[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 55 (Monday, May 9, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: May 9, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
CALL FOR SPECIAL ENVOY TO SUDAN
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, today I come to the floor to share my very
deep disappointment with the Clinton administration for not appointing
a special envoy for Sudan. Those of us who listened to the news
yesterday saw that the President appointed a special envoy, a former
colleague of ours, Bill Gray, former Congressman from Pennsylvania from
Philadelphia, to be a special envoy to Haiti.
{time} 1300
That is fine, Mr. Speaker. We commend him for appointing Mr. Gray,
and we would hope and pray that Mr. Gray is successful in bringing an
end to the violence that is taking place with the dictatorship in
Haiti.
Having said that, Mr. Speaker, we wonder why President Clinton has
been negligent for not appointing a special envoy to Sudan. Nine months
ago, Mr. Speaker, and countless thousands of lives ago, I first wrote
the President urging the immediate appointment of a high profile envoy
to address the worsening crisis in Sudan.
As many people know, Mr. Speaker, in Sudan in the last 10 years, 1.4
million people have died of famine and starvation and have been killed
in the fight that has taken place in southern Sudan. In southern Sudan
we have black Christians who are being persecuted for their faith, and
yet we get very little response from the West.
In spite of the promises earlier this year that the administration
made that they would appoint a special envoy, this crucial post has not
been filled. Mr. Speaker, let me ready to the Members a resolution that
the House and the Congress passed on November 22, 1991, under the
leadership of the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Johnston], who has done
yeoman work on this issue. When this resolution passed, I still
remember that it was just hours before the Congress adjourned to leave
for the Thanksgiving recess, to go home and have turkey with all the
trimmings and all the food while the people of southern Sudan had
absolutely nothing. In that resolution, on page 5, we called upon the
President to appoint a special representative for mediation and
reconciliation and peace in humanitarian affairs in Sudan.
Also, Mr. Speaker, on September 22, 1993--how the time passes; how
many people have died since then--a number of the Members of Congress
wrote to Secretary Christopher saying this: ``Mr. Secretary, we are
writing to express our continued concern about the situation in Sudan
and to offer some recommendations.''
We went on to say this: ``In recent months humanitarian and political
conditions have deteriorated significantly. An estimated 500,000 people
have died in the past 2 years while 2 million southern Sudanese have
been displaced internally. Moreover, the United States has a moral
responsibility to help the victims of the 10-year-old civil war and
people who have escaped the notice of the community of nations.
Ignoring the plight of millions of citizens of Sudan need not become a
viable option.''
Then we went on to say, among many other things: ``We strongly
recommend the United States appoint a special envoy for mediation and
reconciliation.'' And yet, not to belittle the situation in Haiti
because it is a serious situation, many more have died in southern
Sudan than have died in Bosnia and Haiti combined. Yet we get nothing
from the Clinton administration. We get rhetoric, words, and facial
expressions, but we got nothing else during this period of time.
Also, before I came over, I pulled out a letter that the President
sent to me, along with many other letters, saying the same thing. This
is April 6, 1994. This is what he said:
Dear Representative Wolf: Thank you for your recent letter
regarding the situation in Sudan. As you know, ending the
conflict and human suffering in Sudan is one of my highest
priorities in Africa.
I ask if this is true. If it were the highest priority in Africa,
they would have had a special envoy appointed, and we are no closer
than we were when Congress passed the resolution in November of last
year.
Mr. Speaker, since August the Sudanese Government has launched its
greatest offensive to date against the helpless southern Sudanese,
bombing innocent civilians and forcing refugees to flee from what they
call the triple A camps and the scarce safe havens during much of the
war.
Mr. Speaker, I have been in southern Sudan three times in the last
several years. The last time was in January of last year, and I took a
series of pictures.
I do not know if the camera can pick up on these pictures, but this
was in that area we call the triple A camps, and here is a young boy
who probably had only about 30 percent of his body weight then. He
almost certainly perhaps died several days or weeks after I left this
camp.
We also, Mr. Speaker, have another picture of another camp. We can
see the extended stomachs of most of these young boys who have lost
their moms and dads. Many have had to swim in crocodile-infested
rivers. In southern Sudan, it is not like you having the Red Cross in
these camps or these camps being someplace where there is plenty of
help and supplies. The temperature is about 110 degrees in the shade,
and yet there is very little shade. They have very little, if any,
clothing. They have no food to speak of except a little porridge once
and sometimes twice a day. They get water from polluted streams where
cattle and animals and everyone goes to the bathroom in the streams.
The streams are very, very polluted.
They get a few supplies of what you would call medicine, like maybe
an aspirin or two, but it is like being sick with the flu with a 104-
degree temperature.
Think about that, how it was the last time you were sick. And they
have no medicine; but you had medicine. They have no place to lie; but
you had a place to lie in bed. The chances are you had a loved one who
stayed home to take care of you; they have no one there to take care of
them. The water is polluted.
But on top of that, Mr. Speaker, they bomb them almost every day.
High-altitude bombers come in from the Khartoum government in northern
Sudan, killing these people. Yet we get no action on the part of the
Clinton administration.
Here is another picture of a refugee camp, and we can see many of
them are very, very young people. Mr. Speaker, we ask the President to
imagine his own child. Imagine our sons and daughters living in an
environment like this, with high-altitude bombing coming on top of
them. And, Mr. Speaker, the President has not appointed a special envoy
after 6 months? I say, Mr. Speaker, shame on the President. He had an
opportunity, and he has failed. He has failed the people in southern
Sudan, and he has failed the history this great country has had.
I can remember when President Jimmy Carter sensitized this country
and sensitized this world for human rights. Probably very few people
have done more than President Carter to stand up for human rights
around the world, and, frankly, this Clinton administration has done
almost nothing. It appointed a special envoy for Haiti, and I say,
congratulations, but we have not seen it do very much in other areas of
the world. The fact is we have seen it do absolutely nothing, Mr.
Speaker, the President and the State Department, has failed to do what
it knows is right and what it said it was going to do.
This closing picture is taken of a mother with a little boy. I don't
know if the television camera will pick this up to clearly see the ribs
of this young boy. He probably died several days or maybe several hours
after we left the camp. This is a TB hospital, too.
{time} 1310
The people had TB and were sick with all kinds of diseases, and yet
nobody has gone to their aid. Hundreds of thousands have died since
that time.
Mr. Speaker, millions--millions, we are not using the word lightly as
sometimes you use the words thousands and millions--millions are at
risk of starvation. Even as the Clinton administration has put on hold
the special envoy's appointment and much needed Security Council
attention in the United Nations to Sudan, deferring to largely
ineffective IGGAD talks.
Mr. Speaker, in fairness, I want to recognize the National Security
Advisor, Anthonly Lake's leadership on this issue, and the good
proposals out of the National Security Council to address the worsening
crisis in the Sudan. I will give good marks to the National Security
Council, and I will give good marks to Tony Lake. But I would flunk the
President of the United States for this failure to let so many continue
to die everyday.
Hopefully, by the end of this day, if the President wants to be
consistent, having appointed a Special Envoy to Haiti, he will quickly
by the end of this week or end of this day, Mr. Speaker, appoint a
Special Envoy to southern Sudan.
Now, the good thing about Haiti is that Americans know what is going
on in Haiti, because we are able to go to Haiti. Fortunately, the press
has done a relatively good job of letting the world know. But no one
goes to southern Sudan. It is dangerous. You might die in southern
Sudan. So we do not see every day what is taking place to hundreds of
thousands of women and children and men that are dying.
Mr. Speaker, I question the long delay in the face of the brutal
genocidal war, and in light of the President's letter to me stating
that: ``Ending the conflict and human suffering in Sudan is one of my
highest priorities in Africa.''
I say, Mr. Speaker, if this were one of the President's highest
priorities, he would have appointed a special envoy. Or if he wants the
opportunity still, he will appoint one this week.
Why? The poor people of southern Sudan, the Christians who have been
persecuted for their faith, they don't have a powerful lobby here in
Washington. They don't have a powerful law firm downtown on K Street to
lobby. They don't have the interest that the people in Haiti have. So
they continue to suffer.
Mr. Speaker, Congress has spoken clearly about the need for a special
envoy and Security Council action thought the passage of House
Concurrent Resolution 131 last fall. But the President has failed to
carry through with these critical policies. When I was in Sudan, Mr.
Speaker, many of the people came, and I have pictures that I can make
available, and spoke out the name of President Clinton, as they said,
``President Clinton.'' I interviewed one young man who urged me to come
back and tell President Clinton to help the people of southern Sudan.
He begged and begged, and we have it on videotape. So on behalf of that
man, and a woman named Rebecca who was written up in Vanity Fair who
said: ``In the United States you have groups that are there to save the
whales and save animals. Why won't you save us?''
I say Mr. Speaker, on behalf of them, and on behalf of all the
children who did not know what to say, who were just sitting in the Sun
doing nothing, waiting for their daily porridge that would come, and
sometimes not getting anything, and then worrying about the high
altitude bombing that was coming.'
On behalf of the woman we saw in a makeshift hut they called a
hospital who has shrapnel in the head because the Khartoum government
had high altitude bombing, on behalf of her, and clearly she died. I
say, Mr. Speaker, the President has an opportunity to act on their
behalf.
We have waited 6 months. We have waited 1\1/2\ years. When we first
came back from the Sudan Members of Congress on both sides of the
aisle, Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, liberal
newspapers and conservative newspapers, all humanitarian groups from
World Vision, and all the other groups have begged and pleaded for you
to appoint a special envoy.
Mr. Speaker, history will judge President Clinton on his actions
here, whether he wants to speak out and help these people. They do not
seek American financial support. They do not seek American soldiers.
They do not want American troops to come there. They want a special
envoy and some humanitarian efforts whereby humanitarian groups can
come in and help.
When I was there the last time, early last winter, the only two
groups left there, because four relief workers had been killed, were
Norwegian People's Aid, and Catholic Relief Services. Now, quite
frankly, they were doing what Christ said in the Bible in Matthew 25.
You remember when he said when I was hungry, you fed me. When I was
naked, you clothed me. When I was in prison, you visited me. And it
says in the Bible, and I say, when do we do that, Jesus? We did not see
you. He said when you have done it unto the least of these, you have
done it unto me.
This, in southern Sudan, is a Matthew 25 situation. These people are
hungry, these people are naked, these people are in a prison that you
cannot even imagine, and yet they get no assistance from this
administration, from this President.
Mr. Speaker, I call on the President, today, after now appointing
Bill Gray, our former colleague, to be the special envoy for Haiti, and
let the record state that I salute the President for that appointment.
And now, Mr. Speaker, I beg the President, on behalf of the suffering
people of Sudan, to do what he said he was going to do, do what the
Congress has urged him to do, do what the people of southern Sudan have
begged him to do. Appoint this week a special envoy to bring about
reconciliation and end the killing, the starvation, and the death in
southern Sudan.
I include the following matter for the Record.
H. Con. Res. 131
Whereas the war-induced famine in southern Sudan is
threatening the lives of an estimated 4,000,000 people, and
an estimated 80 percent of children in some areas of southern
Sudan are reportedly malnourished;
Whereas the civil war between the Government of Sudan and
the factions of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, as
well as fighting within the Sudanese People's Liberation
Army, have resulted in the displacement of millions of
civilians;
Whereas the United States Government has provided over
$130,000,000 in humanitarian assistance to Sudan in fiscal
years 1992 and 1993;
Whereas access for humanitarian relief organizations has
been inconsistent and subject to the military and political
objectives of the Government of Sudan and Sudanese People's
Liberation Army factions;
Whereas a human rights group reported in early 1993 that
the Government of Sudan ``is engaged in a program of military
action which appears to amount to ethnic cleansing'' in the
Nuba Mountains and that it continues to torture political
prisoners;
Whereas an estimated 500 unarmed civilians were reportedly
executed by security forces on suspicion that they had
collaborated with the Sudanese People's Liberation Army after
its incursions into Juba in June and July of 1992;
Whereas the Government of Sudan executed Andrew Tombe and
Baudoin Talley (Sudanese employees of the United States
Government) and Mark Laboke Jenner (an employee of the
European Community) in Juba in mid-August 1992;
Whereas all factions of the Sudanese People's Liberation
Army also are responsible for serious abuses of human rights,
including the killing in September 1992 of 4 foreign
citizens, the reported killing of 87 civilians by the Nasir
faction of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army in January
1992 in Pagarau, and the reported killing of 200
``deserters'' by the Torit group near Tonj in Bahr al-Ghazal;
Whereas the government of General Omar Hassan al-Bashir,
which came to power by overthrowing the democratically
elected civilian government on June 30, 1989, formed a 15-
member Revolutionary Command Council, abolished the
constitution, the National Assembly, political parties, and
trade unions, and declared a state of emergency;
Whereas the political, religious, and military policies of
the Bashir government have heightened political and religious
tensions in the country;
Whereas the military government in Khartoum has become a
threat to regional stability in part because of its reported
activities in neighboring countries and its relations with
known terrorist and political extremist groups;
Whereas the conflict in southern Sudan, which has dragged
on for over 3 decades, is the result of decades of political,
religious, and economic discrimination against the people of
southern Sudan by successive governments in the north;
Whereas the people of southern Sudan have never exercised
their political rights freely, except for a brief period
after the Addis Ababa agreement, and the lack of serious
efforts by successive governments in Khartoum has resulted in
deep mistrust;
Whereas the divisions within the Sudanese People's
Liberation Army in 1991 have resulted in untold suffering for
the people of southern Sudan; and
Whereas the resolution of the conflict in southern Sudan
will not guarantee respect for human rights and political
freedom in other regions of the country, and a number of
peace talks between the Government of Sudan and the
Sudanese People's Liberation Army have failed to produce
lasting, tangible results: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress--
(1) strongly condemns the Government of Sudan for its
severe human rights abuses, and calls upon that government to
improve human rights conditions throughout the country;
(2) deplores the internecine fighting among the Sudanese
People's Liberation Army factions which has caused untold
suffering for the people of southern Sudan;
(3) calls on all factions of the Sudanese People's
Liberation Army to cease hostilities and resolve their
differences through peaceful means;
(4) urges the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese People's
Liberation Army factions to provide full access for and to
cooperate with relief organizations;
(5) encourages the military government of Sudan to hand
over political power to an elected civilian government as
soon as possible;
(6) urges the Government of Sudan to lift the press ban
which was imposed after it took power in June 1989;
(7) recognizes the right of the people of southern Sudan to
self-determination;
(8) urges the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese People's
Liberation Army factions to allow free access to human rights
organizations;
(9) commends the Government of Nigeria, the Government of
Uganda, and the Organization of African Unity for their
mediation efforts;
(10) calls upon the President--
(A) to appoint a special representative for mediation,
reconciliation, peace, and humanitarian affairs in Sudan;
(B) to increase the levels of humanitarian assistance for
Sudan that is provided through nongovernmental organizations,
including local church groups,
(C) to place the Government of Sudan on the list of states
that support international terrorism;
(D) to oppose all loans and credits for Sudan from the
International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development and the International
Development Association, and the African Development Bank,
and all nonhumanitarian assistance from United Nations
agencies; and
(E) to explore other means necessary to force the
Government of Sudan to halt its war policies should the
humanitarian conditions further deteriorate and the
Government of Sudan continue to impede relief efforts; and
(11) further calls upon the President--
(A) to urge the United Nations to exert all efforts to
bring an early end to the conflict in Sudan;
(B) to urge that the situation in Sudan be brought to the
attention of the United Nations Security Council; and
(C) to urge the United Nations Security Council--
(i) to consider the creation of demilitarized zones for war
and famine victims in southern Sudan that would be off limit
to all warring factions;
(ii) to consider the creation of safe havens for war and
famine victims should the warring factions reject the
creation of demilitarized zones;
(iii) to facilitate safe passage for war and famine victims
to and from conflict zones; and
(iv) to impose an arms embargo on Sudan.
____
The White House,
Washington, DC, April 6, 1994.
Hon. Frank R. Wolf,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC
Dear Representative Wolf: Thank you for your recent letter
regarding the situation in Sudan. As you know, ending the
conflict and human suffering in Sudan is one of my highest
priorities in Africa.
I understand that you met recently with Tony Lake on this
issue. As Tony mentioned, my Administration has taken several
measures to address the crisis in Sudan. At the start of the
current offensive, we made a demarche to the Sudanese
Government both here and in Khartoum to underscore the horror
with which we view the military operation and the bombing of
civilians. We followed immediately with a strong press
statement condemning the blatant lack of concern for the
lives of innocent Sudanese and the interruption of the one-
going international humanitarian relief effort. We also have
provided continuous support for the Intergovernmental
Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD) peace effort
which we hope will lead to a comprehensive settlement between
the parties in Sudan. I will appoint a special envoy to Sudan
to work with the IGADD leaders in this effort.
I share your concern regarding the humanitarian crisis in
Sudan and look forward to working the Congress to end this
tragedy.
Sincerely,
Bill Clinton.
____
Statement by U.S. Representative Frank R. Wolf--Congressional
Delegation to the Horn of Africa, February 5 to February 12, 1993
I recently returned from an official visit to the Horn of
Africa. Using Nairobi, Kenya as a staging point, I visited
southern Sudan for a two-day period followed by one day's
stop in Baidoa, Somalia.
The Sudan is far, far away. Not only in terms of the 20
hour flight to get there, but it is a distant place in a
distant time. The refugees in southern Sudan are a forgotten
people in a remote corner of the world whose story is an
untold tragedy of oppression, of cruelty and of hopelessness.
The ravages they continue to endure seem worse because they
result not only from drought, plague and natural holocaust,
but also spring from man's inhumanity to man.
On Monday, February 8, I flew in a small twin engine plane
carrying relief medical supplies into southern Sudan from the
Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) organization. I arrived at the
base camp which is home to the NPA, the only Non-Government
Organization (NGO) today with a permanent round-the-clock
presence in Sudan since four relief workers were recently
killed in a skirmish involving factions of the Sudan People's
Liberation Army (SPLA). Joining the NPA in Sudan is the
Catholic Relief Service (CRS), another outstanding group
whose vital role is convoying life-giving food supplies from
outside the country to three refugee feeding camps in the
southern region: Aswa, Ame and Atepe. These loosely defined
camps are located in proximity to the main road bisecting
Sudan on which hundreds of thousands of refugees make their
way southward driven by the relentless and unforgiving army
of the Sudan government in Khartoum. People are without food,
without medicine, without clothing and without hope. These
are people who would surely perish without the bare
subsistence provided by the Norwegian People's Aid and
Catholic Relief groups.
I visited two of these three camps and saw the relief
efforts which seem, at best, to fend off starvation and
sickness for the moment, rather than provide lasting
sustenance to the refugees. Twice each day, infants and
children with their feeding bowls formed an endless line to
receive meager rations of food to prolong their existence
until they again line up and repeat the process. In these
camps, I listened to the refugees and to the people, I heard
Rebekka, a woman from the Dinka tribe who was angry and
upset. She had lost her husband and three children. She told
me three things which I heard again and again all throughout
the region.
First, she said that the world is silent to the suffering
in southern Sudan because, she thought, the victims are
black. The reluctance to act, in her view and others was a
matter of race discrimination and would not be tolerated
in any other part of the globe. The second point is, she
felt, that they were being persecuted, starved, bombed and
killed because they were Christians. The last point on
which there is near universal agreement by the southern
Sudanese refugees is that the other humanitarian groups
such as World Vision and others who do a wonderful job
should come back to help with their life-giving
assistance. These groups left the region after the relief
workers were killed and have been reluctant to return
until some measure of security for the care-givers can be
assured. These three points were echoed by others with
whom I met. A pharmacist who provided the only medical and
health care at the Ame camp made a similar plea and asked
for the return to Sudan of the private humanitarian relief
groups.
Until significantly more relief is available, there is
little medical care, no health care, insufficient food to
sustain life--people are starving to death every day--no
opportunity to educate the children and no chance for
tomorrow. The people in Sudan have literally lost a
generation and maybe more.
I also met with representatives of the SPLA, the Sudan
Relief and Rehabilitation Association (SRRA), with a number
of Catholic Priests, local officials and a number of ``old
hands'' in Sudan. I visited hospitals including one
exclusively for those with tuberculosis. I saw first hand
recent damage in the town of Kajo Keji on the western bank of
the Nile where the Khartoum government bombed the crowded
town market square, killing and injuring many. The Khartoum
government conducted high altitude bombing on this village
when there was no military presence. I saw bomb craters where
they hit huts and destroyed the market place. I visited what
was termed a hospital but what was in reality a filthy, rat
infested place where the injured were gathered. One woman,
injured in the air-raid, had shrapnel still in her head. She
had no hope and little chance for tomorrow. When it seemed
conditions were as bad as they could be, they got worse.
This is a story that must be told. This was my third trip
to Sudan. I first travelled there in 1988 and then again in
1989. Conditions there are worse today than they were before.
This situation must not be permitted to last. It need not
last; there is much that can be done.
I want to summarize some recommendations. Our government
must work for relief from the Khartoum government. Pressure
must be put on them to stop the bombing and stop the killing.
In the southern region of Sudan, buffer zones around pockets
of refugees should be agreed to by the Khartoum government
and the SPLA, to keep soldiers out and allow relief groups
the freedom to administer food, medical and humanitarian aid.
Humanitarian relief organizations must be encouraged to
return to the region. Stepped-up efforts to provide medical
teams to help out for short but frequent periods is
essential. Failure to act soon will surely result in still
more tragic loss of life and possibly the loss of an entire
culture.
____
House of Representatives,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC, September 22, 1993.
Hon. Warren Christopher,
Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Secretary: We are writing to express our continued
concern about the situation in Sudan and to offer some
recommendations. Your decision to add the Government of Sudan
to the list of states that sponsor terrorism was welcome news
to many Members of Congress. This kind of assertive move on
the part of the United States will send a very strong message
to Khartoum that Washington and the international community
will not tolerate Sudan's support for terrorist groups. But
the placing of Sudan on the list is not enough--pressure must
be continuously focused on the government, which has shown
wanton disregard for human lives over the past several years.
In recent months, humanitarian and political conditions
have deteriorated significantly. An estimated 500,000 people
have died in the past two years, while over 2 million
southern Sudanese have been displaced internally. Many
languish in refugee camps in Uganda, Kenya, and other
neighboring countries. The children of southern Sudan
continue to die in large numbers as a result of starvation,
disease, and war, while the international community's
attention continues to focus on Somalia and Bosnia. The Sudan
People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) factions have also been
reckless. Many innocent civilians have died and scores of
people have been forced to flee their homes because of SPLM
factional fighting since November 1991.
The United States has played a limited role in addressing
the North-South conflict and the factional fighting within
the SPLM. We strongly believe that the United States should
play a greater role in Sudan. Efforts by other countries in
Africa, such as Nigeria and Kenya, have not produced tangible
results over the past several years. The United States has
assumed paramount responsibilities in the new international
order, almost as an unavoidable consequence of its Cold War
victory. Sudan represents an extreme case of a situation by
no means unusual, in which nations are torn apart by identity
crises. The situation in Sudan, because it is so dire, begs
for U.S. active engagement in mediation and reconciliation
efforts.
Moreover, the United States has a moral responsibility to
help the victims of the ten year old civil war, people who
have escaped the notice of the community of nations. Ignoring
the plight of millions of innocent civilians in Sudan need
not become a viable option. The people of Sudan have suffered
enough, it is time for the international community to act.
The likelihood of a Somalia-like scenario is high unless the
international community acts soon. In the case of Sudan,
there is still time to address the problem.
We strongly recommend that the United States appoint a
Special Envoy for mediation and reconciliation. Ambassador
Herman Cohen, who has expressed an interest in facing this
challenge, would be an excellent choice for the post. As
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1989 to
1993, Ambassador Cohen showed profound knowledge about the
complex political problems in Sudan. Appointing a Special
Envoy for mediation and reconciliation will be seen by the
international community as evidence of commitment to find a
solution. Any measure short of this could be considered
window-dressing for lack of policy, complacency, and the
shelving of the case. The recent appointment of a Special
Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs only addresses one aspect of
the Sudan problem. We believe the humanitarian issue can best
be addressed by the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum since it will
require continual monitoring and coordination with other
donors.
We are hopeful that you will give serious consideration to
our recommendation. The United States can play a pivotal role
in mediation and reconciliation efforts in Sudan. We cannot
afford to stand by and watch the tragedy unfold, evolve, and
come to a catastrophic conclusion.
Sincerely,
Harry Johnston,
Chairman, House Subcommittee on Africa.
Donald M. Payne.
Alcee L. Hastings.
Dan Burton.
Eliot L. Engel.
Paul Simon,
Chairman, Senate Subcommittee in Africa.
Nancy Landon Kassebaum.
James M. Jeffords.
Claiborne Pell.
Frank R. Wolf.
____
House of Representatives.
Washington, DC, August 5, 1993.
Hon. Warren Christopher,
Secretary of State, Department of State, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Secretary: I appreciate your personal attention to
the worsening situation in Sudan. I believe the Clinton
Administration has taken positive steps to bring an end to
the suffering in Sudan, but I believe that the United States
must do more.
I commend their appointment of Ambassador Frances Cook as
Special Envoy to Sudan for humanitarian issues. This
appointment made clear to the government of Sudan that the
United States considers the crisis in Sudan very serious and
Ambassador Cook has made progress in alleviating much
suffering in Sudan. I am distressed that Ambassador Cook will
soon be leaving her post as Special Envoy.
To ensure that the positive efforts of Ambassador Cook are
not interrupted, I strongly encourage the prompt appointment
of a new Special Envy to Sudan. I believe this special envoy
should have expanded powers which allow him or her to address
political issues as well as the humanitarian ones. To simply
ensure the safe passage of humanitarian assistance to the
people is not enough; this envoy must have the authority to
help bring an end to the decade-old civil war. Further, to
gain the respect of all parties, this person must be of the
ambassadorial rank and must have a thorough knowledge of East
African issues.
It is becoming more clear that establishing a lasting peace
in Sudan between the government of Sudan and the rebel
factions is a very elusive proposition. One major obstacle to
peace is the apparent unwillingness of the two major rebel
factions in Southern Sudan, the SPLA United under the
leadership of John Garang and the Nasir faction headed by Lam
Akol, to meet together with the Sudanese government. While I
believe the United States must continue to pressure the
Khartoum government to negotiate an end of the civil war, so-
called ``south-south'' negotiations between the two SPLA
rebel factions must be convened to end inter-SPLA fighting.
(Right now some of the violent human rights abuses recently
in Sudan have been perpetrated by SPLA rebels.) The United
States must immediately begin work with other nations to
bring together these two rebel factions to negotiate a
settlement to their differences.
Peace can and must be brought to Sudan. But it can only be
achieved with strong American leadership. Please ensure that
a new Special Envoy is appointed and work to make peace a
reality in Sudan.
Sincerely,
Frank R. Wolf,
Member of Congress.
____
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, August 5, 1993.
Hon. William J. Clinton,
The President, The White House, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. President: I appreciate your personal attention to
the worsening situation in Sudan. I believe the Clinton
Administration has taken positive steps to bring an end to
the suffering in Sudan, but I believe that the United States
must do more.
I commend the appointment of Ambassador Frances Cook as
Special Envoy to Sudan for humanitarian issues. This
appointment made clear to the government of Sudan that the
United States considers the crisis in Sudan very serious and
Ambassador Cook has made progress in alleviating much
suffering in Sudan. I am distressed that Ambassador Cook will
soon be leaving her post as Special Envoy.
To ensure that the positive efforts of Ambassador Cook are
not interrupted, I strongly encourage the prompt appointment
of a new Special Envoy to Sudan. I believe this special envoy
should have expanded powers which allow him or her to address
political issues as well as the humanitarian ones. To simply
ensure the safe passage of humanitarian assistance to the
people is not enough; this envoy must have the authority to
help bring an end to the decade-old civil war. Further, to
gain the respect of all parties, this person must be of the
ambassadorial rank and must have a thorough knowledge of East
African issues.
It is becoming more clear that establishing a lasting peace
in Sudan between the government of Sudan and the rebel
factions is a very elusive proposition. One major obstacle to
peace is the apparent unwillingness of the two major rebel
factions in Southern Sudan, the SPLA United under the
leadership of John Garang and the Nasir faction headed by Lam
Akol, to meet together with the Sudanese government. While I
believe the United States must continue to pressure the
Khartoum government to negotiate an end of the civil war, so-
called ``south-south'' negotiations between the two SPLA
rebel factions must be convened to end inter-SPLA fighting.
(Right now some of the violent human rights abuses recently
in Sudan have been perpetrated by SPLA rebels.) The United
States must immediately begin work with other nations to
bring together these two rebel factions to negotiate a
settlement to their differences.
Mr. President, peace can and must be brought to Sudan. But
it can only be achieved with strong American leadership.
Please quickly appoint a new Special Envoy and work to make
peace a reality in Sudan.
Sincerely,
Frank R. Wolf,
Member of Congress.
____________________