In Sudan, where hooliganism masquerades as the rule of law, little happens without the government’s say-so. Given that fact, the bruising harassment of the entourage of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was an outrageous show of disrespect for her and for the humanitarian goals she sought to achieve.
For years, Sudan’s government has allowed or encouraged atrocities against the country’s black population. The horror has been hallmarked by starvation, mass forced migrations and gang rape. Although fragile agreements have been reached to end the violence, the tragic truth is that the hunger and the sex crimes are continuing.
Western nations can be criticized for not doing enough to solve the problem. Indeed, U.S. attention has been focused on Iraq, counterterrorism efforts, the standoff with North Korea, worries about China and the like. So Rice’s decision to travel to Sudan was an important demonstration of her concern over the crisis there.
The Sudanese government should have greeted Rice with due respect. Instead, security forces manhandled Rice’s staff members and journalists who were traveling with her – among them NBC’s Andrea Mitchell when she had the temerity to ask pointed questions. “I am about the only person they did not rough up,” Rice said as she boarded her flight out of town. “I expect an apology before we land.” She got one, but even so the incident only underscored Sudan’s pariah image.
The show of muscle overshadowed the reasons for Rice’s visit, including her conference with several victims of sexual and ethnic violence in Sudan’s Darfur region. Rice hoped to persuade the Sudanese to deal with the rape crisis that has persisted despite an apparent easing of the Darfur famine and fighting. Rice should be applauded for calling world attention to the continued, politically motivated violence.
Sudan President el-Omar Bashir, in turn, hoped to win her support for lifting international economic sanctions against the country. But the international community can’t trust Sudan will honor human rights accords when a diplomatic entourage gets roughed up during an official visit.
The Sudanese president should fire the officers responsible for manhandling the American delegation. More valuable by far would be for the president to heed Rice’s call to end the use of violence and rape as weapons of ethnic intimidation.
