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Skriven 2007-05-29 23:31:16 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (070529) for Tue, 2007 May 29
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President Bush Discusses Genocide in Darfur, Implements Sanctions
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary May 29, 2007

President Bush Discusses Genocide in Darfur, Implements Sanctions
Diplomatic Reception Room

˙ /news/releases/2007/05/20070529.wm.v.html ˙˙Presidential Remarks
˙˙Audio

˙˙˙˙˙ Fact Sheet: Fighting Genocide in Darfur ˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Africa

8:01 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. For too long, the people of Darfur have
suffered at the hands of a government that is complicit in the bombing,
murder, and rape of innocent civilians. My administration has called these
actions by their rightful name: genocide. The world has a responsibility to
help put an end to it.

Last month I announced that the United States was prepared to take new
steps if the government of Sudan did not allow the full deployment of a
U.N. peacekeeping force; if the government did not begin living up to its
many commitments, that the United States would act. I made clear that the
time for promises was over, and that President Bashir had to do something
to end the suffering.

I held off implementing these steps because the United Nations believed
that President Bashir could meet his obligations to stop the killing, and
would meet his obligations to stop the killing. Unfortunately, he hasn't
met those obligations. President Bashir's actions over the past few weeks
follow a long pattern of promising cooperation while finding new methods
for obstruction.

One day after I spoke, the military bombed a meeting of rebel commanders
designed to discuss a possible peace deal with the government. In following
weeks, he used his army and government-sponsored militias to attack rebels
and civilians in South Darfur. He's taken no steps to disarm these militias
in the year since the Darfur peace agreement was signed. Senior officials
continue to oppose the deployment of the U.N. peacekeeping force.

The result is that the dire security situation on the ground in Darfur has
not changed. And so today, at my instruction, the United States has taken
the steps I announced in April. First, the Department of Treasury is
tightening U.S. economic sanctions on Sudan. With this new effort, the
United States will more aggressively enforce existing sanctions against
Sudan's government.

As part of this effort, the Treasury Department will add 30 companies owned
or controlled by the government of Sudan to its list of Specially
Designated Nationals. We're also adding an additional company to the list,
a company that has been transporting weapons to the Sudanese government and
militia forces in Darfur. All these companies are now barred from the U.S.
financial system. It is a crime for American companies and individuals to
knowingly do business with them.

Second, we're targeting sanctions against individuals responsible for
violence. These sanctions will isolate these persons by cutting them off
from the U.S. financial system, barring them from doing business with any
American citizen or company, and calling the world's attention to their
crimes.

Third, I'm directing the Secretary of State to consult with the United
Kingdom and other allies on a new United Nations Security Council
resolution. This resolution will apply new sanctions against the government
of Sudan, against individuals found to be violating human rights or
obstructing the peace process. It will impose an expanded embargo on arms
sales to the government of Sudan. It will prohibit the Sudanese government
from conducting any offensive military flights over Darfur. It will
strengthen our ability to monitor and report any violations.

At the same time, we will continue to push for U.N. support, including
funding for the African Union peacekeepers who remain the only force in
Darfur that is protecting the people. We will continue to work for the
deployment of a larger hybrid force of AU and U.N. peacekeeping troops. We
will continue to support the diplomacy of U.N. Secretary General Ban
Ki-Moon. We will continue to insist on the full implementation of the
Darfur peace agreement. We will continue to promote a broadly supported and
inclusive political settlement that is the only long-term solution to the
crisis in Darfur.

America's commitment is clear. Since this conflict began we have provided
more than $1.7 billion in humanitarian and peacekeeping assistance for
Darfur. We are the world's largest single donor to the people of Darfur.
We're working for the day when the families of this troubled region are
allowed to return safely to their homes and rebuild their lives in peace.

The people of Darfur are crying out for help, and they deserve it. I urge
the United Nations Security Council, the African Union, and all members of
the international community to reject any efforts to obstruct
implementation of the agreements that would bring peace to Darfur and
Sudan.

I call on President Bashir to stop his obstruction, and to allow the
peacekeepers in, and to end the campaign of violence that continues to
target innocent men, women and children. And I promise this to the people
of Darfur: The United States will not avert our eyes from a crisis that
challenges the conscience of the world.

Thank you very much.

END 8:07 A.M. EDT

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