On June 15, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard testimony on the conflict in Sudan and the ensuing humanitarian crisis in Darfur. On May 6, the Senate passed a resolution (S. Con. Res. 99) condemning Sudanese government forces for their attacks against civilians in the Darfur region and the use of rape as a weapon of war. A similar resolution (H. Con. Res. 403) was approved by the House on May 17 (see The Source, 5/21/04).
African Affairs Subcommittee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who presided over the hearing, outlined the current situation in his opening remarks: “Just a few weeks ago, on May 26, the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement signed three protocols to finally end the conflict…At the same time peace was being negotiated between the North and the South, a new campaign of terror erupted in the western region of Darfur.” Rep. Alexander blamed the government of Sudan for the brutal campaign, “designed not just to root out the rebels among the population, but to systematically uproot and destroy the people of Darfur.” He criticized the United Nations Human Rights Commission for not adopting a U.S. resolution condemning the actions of the Sudanese government, and stated, “That body has become a travesty, condoning the very activity it was intended to prevent.”
Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Joseph Biden (D-DE) quoted UN officials who have called the situation in Darfur “the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.” He said that UN reports note “the widespread rape of women and girls,” in addition to the destruction of property and forced displacements. Sen. Biden commended the administration for providing humanitarian assistance and raising the issue of Darfur with the Sudanese government, but added that additional funding for Darfur is needed “now, not next year.”
Testifying on behalf of the State Department, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Charles Snyder assured the committee that “the Administration considers resolving the situation in Darfur to be one of its highest priorities,” adding, “We cannot and will not lessen the pressure on the Government of Sudan and allow what is happening in Darfur to continue in order to achieve a north-south peace accord.” Mr. Snyder confirmed that government-backed militias are responsible for widespread atrocities, including mass rape and the branding of raped women. “The perpetrators of the violence and atrocities in Darfur must be held accountable,” he stated.
Roger Winter of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) confirmed the scope of the tragedy in Darfur. “That men, women, and children uprooted by the war and ethnic cleansing will die in enormous numbers is no longer in doubt due to advanced stages of malnutrition and disease that cannot be reversed in time,” he said. Reviewing the humanitarian assistance USAID has provided since April 2003, Mr. Winter noted that “the U.S. government has already committed or pledged to commit $300 million since February 2003” in aid to Darfur and eastern Chad. He stated, however, that “security and access on the ground are absolutely essential prerequisites that are missing up to this point for mounting an effective relief campaign, no matter how well-funded the campaign might be.”
Mr. Winter described incidents of violence against women. “At one isolated location visited by USAID staff in Darfur last month, local leaders reported that more than 400 local women and girls have been raped by attackers in recent months; some women reportedly were raped in front of their husbands, compounding the shame and humiliation inflicted by the attackers,” he said. “We continue to receive reports of Jinjaweed (armed militia) branding their rape victims, presumably to make the act of rape permanently visible and discourage husbands from taking their wives back.” Mr. Snyder explained that women in displacement camps also fear being raped if they venture outside their camps.
John Prendergast of the International Crisis Group stated, “The current approach to preventing famine and further atrocities simply will not succeed…there is no overall strategic plan for preventing a killing famine and bringing a comprehensive peace to Sudan.” He listed the steps the United States needs to take now to address the crisis in Darfur, including:
Noting that “it was Congressional pressure that provided the impetus for the U.S. to stop the slaughter in Bosnia, confront apartheid in South Africa, and countless other cases,” Mr. Prendergast said that the Senate “should demand that the Bush administration develop a much more robust and comprehensive multilateral strategy to break the back of the emerging famine in Darfur.”
Julie Flint of Human Rights Watch spent 25 days in Darfur, in March and April of this year. She described the area she investigated: “I found 11 of those 14 villages burned there, and three, in close proximity to them, abandoned for fear of burning…Women of all ages had been raped often in front of their husbands and relatives in the aftermath of the attacks; in, around and on the way to displaced camps; and while they searched for food, water and firewood.” Ms. Fling said that the attacks “are carried out under the eyes of government soldiers, by men who wear the same uniform as the regular army, who carry the same light weapons as the army, and who often enjoy the support of the Sudanese air force.”
Ms. Flint commended U.S. actions so far in addressing the crisis, but affirmed that the U.S. should take the lead in promoting a UN Security Council resolution that promises sanctions and other measures against Sudan if the Sudanese government does not disarm the Janjaweed militia within a specific time period. “There is no time to waste,” she said.
