_WORLD WATCH______________________________
______________________SUDAN____________________
US commission sees rampant abuses
Bush Administration promises a policy review
A US government commission on religious freedom sent its first report to the Bush administration at the end of January, asking for tougher sanctions on Sudan in response to reported instances of mass murder and rape of black Christians.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom was set up several years ago to advise Congress and the president on religious freedom abroad. Last year, the group proposed a military no-fly zone over Sudan and humanitarian aid for rebel forces. The radical Islamic government of the East African nation has been at war with separatists in the mainly Christian south of the country since 1980, leaving an estimated 2 million people dead. The United States considers Sudan a sponsor of international terrorism and imposed sanctions in 1997, but has not gone beyond a ban on trading or conducting financial transactions with Sudan’s oil industry.
Susan Rice, a former assistant secretary of state for African affairs, denounced Sudan for making “cheerful proclamations of change” while continuing to commit atrocities against Christians. Rice spent over six months cataloging the plight of Christians in Sudan, most of whom live in the country’s southern region. “It is important that we not be fooled,” Rice said at a news conference. “We don’t want to publicly prescribe policies, but it is essential that we not lose sight of the egregious crimes taking place in an attempt to force the religious conversion of an entire people.”
Commission members hope President George W. Bush, who has spoken at length of the importance of religion in society, will give new attention to the issue of religious freedom. “It is early in the game and we are uncertain of how the new administration will respond,” said Lawrence Goodrich, a spokesman for the commission. “But we are hopeful that this will be a perspective the Bush administration will look upon favorably.”