Category: Blog

During a budget hearing in the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) highlighted a number of key questions and issues concerning sanctions strategies in Africa. Rep. Omar referred specifically to The Sentry’s recent report on sanctions effectiveness and inquired as to how the U.S. government develops its sanctions policies to include strategic alignment, clear messaging, and exit strategies. These are areas in which there is room for improvement ...

Click here to download this statement. The latest postponement in South Sudan of the formation of a government of national unity for another 100 days, along with the lack of implementation of key aspects of the peace accord, demonstrates the inadequacy of current efforts to promote peace in the country. Ad hoc emergency diplomacy and vague threats of future consequences will not bring about the full implementation of the peace agreement. Given the monumental failures by the leaders of the South Sudanese government and the opposition, the time has come for a maximum pressure campaign, one that is tied to ...

An important but under-reported piece of news on the Democratic Republic of Congo over the last few months is the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) decision not to provide a loan to the country until the Congolese government enacts key transparency and anti-corruption reforms. IMF loans are critically important for the Congolese government. If they move forward, they open the door for other, much larger amounts of aid money from donors such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank. The World Bank has already said that it could provide Congo with up to $5 billion in aid over the ...

Today, the International Criminal Court (ICC) sentenced Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda, also known as the “The Terminator,” to its harshest ever punishment: 30 years in prison. The long sentence handed down today sends an important signal to current armed commanders in Congo and elsewhere in the region that if they order mass killings or sexual violence, or commit other grave crimes, they will be held accountable for their actions ...

The U.S. Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Sigal Mandelker, has decided to step down from her position and return to the private sector. As Under Secretary, Ms. Mandelker was charged with developing and implementing U.S. government strategies to combat terrorist financing and money laundering, as well as other policies and programs to fight financial crime.  She supervised the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (OIA), and the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes (TFFC), leveraging the department’s unique regulatory and enforcement functions to help safeguard ...

Join the Enough Project for The Lemkin Summit to End Genocide and Mass Atrocities, this year’s three-day conference bringing students and community leaders at the forefront of the anti-atrocity movement to D.C. for a weekend of learning and action ...

The leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition, former Vice President Riek Machar, arrived in Juba on September 9, 2019 to meet with President Salva Kiir in an attempt to work out outstanding issues inhibiting the implementation of the September 2018 peace agreement known as the revitalized agreement on the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan ...

We have lost a great advocate and a great person. Richard would always seek to find ways to help and support his colleagues and cared deeply about his work as an advocate for peace in Sudan and South Sudan. I am privileged to have known and worked with Richard over the past decade and hope his legacy can be a role model for others seeking to build a more just and peaceful world ...

On June 7, 2019, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed S.B. 471, making Oregon the third state in the country to pass such a policy with regard to the State’s purchase of electronic products which may contain conflict minerals ...

Clooney and Prendergast write, "the U.S. Congress and Executive Branch—along with the African Union and European Union—have a second chance to create serious consequences for serious crimes and to invest in high-level diplomacy to bring civilian rule to Sudan." ...