Former Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Sudan Jan Pronk addressed previous failures in the country and called upon the international community to take more action in a Charles Francis Adams Lecture last night.
The talk, originally to be held in Mugar 200, was moved to a bigger lecture room in Fletcher due to unexpectedly large attendance.
Pronk, who held his position from 2004 to 2006, was expelled by the Sudanese government, based in the capital of Khartoum, after he publicly criticized it on his blog. Last night, he had some harsh words for the way the international community has handled the turmoil in Sudan.
"Everything went wrong right from the beginning and everyone is responsible," he said.
Despite previous peace talks, Pronk said that "the current situation is bleak. There is no peace."
The conflict between the North and South continues, as does as the genocide in Darfur. The ethnic cleansing in Darfur is carried out by the Janjaweed, an Arab militia in Darfur, who "kill in order to spread terror and to intimidate," Pronk said.
Out of Darfur's population of 7 million, he said that 2.5 million people are refugees in camps.
According to Pronk, the international community is pouring a lot of money into relief efforts in Darfur and southern Sudan, but these contributions are temporary fixes rather than permanent solutions.
Still, they have led to many positive results and have provided "care for human beings," which Pronk described as a "scarce commodity" in Sudan.
One of Pronk's criticisms of the Khartoum regime is that leaders lack this compassion. "They have a total disregard for their own people," he said.
According to Pronk, the Sudanese government aids the Janjaweed through indirect means, such as plane bombings, which make villages more susceptible to attacks. The government, however, denies that it is involved, he said.
"The government is a regime which uses power and violence in order to stay in power," he said. The benefits reaped are concentrated in Khartoum, creating drastic wealth disparities throughout the country.
"Khartoum is booming. The middle class is benefiting a lot but nothing is invested in the south, the east or in Darfur," he said. "Inequality is growing within the Sudanese population and their policy is to continue that, to keep the status quo."
In terms of the United Nations, Pronk said there is ample talk followed by minimal action. "They talk about genocide, about what has to happen, but there are never any answers."
Pronk attributes the blame for the ongoing genocide to the rest of the world as well. "In my opinion, the world is partly guilty" he said.
Despite an early awareness of the situation in Darfur, the U.N. Security Council at first remained uninvolved. "They did not want to put it on the agenda," he said. "People knew exactly what was taking place but they didn't want to take action."
Though intervention was delayed and remains unsuccessful on the whole, the United Nations has rendered some changes in the situation. According to Pronk, the United Nation's decision to finance a protective military sent to Darfur by the African Union was particularly helpful.
Further United Nations intervention efforts are met with resistance due to the regime's manipulation of public opinion against outside aid. "The government told people that this is all a ploy to re-colonize Sudan," he said. "The story was that the U.N. is the U.S.
"It was a difficult situation," he said. "Proposals were only oriented towards intervention and there was no government acceptance."
The government, he said, has violated peace agreements which already did not have enough force because not enough parties entered into them.
According to Pronk, much of the resistance in Sudan stems from the ways in which world viewpoints have shifted against Western culture, changing the dynamics of international relations.
"There is cultural polarization with justified claims that human rights are being violated. Countries are now taking sides," he said. This has "paralyzed international decision making."
Pronk, however, is not without hope for the future. "There are a number of options that have not been used," he said.
Achieving unity among the North and the South is high on Pronk's list of precursors of peace.
Creating favorable conditions in the South "so they would see improvement and continue to rely on unity," is the best solution, he said. This, however, is contingent on gaining the trust of the regime in Khartoum. "They will only do so if they don't fear the North," he said.
He cited more pressure from the outside as one important mechanism of change.
"We should not be guilty by negligence again," he said. "We need to constrain the possibilities of the regime to further deteriorate the situation."
On the whole, Pronk advocates less talk, and more action. "We have to be very alert about the situation. Not only sit, talk, accuse and do nothing.
"I hope the International community will put Darfur and Sudan as a whole much higher on the international agenda," he said.
