Gration on the Hill: Willful Ignorance on Sudan's Elections

Today, "schadenfreude" was watching Scott Gration squirm under intense attack by Senator Sam Brownback.

Among a variety of highlights (and lowlights) from the Special Envoy to Sudan's testimony to the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health today, one thing struck me as particularly troubling: Gration's apparent willful ignorance of the fact that the window of opportunity for "free and fair" presidential elections in Sudan has long since passed, and American taxpayers are bankrolling a poll that will likely "legitimize" a wanted war criminal.

Even if the voting process in April is relatively unobstructed and without incident, the political conditions for openly contested elections needed to be put in place a long time ago. Bashir's government has failed to fulfill its obligations under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement to reform the country's repressive security laws and open space for freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and other conditions necessary for unhindered political debate and the growth of independent civil society.

Sudan is a brutal police state, and the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) is keen to restrict the development and strengthening of an opposition movement that could challenge its hold on power. Earlier this week, a supporter of the burgeoning youth group Girifna, which means "we're fed up," was arrested for distributing anti-government leaflets in Khartoum, because such acts are still illegal. You can't wage a successful campaign when you are banned from criticizing you opponent.

Gration's insistence that the Sudanese people must have the opportunity to "express their will" misses the point -- of course they do, but under the current conditions, will the outcome of the April elections actually be an expression of the will of the Sudanese people?

If Bashir's re-election is deemed legitimate by the US, despite all indicators to the contrary, we will not be supporting the free expression of the will of the Sudanese people, but further burying the possibility of government for the Sudanese, by the Sudanese under the same authoritarian regime that has ruled the country with fierce brutality for the last 20 years.

[Photo: An empty chair awaits Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, president of Sudan, before the opening of the 20th session of The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) at the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Jan. 30, 2009.]