Reports

There is an unprecedented opportunity now to build on the positive momentum generated by the resumption of the Juba peace process and extension of the cessation of hostilities agreement. Urgent efforts are required by the Ugandan government and the international community to construct an overall peace strategy that has a chance to end this recurring nightmare once and for all ...

Absent political pressure from concerned American citizens and credible leadership and clear demands from the U.S. Congress, it is unlikely that the Bush administration will significantly step up its involvement in support of peace in northern Uganda ...

On the one year anniversary of the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA), there is no peace in Darfur. The two rebel factions that did not sign the agreement have fractured into many. Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) continues to pursue a military solution in Darfur, and violence and displacement are on the rise. During the DPA negotiations, the Sudanese government agreed that a United Nations peacekeeping force would be free to deploy once a deal was signed, and so the international community, led by the U.S., pressed hard for a quick agreement. This strategy could not have ...

Despite the Congo’s recent elections, the country’s East has plunged into some of the worst violence of recent years. In January, the Congolese government struck a deal with the dissident commander Laurent Nkunda to bring an end to fighting that had plagued the region since 2004, mixing his troops with the national army. After a brief respite, however, these troops launched operations against the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), the Rwandan militia with elements that committed atrocities in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, unleashing a new spate of violence. Over a 100,000 people have been displaced and dozens ...

Peace talks between the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) resumed this month in Juba, southern Sudan. The discussions yielded a renewed cessation of hostilities agreement and a quick deal on a road map for comprehensive solutions to the conflict, the second point of the five-point negotiating agenda. Yet deep uncertainty remains about whether the LRA will fully abide by the cessation of hostilities agreement. LRA attacks against civilians in south Sudan continue and threaten to seep back into Uganda. Mounting evidence suggests that elements within the Sudanese government, long a sponsor of LRA leader Joseph Kony’s ...

President Bush’s announcement today that his administration will begin implementing a set of punitive measures -- its oft-threatened “Plan B” -- against the Sudanese Government could have marked a real turning point in U.S. policy to end what the president calls genocide. Unfortunately, it doesn't ...

The U.S. has issued so many hollow threats over the past three years that senior National Congress Party, or NCP, officials will dismiss even a clear and direct warning from the President of the United States. President Bush must immediately end the dangerous state of impunity that fuels continued state sponsored violence in Darfur by punishing those same NCP officials.<br /> ...

The Government of Sudan has repeatedly ignored threats issued by the Bush administration and the United Nations Security Council. It is clear that the regime does not take these threats seriously, and will continue to flout international opinion until there are specific and escalating costs to its actions ...

In the absence of tough punitive measures in support of a new peace agreement and the deployment of a more robust international civilian protection force, the outlook for Darfur remains bleak. The last month has seen continued violence against civilians, mounting displacement in Darfur and neighboring Chad, and increased attacks against the African Union peacekeepers in the region. The Khartoum government continues to renege on previous promises to accept the joint United Nations/African Union “hybrid” force supported by the international community. It did accept an interim step that would allow a few thousand UN troops to deploy in support of ...

Despite Congo's peace deal and recent national election, armed groups—both national forces and non-governmental militias -- continue to destabilize large swathes of the East. Earlier this year, for example, Congolese militia leader Laurent Nkunda and the Congolese government made peace and agreed to mix their troops, in part to break down Nkunda's command structure and dilute his power. Instead, this integration or "mixage" process has reinforced his strength, rebels of the FDLR (the Rwandan militia which includes elements that committed the 1994 genocide in Rwanda) continue to prey on local Congolese populations, and civilians are paying the price. The army ...