The United States must pursue a more aggressive policy in Sudan, including an embargo and sanctions, if the violence there is to end, according to John Prendergast, special advisor to the president of the International Crisis Group, an independent, non-profit conflict-prevention organization.

Prendergast was one of three panelists who discussed the genocide unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan at an event in the Hewlett Teaching Center last night. The discussion focused on the need for public involvement and the lack of decisive action from the international political community.

Organized by the freshman introductory seminar “Contemporary African Politics,” the event opened with a screening of footage from the recent “60 Minutes” documentary on the Sudan crisis. The producer of the documentary, Bill Owens, was among the panelists, as was Catherine Wiesner, a UNICEF delegate in the Sudan.

Owens spoke about the logistical challenges and emotional strain of making the “60 Minutes” special, while Wiesner emphasized the scope of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

Wiesner said that aid resources are stretched extremely thin, citing the 200,000 refugees in neighboring Chad and another 23,000 trapped at the border with no supplies. Although some problems have been partly addressed — such as the 140 refugee camps, steady inflow of provisions and basic medical care — she said the humanitarian workers “totally dropped the ball in terms of rape prevention.”

For example, many female refugees have been raped while gathering firewood, Wiesner said, so “the problem of providing fuel sources should be prioritized as much as, say, blankets.”

Like the other panelists, her biggest frustrations were with what she perceived as the inaction of policy makers. She recalled a “sinister quality in the lack of urgency felt when meeting with government officials.”

Prendergast focused on the failure of international diplomacy thus far in halting the crisis, particularly the “deep division” that has kept the U.N. Security Council from taking an assertive stance. He claimed that Russia and China have been the main opponents to intervention, largely due to their fears of weakening the Sudanese oil and weapons markets.

To complicate the crisis further, Prendergast said the Sudanese government has openly supported the Janjaweed militia in carrying out this genocide, calling it “a government at war with its own people.”

Prendergast expressed disappointment specifically with U.S. policy on the Sudan crisis, singling out Secretary of State Colin Powell’s carrot-and-stick policy of “constructive engagement” for not sending a strong enough message. Under that policy, he said, Sudanese officials have “consistently pocketed incentives offered by the United States while going on with genocidal policies.”

Prendergast proposed a strategy for the Bush administration that includes an international arms embargo, travel sanctions on Sudanese officials and the freezing of the officials’ assets. He also urged that the U.S. government use its influence in the U.N. Security Council to “call China and Russia’s bluff” on intervention.

“If they threaten to veto intervention in Sudan, then make it public that China seems to prioritize oil policy over preventing humanitarian crisis.”

Still, Prendergast had doubts about the Bush administration’s sway in the United Nations.

“Our moral authority, our leverage in the Security Council is so compromised because of Iraq that we might not be able pass the necessary measures.”

In the end, the message conveyed by each of the panelists was the need for public awareness and, more importantly, active involvement.

Prendergast encouraged students to join the “Save Darfur Coalition,” and outside the auditorium, audience members lined up to make donations and sign up for mailing lists.

“Genocide will be responded to only when there is a political cost for not responding, and that’s up to us,” Prendergast urged.