Obama Panel Sits Silent As People Perish

Over the past 20 months, the government of Sudan has carried out daily bombings against the unarmed civilians of the Nuba Mountains. Fleeing their villages, hundreds of thousands without access to their farms are suff ering the entire spectrum of hunger: from daily hunger to malnutrition to severe malnutrition to starvation.

And as they do, the Obama Administration’s Atrocities Prevention Board is absolutely silent.

Curious about what the board was doing in regard to the crisis in the Nuba Mountains, 50-plus scholars of genocide studies and human rights activists from across the globe sent a letter to Samantha Power, then-chairwoman of the board, in December. Power never responded. A second letter was sent in January.

Again, she neglected to reply. In late February aletter was sent to Steven Pomper, senior assistant director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, who is also a member of the Atrocities Prevention Board. He, too, never replied. On March 28, a letter was sent to another member of the board, Donald Steinberg, deputy administrator, USAID. And once again, there was no reply.

During the course of a speech at the U.S.

Holocaust Memorial Museum on April 23, 2012, when he announced the establishment of the board, President Obama spoke of the Holocaust. In doing so, he said: “We must tell our children about how this evil was allowed to happen - because so many people succumbed to their darkest instincts, andbecause so many others stood silent.” Ironically, and unconscionably, it is Obama’s very mechanism to fight genocide, the Atrocities Prevention Board, that is silent today. Why?

And why has he allowed that to happen?

In that same speech, Obama said: “Last year, in the fi rst-ever presidential directive on this challenge, I made it clear that preventing mass atrocities and genocide is a core national security interest and a core moral responsibility of the United States of America. Now we¹re doing something more. We’re making sure that the United States government has the structures, the mechanisms to better prevent and respond to mass atrocities.

So I created the fi rst White House position dedicated to this task.

It’s why I created a new Atrocities Prevention Board,to bring together senior oftcials from across our government to focus on this critical mission. This is not an afterthought. This is not a sideline in our foreign policy.”

Sadly, Obama’s board seems to be even less than an afterthought and a sideline to his foreign policy efforts, at least when it comes to the ongoing tragedy in Sudan. More aptly, it appears stillborn.

About three weeks ago, an aide to an U.S. senator, who wishes to remain unnamed, stated in an email to me that “apparently, the APB has not been active for at least several months.

Currently, it does not have a chairperson.” So much for Mr. Obama’s genuine dedication to genocide prevention.

There is another issue at hand besides empty promises, and that is the issue of transparency.

Time and again, PresidentObama has promised that his administration would be the most transparent presidency in the history of the United States. In part, he asserted that “my administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government.

We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote eft ciency and eff ectiveness in government.” Powerful words. A grand promise.

But when the rubber hits the road, both the words and promise seem hollow, at least when it comes to the Atrocities Prevention Board.

Not only does the board refuse to respond to legitimate correspondence raising key issues, but it does not have a website, does not have a Twitteraccount, and does not list email addresses for its main oft ce or individual members.

All of this is, quite obviously, totally antithetical to the concept of transparency.

While the board sits in silence, hundreds of thousands of people in the Nuba Mountains go without food and face daily bombings by the government of Sudan’s aircraft. That is unconscionable, but President Obama seems oblivious both to the tragedy and the shame besmirching his administration’s callous and cavalier behavior.

Shame on you, Mr.

Obama.

SAMUEL TOTTEN IS PROFESSOR EMERITUS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS, FAYETTEVILLE.

HE IS AUTHOR OF “GENOCIDE BY ATTRITION: NUBA MOUNTAINS, SUDAN.”