Enough’s 5 Recommended Reads | July 13

Enough’s 5 Recommended Reads is a biweekly series featuring important stories you may have missed. 

1. “George Clooney and John Prendergast: An American Lobbying Firm Is Helping Sudan’s Vile Regime” (Op-Ed)
   In an op-ed in TIME last week, The Sentry co-founders George Clooney and John Prendergast called out powerhouse D.C. lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs for representing the Sudanese government in its campaign to permanently remove U.S. sanctions on Sudan, a government which is on the U.S. state sponsor of terrorism list and whose head of state is wanted for genocide.
2. “195 Congolese Civil Society Organizations Welcome Individual Sanctions Imposed by EU and US” (Statement)
   In a joint statement on June 8, 195 Congolese civil society organizations welcomed the recent sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States on senior Congolese government officials and their commercial interests for their involvement in political repression, human rights violations, and the obstruction of the electoral process in accordance with the political agreement of 31 December 2016.
3. “7 Organizations Urge Secretary Tillerson to Consider Issues Relating to Religious Freedom and the Persecution of Religious Minorities in Sudan” (Joint Letter)
   In a joint letter, seven organizations including the Enough Project urged Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to consider issues relating to religious freedom and the persecution of religious minorities in Sudan as part of any strategic review relating to U.S. policy.
4. “Reverse Course in South Sudan” (Op-Ed)
   In this June 27 U.S. News and World Report op-ed, Enough Project Founding Director John Prendergast argues for a revamped approach to peace in South Sudan. He writes, “The international actors engaged in South Sudan diplomacy should literally start doing the opposite of nearly everything they are doing now…Time to wreck and rebuild, aiming for a new approach that learns valuable lessons from the crushing failures of the past decade and refocuses on the most important pathways to a peaceful future for South Sudan.
5. “Updated: Progress and Challenges on Conflict Minerals Fact Sheet” (Brief)
   Enough’s updated conflict minerals fact sheet provides information about the 420 mines that have been validated conflict-free in Congo, Congolese civil society support for Dodd-Frank 1502, and general information about ongoing progress and challenges related to implementation of the law.