The following excerpts are from an article "A Last Blast for Sanctions" originally published in Africa Confidential.
A new report from the United States-based, Africa-focussed Enough Project proposes that President Barack Obama's government should use a similar range of finely tuned financial and technical sanctions against Sudan to that used against Iran to push it into serious negotiations.
Because of the involvement in Enough of former US government officials, such as John Prendergastand Brad Brooks-Rubin, its report could have a significant impact on policy this year. Also important is Enough's network of friends in government, such as National Security Advisor Susan Rice; the Ambassador to the United Nations and former genocide activist Samantha Power; and the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, Gayle Smith, who worked in Sudan in the 1980s.
Electronic monitoring
The Enough report, 'Modernized Sanctions for Sudan: Unfinished Business for the Obama Administration', argues that while sanctions which affect public health or education might be eased, those on financial transactions by companies and individuals belonging to the National Congress Party, and particularly the military and security services, should be tightened. The US Treasury Department lists 157 companies under sanction linked to the NCP regime.
Many international banks suffered hefty fines for breaking financial sanctions on Iran (now mainly lifted) and Sudan, notes the 6 April report: 'The spillover effect on the commercial activities, investments, and finances of leading military, security, and civilian officials associated with the Khartoum government has caused sanctions relief to replace debt relief as the regime’s primary preoccupation'. One of these banks was the French giant BNP Paribas, sentenced last May to forfeit US$8.83 billion for laundering money for Sudan, Cuba and Iran (AC Vol 56 No 11, Ethics question for Obama). The case triggered a rush by banks to 'de-risk', which bit so hard that Khartoum revived its campaign to get sanctions lifted…
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