Susan Rice and Genocide
The UN Ambassador’s Tough Stance on Sudan Comes From Past Mistakes
Mar 29, 2009
On March 4 2009, the International Criminal Court upheld the indictment of Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan, on charges of crimes against humanity for the activity of government forces in Darfur, and issued an arrest warrant. The decision came as a victory for ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who initially sought an indictment on July 14 2008, although his desired charge of genocide was thrown out. It, also, received widespread support from international human rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch who trumpeted it as, “a victory for the victims.”
The indictment, however, has been a major cause of concern for diplomats invested in the on-going peace process in Darfur. It has been condemned by the African Union, and China has lobbied the UN Security Council to suspend it. However, in another indication of a clean break from the Bush administration’s foreign policy, Obama’s U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, has repeatedly expressed support for the ICC, and the indictment of al-Bashir. The Bush administration reversed U.S. endorsement of the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, claiming the court was a threat to U.S. sovereignty, and was reluctant to refer the situation in Darfur to the ICC for investigation. Rumors are circulating that Obama is now considering joining the court.
Susan Rice has long advocated for a tough stance on Sudan, which she has repeatedly stated is responsible for genocide. In 1997, as a Brookings Institute scholar, she testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to advocate in favor of U.S. military intervention if the actions of the Sudanese government in Darfur continue. Rice was a senior foreign policy adviser during the Obama campaign, and was responsible for questioning Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy experience, which was biting criticism, due to her position in Bill Clinton’s administration. She went on to serve as the director of Obama’s transition team for foreign policy before being appointed U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.
From 1993-1995, Rice was the Director of the International Organization and Peacekeeping Division of the National Security Council, and played a key role in the Clinton administration’s policy of non-intervention in Rwanda where she advocated for the removal of the UN peacekeeping force. In a 1994 teleconference, she was reported to have said, “if we use the word genocide, and do nothing, what will be the effect on the November election?” In 1997, Rice was promoted to become Clinton’s Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and was responsible for managing the response to al-Queda’s 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.
Susan Rice’s former colleagues reported that she was personally responsible for sabotaging the FBI’s efforts to apprehend Osama Bin Laden in the 1990s by advocating against any efforts to engage Sudan. In 1998, Sudan was reportedly anxious to hand over Osama Bin Laden to U.S. authorities, and sent a letter to the FBI offering to share information about terrorist networks. Secretary of State Madeline Albright gave serious consideration to reinitiating diplomatic relations with Sudan, however, Susan Rice was one of the primary people to lobby against it, because, according to a former Clinton official Mansoor Ijaz, “she was hell-bent on destroying Sudan.” Susan Rice, however, claims her tough stance on the Sudan is a result of her failures in shaping Clinton’s Rwanda policy, which she has promised to never let happen again.
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