On February 10, 2011 Scott Gration was nominated by President Obama for the position of the U.S. ambassador to Kenya. Operation Broken Silence, along with many other anti-genocide groups, knows that Gration is far from being the right diplomat for the job.

In his current role as Special Envoy to Sudan, Gration has made many severe and grievous errors.

In March 2009, the Khartoum government pushed 13 of the world’s largest humanitarian groups out of Darfur. Coupled with these expulsions, three key national humanitarian organizations were shut out as well, cutting overall humanitarian aid in Darfur by 50% and leaving millions at risk. Although Gration said that humanitarian aid to the violence-plagued region has recovered, he failed to fight Khartoum’s decision and presented no evidence showing the said “recovery.” Humanitarian aid access to the Jebel Marra region of Darfur remains severely restricted today.

Scott Gration also has a history of cultivating false hope in the hearts of the Sudanese as well as his superiors in Washington D.C.  In the April 2010 Sudanese Presidential elections, Gration stated the voting would be “as free and fair as possible” despite several red flags warning they would not be. The votes of the Sudanese people were not rightly represented which was made clear through the evidence of fraud, voter intimidation, and the withdrawal of major opposition candidates from the election.

Going alongside these two specific, severe errors in judgement and representation of the stated U.S. Sudan policy, Gration also continues to be untactful, insensitive, and undiplomatic in rhetoric. As Special Envoy to Sudan, Gration represents the will of the people of the United States as well as the Obama administration's Sudan policy which includes a balanced approach of pressures and incentives.

While the humanitarian groups in Darfur were being expelled and aid workers being attack, Gration threw them under the bus saying, “We’ve got to think about giving out cookies. Kids, countries ―they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement.”

Another example of his inappropriate rhetoric was seen in March 2010, right before the national elections:

“A full-fledged peace agreement is not reached before Sudan elections scheduled for mid-April [there] are going to be a lot of things that are keeping us from focusing on Darfur… In the next two weeks I think we are going to see a real big focus on the [national] election. There is not going to be a lot of bandwidth to be doing Darfur and negotiations.”

Serving as Special Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration failed to stick to an important political schedule concerning south Sudan's referendum. This is seen most dramatically when he fell behind in preparing for the January 2011 referendum, leading the Obama administration to dispatch additional diplomats under the leadership of experienced U.S. ambassador Lyman to clean up the mess.

Under the leadership of Lyman, the referendum for South Sudan occurred on time and was largely free of violence minus a few exceptions.

The effects of Gration's continued belatedness are still taking a toll in Sudan. Main issues between the north and south have yet to be resolved, including final border demarcation and the Abyei flashpoint. Other issues include large amounts of debt for the northern regime, arranging means of citizenship for Southerners in the North, water/land rights, and creating agreements for oil-revenue sharing.

A recent assessment of the Darfur Peace Process further outlines the mistakes of Gration.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti recently stated: “The Sudanese have fulfilled an essential obligation. As far as world expectations go, we have delivered and thus our commitment to peace should never be in question. Normalization of relations should not be held hostage by Darfur.”

Under the misguiding leadership of Scott Gration, the United States agreed with this statement. Soon following the event, President Obama supported the general’s decision to “de-emphasize” Darfur and even further in considering the disregarding of Sudan as a possible state sponsoring terrorism, despite Khartoum's former and perhaps still-existing ties with the Lord's Resistance Army.  

The State Department assessment on international terrorism reveals that during the time Gration suggested moving Sudan from the list, “al-Qa’ida- inspired terrorist elements as well as elements of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and HAMAS, remained in Sudan.”

Though the decisions of Gration mentioned above have all been detrimental to the well-being of Sudan, his actions at a February conference involving Khartoum’s foreign minister, Ali Karti, imposed even greater amounts of damage and has set the international community up for failure in Sudan, leaving millions at risk in Darfur and the North of being enemies of the regime.

A Reuters report claims that at the conference:

“…Gration praised government cooperation with UN peacekeepers (UNAMID) in Darfur and defended the Sudanese Humanitarian Aid Commission’s restriction on aid agencies. ‘The government of Sudan has taken great steps to lift restrictions of UNAMID,’ he said. ‘We’ve seen great improvement of access for UNAMID and for the international NGO’s.’”

Despite General Gration’s praises, the people of Sudan, particularly in Darfur, were suffering from renewed government air strikes and Janjaweed attacks. The government would not grant the UN or humanitarian aid access into violent areas, such as Tabit. As a result, humanitarian aid began lacking, medical clinics were shut down, and a food shortage heightened. Many civilians died and multiple aid workers were arrested or run out of the effected areas.

Not only have humans been denied basic rights; but bombing campaigns have been initiated in Jebel Marra, people have been displaced, camps in Zalingei have ceased to receive food, armed groups have fired on food distribution points in Darfur, and there has been a large blockage on releasing humanitarian reports.

Serving just two years as the Special Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration has managed to further harm an already distraught nation. Gration has not been successful in his role in Sudan and will not be successful as ambassador to Kenya. President Obama should remove Scott Gration from his role in Sudan completely and recall his request to appoint Gration to the ambassador post in Kenya, especially considering upcoming national elections in Kenya could lead to additional violence similar to the 2007-2008 killings, which could have led to a broader genocide in a country the U.S. considers as a valuable and beloved ally.