Note: This op-ed originally appeared in TIME and was written by Enough Project Founding Director John Prendergast.
Two of the three countries on the United States government’s list of state sponsors of terrorism — Iran and Syria — have been the subject of intense scrutiny since the early days of the Donald Trump Administration. All three state sponsors have long and complicated histories of engagement with extremist groups, and they all are autocratic regimes that violently repress independent voices and persecute religious minorities. Nonetheless, the third country on the list, Sudan, has been much less of a priority.
Yet the need to make a policy decision regarding that forgotten third country looms for the Administration this summer. A last-minute Obama Administration decision temporarily lifted a 20-year-old comprehensive economic sanctions program imposed on Sudan, in response to the nation’s perceived progress on five policy tracks of concern to the U.S. Then, a January Obama Administration executive order put in motion a process for deciding whether to terminate U.S. sanctions altogether in six months. Therefore, in July, if the order is not modified, President Trump will decide whether or not to permanently lift those sanctions…