When people know they're being watched, they're more likely to behave appropriately. A human rights group hopes to apply that principle via satellite surveillance to the conflict in Sudan. And they have a high-profile advocate: The actor George Clooney.

Clooney appeared on ABC News' This Week with Christiane Amanpour to discuss the Satellite Sentinel Project, which will monitor movements of troops and paramilitary groups in Sudan in the days leading up to voting on whether southern Sudan should seek independence from the rest of the country. Clooney appeared with John Prendergast, co-founder of the Enough Project.

Guest host Jake Tapper reminded them that President Obama campaigned on "ending the genocide in Sudan and getting tough with the government in Khartoum. Very briefly, George and then John, has President Obama kept his promise?"

"Yes, he has," Clooney said. "It's a tough one to keep, you know? It's a very complicated situation. It is going to get a lot more complicated. We met with the president. The president seems to be very much on top of the issue. And our job is to keep the pressure on to make sure that there's no slippage in that at all."

Prendergast was less definitive. "Well, this is President Obama's moment," he said. "You know, the United States is the biggest actor in Sudan. We can have a major influence on whether or not a deal is struck between the North and the South to prevent a war, and we can have a major influence on whether human rights violations continue in Darfur. That's going to take presidential leadership. He's become engaged now. We'll see if he can bring it that last mile."

The interview on This Week prompted us to look again at our rating of Obama's promise. The last time we checked in on this one, we rated it In the Works.

As discussed in the interview, Sudan has a major referendum scheduled for Jan. 9. It's widely expected that people in the oil-rich southern region will vote to split from the north. The Obama administration has been pressing the federal government based in the northern city of Khartoum to accept these results peacefully. Clooney's monitoring project is intended to prevent violence in the lead-up to the vote.

Darfur, though, is not part of the southern region. It's located in the west and would remain part of Sudan regardless of the vote. Violence in Darfur has been much reduced since the worst of the killings occurred in 2003 and 2004, but it is not peaceful. The New York Times reported in August that violence was on the rise in 2010, and deaths in 2010 could exceed the 832 violent deaths reported in 2009. On Dec. 25, the special representative for the African Union and the United Nations joint operations in Darfur expressed "deep concern over reports of continued fighting on the ground, particularly in Dar al-Salam and Khor Abeche."

Criticism continues that the Obama administration has been too soft on the government in Khartoum, offering incentives for a peaceful split with the south. "The international focus on potential bloodshed as Sudan moves toward its January referendum is understandable. But while we worry about the impact Sudan's division may have on the rest of the world, Darfur gets the short end of the stick," wrote Morton Abramowitz, a senior fellow with the Century Foundation, in a critical op-ed in the Washington Post.

Still, the Obama administration has done some concrete things. In November, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., traveled to Sudan with two Obama administration officials -- Scott Gration, Obama's special envoy for Sudan, and Michelle Gavin, a senior member of the National Security Council staff -- to press the administration's case.

"Darfur remains a critical issue to the U.S. relationship with the government and to the future of Sudan," Kerry said in a statement after the trip. "I made clear in every meeting that many steps on the road to improved relations could only be taken with real progress in achieving lasting peace and security in Darfur."

Gration made another trip to Darfur in December. An additional official, Dane Smith, was named a senior adviser on Darfur to intensify efforts. On Dec. 16, Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said that Darfur "remains a top priority for the United States. This is reflected in the recent appointment of Ambassador Dane Smith as our Senior Advisor on Darfur. We remain seriously concerned by the violence and humanitarian needs in Darfur, as well as the lack of accountability. At the same time, all states must redouble their efforts to stem the flow of arms into Darfur and faithfully implement the U.N. sanctions regime."

We see evidence that the Obama administration is pressuring Sudan to stop violence in Darfur. It's not clear that the pressure is effective. Until we see more definitive evidence on which way Darfur will go, we're leaving our rating at In the Works.