanitarian access is at
acceptable levels is simply perverse, and
completely expedient as an assessment,”
said Eric Reeves, a senior fellow at Harvard University’s François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human
Rights. “Nobody who actually works in the
humanitarian world in Sudan believes that
access is at acceptable levels.”
Khalid, Sudan’s ambassador, said the decision to
include Sudan on the travel ban list was
“understandable” and the government is
“exerting extreme effort” to meet its requirements.
“We are doing good in this regard,” he said.
Shaking
Hands
Other signs that the two sides are warming to
each other have emerged recently.
Sudanese newspapers reported in March that
the head of the country’s intelligence service visited
Washington on the invitation of Central
Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo,
meeting with him and then-FBI director James
Comey. The CIA declined to comment when asked to confirm the visit.
Trump and Tillerson shook hands with General
Taha al-Hussein—a top aide to Bashir who has since been removed from his post, according to the Sudan Tribune—during
Trump’s visit
with Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia last month. In
past administrations, staff would have
ensured that such an encounter never took
place. Because of the charges he faces, Bashir was
dissuaded from coming to the event. Asked about the handshake, a State Department official
said there had been no scheduled meeting
between Tillerson and al-Hussein, and the interaction was “entirely spontaneous
in the context of the summit.”
Sudanese
officials later circulated photographs of the two handshakes in an apparent effort to
demonstrate how ties were improving. It will take more than an easing of U.S. sanctions to
provide a big boost to Sudan’s economy. The
country was ranked 168th of 190 nations
surveyed on the ease of doing business in the
World Bank’s annual “Doing Business” report, lagging behind countries including Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
--With assistance from Bill Allison.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Nick Wadhams in Washington at nwad...@bloomberg.net;
Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjac...@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this
story:
Bill Faries at wfa...@bloomberg.net
Eric Reeves, Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights
Twitter@SudanReeves
About Eric Reeves: http://sudanreeves.org/about-eric-reeves
Philanthropy: http://ericreeves-woodturner.com/woodturnings-available-for-purchase-dire