On June 24, the House International Relations Subcommittee on Africa heard testimony on preventing and responding to war crimes in Africa.
Subcommittee Chair Edward Royce (R-CA) stated, “Africans have suffered catastrophic war crimes and horrific human rights abuses, some of the world’s worst…Resolving African conflicts requires a comprehensive approach to be successful.” Rep. Royce commended the war crimes tribunals in Rwanda and Sierra Leone for their “pioneering efforts to establish legal accountability in Africa,” and proposed that an international tribunal be created to address the atrocities occurring in Darfur, Sudan.
Referring to the crisis in Darfur, Ranking Member Donald Payne (D-NJ) said, “It is very important that the world reacts in order to prevent the ongoing genocide and holocaust.” Rep. Payne spoke of the “mass rape of women,” the thousands who have been killed, and the ruined environment. “We must act now,” he declared.
Testifying on behalf of the State Department, Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Pierre-Richard Prosper asserted that the Bush administration is “directly responsible for progress in ending the wars in Sudan, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Angola and Cote d’Ivoire.” The key, he said, is to “encourage and support states in pursuing accountability and credible justice.” Focusing on Sudan, Mr. Prosper noted the “reports of widespread sexual violence, killings, torture, rape, theft and detention of persons in addition to destruction of homes and villages as a means of warfare,” though he stopped short of labeling the conflict genocide. He confirmed that the United States has pressured the government of Sudan to: 1) take immediate action to stop the Jingaweed and end the violence and atrocities; 2) open up Darfur to monitors and human rights organizations so that the magnitude of the abuses can be understood and addressed; 3) end artificial obstacles to getting assistance to Darfur; and 4) cooperate fully with the African Union monitoring mission.
During the question and answer period, Mr. Prosper announced that Secretary of State Colin Powell will travel to Sudan next week, and that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to be there at the same time. Rep. Royce applauded Secretary Powell’s forthcoming visit. In his remarks, Rep. Payne highlighted the question of genocide, stating, “I believe we ought to call it what it is.”
Corinne Dufka of Human Rights Watch began her testimony by relating personal stories told to her by victims of war crimes in Africa: “I recall the look on the face of a mother as she described fighting to protect the last of her three daughters from being dragged away by retreating rebel soldiers. Of how a father was forced at gunpoint to watch as his young daughter was gang raped by rebel combatants, some of them children; and of a young man who had dreamed of becoming an accountant who described how rebels hacked off both his hands with a rusty axe.” She added, “And yet very few of those responsible for widespread and systematic abuses or indeed for orchestrating policies of abuse are brought to justice.” To combat these war crimes, Ms. Dufka said that several strategies are necessary: ensuring accountability for serious human rights violations; controlling the flow of small arms and light weapons; silencing hate broadcasts; and addressing “endemic corruption, weak rule of law, crushing poverty, and the inequitable distribution of …vast natural resources, which are the root causes of conflict.” Specifically, Ms. Dufka called upon the United States to:
