Corzine AND Brownback Demand Accountability

On March 2nd, 2005 Senators Jon S. Corzine (D-NJ) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) introduced S.495, The Darfur Accountability Act, marking the most determined effort taken by U.S. lawmakers to date to end the genocide that has claimed an estimated 225,000 lives in less than two years.

The bi-partisan bill calls on the United States and the international community to take several specific and urgently needed actions; the enforcement of a military non-fly zone in Darfur; the appointment of a Special Envoy to Sudan by President Bush; the freezing of assets and denial of visas to those responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity; the extension of an arms embargo to the Government of Sudan; increased financial and military assistance to African Union forces; and a concerted diplomatic effort in the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on the Sudanese Government.

Citizens for Global Solutions commend Senators Corzine and Brownback for bringing S.495 to the floor of the U.S. Senate. We have consistently advocated for measures that will provide the international community with the tools and authority needed to end the violence in Sudan. The Darfur Accountability Act, if passed and enforced, will go a long way towards achieving peace in the region.

The bill does fall short on the issue of ICC referral. We continue to call on the UN Security Council to refer those accused of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity to the International Criminal Court rather than creating an Ad-Hoc tribunal that will further delay the adjudication of Sudanese war criminals.

The Darfur Accountability Act is cosponsored by Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Jim Talent (R-MO), Tom Coburn (R-OK), and Michael DeWine (R-OH).