by senior contributor Brendan Kownacki
Photo credit: Brendan Kownacki
“This is pretty explosive stuff. We’re talking about the President and the ousted Vice President along with all of their generals. We’re able to prove, without any question, that not only are they committing these crimes which they have already been accused of, but they are profiting off it,” said George Clooney, summing up the serious nature of the report he was presenting when he came to Washington earlier this week.
George Clooney
Clooney, joined by actor and activist Don Cheadle and John Prendergast came to Washington, DC to present the groundbreaking and controversial results of a two year investigation performed by The Sentry, the name given to an investigative alliance founded by Clooney and Prendergast as a collaboration between the ENOUGH Project and Not On Our Watch, with their implementing partner the Center for Advanced Defense Studies.
John Prendergast
The investigation yielded serious allegations of war crimes and profiteering that reached to the highest levels of government in South Sudan including the President and former Vice President. South Sudan had voted for independence in 2011 with a conclusive voice and many people believed it was in part to escape tyranny under the leadership of Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese President that has already been targeted as a war criminal by the International Criminal Court. Clooney’s investigation confirmed what many have long since believed that the new territory of South Sudan is far from free of similar corruption. “Mass atrocities on its citizens, starvation and rape…all while plundering the state’s resources and enriching themselves and their families,” said Clooney with a heavy heart of what was uncovered.
Don Cheadle
Outlining their process, the group shared that they engaged investigators to dig into finance, real estate, business, social media and plain-old grass roots measures to trace back the corruption and find its sources, and this ultimately lead to the highest offices in the land.
Clooney aims to use the report as a launch pad for asking the US government to intervene and help slow or stop the corruption that is crippling South Sudan. While he admits that shaming war criminals into stopping their treachery is hard to imagine, the groups do feel there is vulnerability in the bankers, lawyers, realtors, construction personnel and other international actors who have knowingly or unknowingly participated in the corruption, and while the report redacts their specific identities for now, they are firm targets to try and stop the flow of money contributing to the problem. “We can either take action now or spend the next decade mopping up the mess,” said Clooney.
It was clear from the very first moment that this was not your average cause/celeb visit in The District. Clooney was surrounded by no entourage and walked up to The National Press Club for the event surrounded only by Cheadle and Prendergast who were step for step in his analysis of the important nature of the situation. The group knew their issue through-and-through and answered all questions almost defiantly wanting to be challenged and proved wrong, but their evidence says otherwise.
The government from South Sudan has responded quickly in the few short days since the report was announced and called the accusations “completely rubbish” as reported by The Daily Mail, though an admission was not to be expected.
Before leaving the press conference, Hollywood on the Potomac asked Clooney if he would be willing to get arrested again (as he was in 2012 outside the Sudanese Embassy in DC) if it meant more attention for the cause. Flashing a toothy grin as he departed for The White House, he said he hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
Find the full report HERE: https://thesentry.org/reports/
Take a look at Clooney highlighting the findings of the report at the DC press conference:
