Calls for targeted sanctions, international support of African Union

Contact Brian Hart, John Rankin, Press Office, United States Senator Sam Brownback, 202-224-6521

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 /Standard Newswire/ -- U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today applauded Senate passage, by unanimous consent, of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, which would impose targeted sanctions and call for United Nations and NATO support for the African Union peacekeeping mission.

“I applaud my colleagues in Congress for working together so diligently to pass the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act,” said Brownback.  “The crisis in Darfur worsens each day.  The number of displaced people continues to increase, and so has the spread of potentially deadly diseases like malaria, dysentery, and cholera.”

The Darfur Peace and Accountability Act calls for the African Union Mission in Sudan to transition to a United Nations peacekeeping force with the assistance of NATO.  The bill also asks the UN Security Council to call for the suspension of the Sudanese government’s rights and privileges of membership in the UN until it promises to stop attacking its people.

The bill also calls for visa restrictions on any individual the President determines is complicit in, or responsible for, acts of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity, and imposes sanctions on Janjaweed militia commanders who have impeded the peace process in Darfur and have violated international humanitarian and human rights laws.  The bill also encourages the President to take all necessary steps to deny the Sudanese government access to oil revenues.

Brownback continued, “The international community must act now to bring peace and stability to the Darfur region.  12 humanitarian workers have been killed in the last two months, and aid workers can only reach about 60% of the people they once helped.”

The bill now heads to the House, and if it passes the House, the bill will then go to the President’s desk. 

Brownback visited Darfur in June 2004 and later authored and passed a Senate resolution declaring genocide in Darfur.  Brownback authored the original Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, which passed the Senate in November 2005.  In March 2006 he joined Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) to pass a Senate resolution calling for NATO troops to aid the African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur.

Brownback is a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations.