October 30, 2007
Carter delivers address on Sudan
Former president Jimmy Carter spoke Wednesday about his recent trip to Sudan before an audience of students, faculty, staff, and dignitaries at American University.
The 39th president traveled to the troubled North African nation from Sept. 29 through Oct. 4 as part of a delegation from the Elders, a group of international leaders assembled by Nelson Mandela to address some of the world’s toughest problems.
Sudan certainly qualifies. The northern and southern parts of the country currently are coexisting under a fragile comprehensive peace agreement, with elections scheduled for 2009. Meanwhile, in the northwestern region of Darfur, under the umbrella of a separate shaky peace accord signed by just one of the multiple rebel groups, violence perpetrated by Arab militias called the Janjaweed continues against black Muslims. In addition, Darfuri rebel groups are fighting amongst themselves, Carter said. To date, 200,000 Darfuris have been killed, and more than 2 million people displaced from their homes.
“It’s a complex, troubling situation, and we hope that the Elders at least can induce the international community to retain an intense interest there, and to punish, with threats and means, any organized group or leader who might threaten either the Darfur peace agreement or the comprehensive peace agreement,” Carter told the audience in the Katzen Arts Center’s Abramson Family Recital Hall.
Just two days after celebrating his 83rd birthday, Carter awoke at 5 a.m. in a small house with no electricity in Darfur, and embarked on a strenuous day that included a tour of a displaced persons camp. Robert Pastor, AU’s vice president of international affairs, has known Carter for more than three decades and continues to marvel at his passion and vigor.
“He’s the youngest, most energetic elder that you will ever meet,” said Pastor, who organized the mission to Sudan as interim codirector of the Elders.
The group was created by Mandela on his 89th birthday. It includes such leaders as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, and former Irish president Mary Robinson.
“In July I was asked to participate in an unprecedented, exciting, promising, hopeful new organization called the Elders,” he said. “We are people who have served in positions of great authority and influence and power. We are very grateful that in this first phase of our evolution, our birth, that American University has played the key role. Not only has the university loaned us Dr. Pastor, but also the staff here has been just absolutely superb in their service.”
Rober Pastor, interim codirector of the Elders and an AU VP, shares the stage with President Neil Kerwin and former president Jimmy Carter. (Photo by Jeff Watts)
Carter has been traveling to Sudan regularly since 1988, and he recounted the country’s violent and fractured past, which includes a civil war between the primarily Muslim north and Christian south that claimed the lives of 2 million people. A peace accord was reached between the two sides in 2005, an accomplishment for which Carter in part credits President George W. Bush, but the discovery of oil along the disputed north-south border has thrown that agreement into peril.
“Our No. 1 hope is that the comprehensive peace agreement between the north and the south can be maintained to prevent the entire nation from breaking out in war,” Carter said. “One facet of that is the scheduled elections taking place in 2009.”
The Carter Center, founded by the former president 25 years ago to promote democracy and human rights around the globe, has been asked by both sides to help oversee the elections, but Carter is skeptical that either party actually desires a free and fair contest. The organization is now exploring the possibility of serving as a monitor.
In Darfur, a separate conflict between the government and rebels continues to rage.
“Both sides are now in an uncontrollable situation where the government is not orchestrating the attacks, but is responsible for initiating them,” he said. “In the villages that I visited, all of the citizens . . . said they couldn’t go outside the city limit to collect water or gather firewood without the women being raped or the men being attacked. It is a lawless area that is enormous in size that is now waiting for international protection and support, which is not yet forthcoming. That is not a pleasant assessment, but I believe it is an accurate assessment.
“If you came to hear this presentation hoping to see an easy answer to a solution, there is none,” Carter said. “But I hope I have convinced you how hard the issues are, and how all of us, Americans and others, need to join in to be part of the responsibility of helping ensure the agreements are fulfilled. We pray for peace and stability, and that’s what the people of Sudan also want.”
