Capuano, tackling Sudanese genocide, takes a longer view

WASHINGTON --At first glance, Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano hardly seems the type to crusade against genocide in far-flung Sudan.

Capuano is a former Somerville mayor, a neighborhood guy who relishes the hard-nosed street politics he learned climbing the political ladder. When it comes to fighting for his district, he can be as staunchly parochial and tenacious as anyone in the state's congressional delegation.

But Capuano these days is looking far beyond the Eighth District's urban precincts.

He has emerged as a leading congressional advocate for the victims of Sudan's violence-wracked Darfur region. Capuano recently persuaded House colleagues to approve an additional $50 million for peacekeepers there.

"It's been a tremendous help that he's been putting it on the congressional agenda and not letting people forget about it," said Liora Kasten, program director for the Boston-based American Anti-Slavery Group. "He's been instrumental keeping it in the public eye."

A three-year revolt in Darfur has left an estimated 180,000 people dead and displaced 2 million others. The United Nations has called it the world's gravest humanitarian crisis. President Bush branded the conflict as genocide.

Capuano insists his latest cause is simply the logical extension of the same hands-on approach to politics he learned in Somerville's rough-and-tumble neighborhoods.

"This is street politics, as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to genocide," he said. "This is not some social feel-good nonsense about how we all have to love everything. This is boots-on-the-ground, stop-killing-each-other, stop committing genocide."

Capuano says a meeting with a former Sudanese slave four years ago struck a deep nerve.

"I figured slavery was something out of the Civil War," he said. "I never thought slavery was a systematic thing in the world. And here was this guy, an honest-to-God slave. How do you look someone in the eye like that? ... It kind of grabbed me."

Capuano, a Democrat, wrote a resolution condemning slavery in Sudan that passed the House on a voice vote. He also badgered public pension boards in Massachusetts to divest from firms doing business in Sudan, but was rejected.

"I'm not foolish. I know I can't solve it," he said. "I don't go looking for causes of the day, but when one comes your way ... I can't sit back and watch it."

Last fall, Capuano helped found the Congressional Caucus on Sudan. He serves as a co-chairman of the bipartisan group.

He traveled last month to Sudan as part of a congressional delegation. He met with relief workers and heard eyewitness accounts of genocide and other atrocities.

"If this was happening in Europe, the Western world would be going nuts," said Capuano. "It's an area of the world easily forgotten."

Capuano, who has called for Harvard University to divest funds from firms with business ties to the Sudanese government, said Darfur's plight is starting to gain traction as an issue on college campuses and among many religious leaders.

"This issue is not going away," he said.

Capuano's efforts on Darfur reflect the Bay State congressional delegation's broad reach on a range of issues, according to veteran Massachusetts Democratic political consultant Dan Payne.

"Capuano may be doing something fairly unusual for a former mayor of Somerville," said Payne. "But it is not unusual for members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation."

Having a strong background in foreign affairs can help when a congressman seeks higher office. Capuano considered running for governor last year.

The state's congressmen tend to develop special interests, often in foreign affairs. Their relatively safe seats give them latitude to explore broader issues outside their districts.

For example, Rep. James McGovern has specialized in El Salvadoran issues while Rep. William Delahunt has focused on Venezuela and Haiti.

"Massachusetts is pretty liberal and thinks of itself as pretty connected to the world," said Payne. "We are pretty willing to embrace efforts to erase oppression and things like death squads."

Capuano's district has had an influx of immigrants in recent years as well, making foreign affairs more relevant, Payne said. Capuano's Darfur efforts are also likely to play well among Cambridge liberals and other like-minded voters, Payne added.

"Something like Sudan would be met with easy acceptance by Cantabrigian intellectuals," he said.