Friday call to action!

If you remember, on February 24th, we posted about the escalating crises in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states of South Sudan.

Today, we received this email from Act for Sudan:

They Can't Wait!

The Sudanese Government is engaged in a full-scale military assault on the people of the Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are at risk. To address these and other grave concerns, Congressman James McGovern (D-MA) and Frank Wolf (R-VA) have introduced H.R. 4169, The Sudan Peace, Security and Accountability Act of 2012. 

Please ask your Congressperson to co-sponsor the Sudan Peace, Security and Accountability Act of 2012. 

See video here.   <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLetZbzvVOs&amp;feature=youtu.be>  
 
Click here to learn more and to take action.  Please help spread the word!

 This is a one page summary of the bill:

H.R. 4169, the Sudan Peace, Security, and Accountability Act of 2012

Summary of Legislation

The “Sudan Peace, Security, and Accountability Act of 2012” would create a truly comprehensive strategy for ending serious human rights violations, promoting democratic reform, and establishing lasting peace in Sudan. Specifically, the legislation —

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Requires the Administration and all relevant agencies to work together and create a comprehensive strategic plan focused on all of Sudan rather than only a particular region, given that the Government of Sudan’s serious human rights violations have continually shifted to different parts of the country over the last decade;

Addresses the current humanitarian crisis in South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Abyei, while continuing to assist in Darfur and other parts of Sudan;

Increases engagement with other stakeholders with influence in Sudan;

Creates a broad-reaching sanctions regime to target any government or person** who support or assist in the commission of serious human rights violations, including those who:

o provide any military equipment to the Government of Sudan; o contribute $500,000 or more of goods or other support to the Government of Sudan or its

proxies and which directly and significantly contribute to the commission of serious

human rights violations; o interfere with humanitarian aid; o impede or threaten peace or stability in Sudan; or o fail to execute international arrest warrants against Government of Sudan officials.

Prevents sanctioned persons and certain family members from entering the United States and permits the removal of those already here;

Extends to all of Sudan existing sanctions regimes included in prior enacted legislation that were specific only for “Darfur”;

Blocks and prohibits sanctioned persons from transacting in all property, including goods and technology, within the jurisdiction of the United States; and

Creates tough but fair benchmarks for ending sanctions if the Government of Sudan halts the violence against its own people and works for genuine peace and democracy.

** In this bill, the definition of “person” means any “individual, group, entity, association, corporation, organization, partnership, agency, instrumentality, multilateral institution or financial institution”, which is the definition of the term under section 1701 of the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act (PL 110-174), and includes boards of directors and executives.