[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 31, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H144-H147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
A FIRST-HAND LOOK AT AFRICA
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kirk). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) is
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recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I take this time today to report on my recent
eight-day, six-country trip to Africa where I visited the Congo,
Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya. I left Washington on January
6 and returned January 14.
I have closely followed events in Africa since being elected to
Congress. My first trip to the continent was in 1984 when I went to
Ethiopia to witness the heartbreaking famine which resulted in the
death of hundreds of thousands of women and children.
Mr. Speaker, I also have been to Algeria, Benin, Egypt, Guinea, Ivory
Coast, Sierra Leone and Somalia.
Let me begin by saying that there is far too much suffering going on
in Africa. Pain and suffering are a constant. Too many children are
dying of starvation, disease, war, and AIDS.
70 percent of the world's AIDS cases are in Africa, where more than
16,000 people a day are infected by the virus. More than 2 million
Africans died of AIDS in the year 2000.
The raging civil wars in both the Congo and Sudan are taking a
tremendous toll on human life. More than 4 million, more than 4 million
combined have died as a result of the two wars in the Congo and Sudan
and millions have been displaced.
My trip started in Kinshasa, the capitol of Congo. I visited Congo to
help better understand the cause of a raging Civil War that has
resulted in more than 1.7 million deaths since 1988, according to the
International Rescue Committee, and to explore what, if any, role the
United States may be able to play in bringing an end to the conflict.
Mr. Speaker, I was there less than a week before Congolese President
Laurent Kabila was assassinated. We met with him on January 8 in the
Presidential palace. From Kinshasa, I traveled by plane 1,000 miles to
what is called the Great Lakes Region in eastern Congo and spent a day
in the town of Goma and a day in the town of Bukavu.
I met with the rebel leadership, women's groups, clergy, average
Congolese citizens and representatives of a number of nongovernmental
organizations.
I also met with the American missionaries. And I might say. Few of
the people that we spoke with support the rebel leadership in this part
of the Congo.
Life is not easy for the average Congolese. There are few schools or
hospitals and little potable water. Children go hungry. Women live in
fear. I heard horrific stories and tales of rape and abuse by different
armed forces and soldiers who come into one village, take the food,
rape the women, do different things. Three days later a different group
comes in. So life for the average person, particularly women and
children, is very, very grim.
Soldiers are everywhere; most are young boys or men carrying
automatic weapons.
I visited Rwanda to learn more about the reconciliation process the
country is going through following a genocide of more than 800,000
ethnic Tutsis in 1994. My trip to Burundi followed for similar reasons.
From 1993 to the year 2000, violence between Hutu and Tutsi ethnic
factions in Burundi has left more than 250,000 people dead and created
hundreds of thousands refugees. In Rwanda, the first place we visited
was Murambi Technical School, which is now a genocide site.
The world seems to forget, but over the course of 100 days, in the
spring of 1994, more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were
systematically murdered in Rwanda as part of ethnic genocide. Some
50,000 people were slaughtered in the villages near the Murambi
Technical School that we visited.
Contorted skeletons now rest on wooden tables in 18 of the school's
classrooms. Some are missing limbs. Others have arms over their heads,
as if trying to protect themselves from their killers.
One room was filled with just skulls, and they were hacked to death
with machetes and most skulls are fragmented from being smashed.
In Kigali, the capitol of Rwanda, I met with President Paul Kagame,
members of the Parliament and NGOs. Rwanda needs to pull its troops out
of the Congo as do the other countries that have troops in Congo.
Having said that, I do understand the security concerns that the
Rwandans have, particularly with what took place with regards to the
genocide, but some now appear to have other motives.
They have fought, at least the Rwandans and the Ugandans, have fought
at least three times over diamonds and other minerals near the town of
Kisangani. And Kisangani is far from the border where they are
threatened by EXFAR and Interahamwe.
I next visited Burundi primarily to speak at a prayer breakfast
attended by Hutus and Tutsis. Like Rwanda, Burundi has experienced
ethnic violence between the Hutus and Tutsis, and more than 250,000
people have been killed over the last decade.
I also met with President Pierre Buyoya and members of the Parliament
and, frankly, was very impressed with the efforts of reconciliation
taking place both in Rwanda and also in Burundi.
The last leg of my trip took us to Sudan, my fourth visit there in 11
years. Over the past two decades, a Civil War pitting the Khartoum
government against the black Christians and others in the southern half
of the country has cost more than 2 million lives in war and famine-
related deaths, and millions more have been displaced.
So in the last 17 years, over 2 million people, most black Christians
and animists have died as a result of the Khartoum government in the
North and with irreverence against those in the South. Regrettably, the
situation in Sudan is no better today than in 1989, the first time I
traveled to the war-torn region.
The Khartoum regime continues to persecute members of different
religious minorities, Christians, Muslim and animist, under the
auspices of what they call the Sharia law.
Since 1983, the government of Sudan has been waging a brutal war
against factions in the South who are fighting for self determination
and religious freedom. The Committee on Conscience of the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum has issued a genocide warning for Sudan. It
is important for the people in the West to know if the Holocaust Museum
believes it is that significant, then those of us in Congress and in
the administration should also take note of the genocide warning issued
with regard to Sudan.
Earlier, Mr. Speaker, today in the House, during the debate on the
resolution on the day of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust,
we took time to speak out to remind the people of genocide that took
place less than six decades ago. We need to remember. We need to speak
out. Our voices should be raised today about the genocide taking place
in Sudan.
Mr. Speaker, I visited the southern town of Yei where the Khartoum
government last November committed one of the most heinous acts of
violence in the war, bombing a busy marketplace in the middle of the
afternoon. Nineteen people were killed. Fifty-two were injured, 14
bombs were rolled out of the back of a Soviet-made Antonov bomber on
November 20, the year 2000. No one was spared, women, children, young
and old.
I also saw a video that was given to me by an NGO when we were there
taken of the bombing. The marketplace was packed. People had nowhere to
hide. Some of those killed had their limbs blown off. Women and
children were screaming as they witnessed the carnage. The photograph
here shows one of the victims, one of the 19 victims of the bombing.
Now, this is a civilian village. It is not a military target, and yet
the Khartoum government of Sudan sends bombers over to bomb innocent
women and children in the villages.
{time} 1415
Now, if you look at the definition of genocide that is recognized,
clearly what is taking place in the Holocaust Museum is accurate:
genocide in Southern Sudan, and here is an example. Yei is hundreds of
miles from the front lines. It is not a military target, but on a daily
basis a high-altitude Antonov bomber passes over the town. People are
terrified by the bombing runs. You can see it in their eyes. You can
hear it in their voices. Ask anyone what concerns them most and the
refrain is ``the Antonov bomber.''
No one knows where the bombs are being dropped because the plane is
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sometimes beyond eyesight. Sometimes the planes fly overhead to play
mind games with the residents of the town. Sometimes bombs randomly
fall from the sky. They have hit churches, homes, hospitals, and
sometimes the bombs are 55-gallon oil drums packed with dynamite and
nails. The planes fly morning, noon, and night. An Antonov bomber flew
over the town on January 13, the last morning I was in Yei. Panic set
in. Psychological warfare is taking its toll. People are afraid to
build houses or raise crops when they could be destroyed. Peddlers have
dug foxholes in the marketplace so they can climb into the hole if a
plane flies over, and they pray that the bombs fall somewhere else. We
also saw a bomb shelter outside the hospital; people from the hospital
went into the bomb shelter and then it was hit and people died. The
bombing runs have become a major obstacle to daily life in Yei and
throughout Southern Sudan.
Last year nearly 100 innocent Sudanese were killed in bombings
according to figures compiled by several NGOs in Southern Sudan. Bombs
hit relief agency compounds and convoys, and getting food and supplies
through Southern Sudan is difficult enough because of the deplorable
conditions of the roads. It took us nearly 4 hours to travel from the
border of Uganda to Yei. The actions of the Khartoum Government cannot
and should not be tolerated any longer. It is a brutal, repressive
regime. Government-sponsored militias torch houses and food supplies,
and rape and murder with impunity. Civilian food production and supply
lines are attacked, livestock is destroyed, and international relief is
obstructed. In 1998 this strategy caused a famine in Southern Sudan
that endangered millions and killed tens of thousands.
Then there is the slavery issue. There is slavery in Sudan that we
now know for a fact. Slave traders from the north sweep down in the
villages and kidnap women and children and sell them for domestic
servants or concubines. This is real-life chattel slavery in the 21st
century in January and February of this year.
There is also the issue of oil. In 1999 the Khartoum Government began
earning hundreds of millions of dollars from oil exports. The hard
currency that they are earning from these oil exports are now enabling
them to buy new weapons. They are buying Soviet Hind helicopters, and
they are killing people. So as they take the money, the oil from the
revenue, which has now been listed on the stock exchange, the more
money they get, the more helicopters they buy, the more weapons they
buy, the more tanks they buy, the more people they kill. So the death
rate will be increasing in Khartoum as the oil revenues increase for
the Khartoum Government because they are using the hard currency to
finance the weapons in the war to kill women and children.
The Khartoum Government has doubled its spending on arms since it
began exporting oil; and as I said, more people are going to die with
the additional weapons that are being purchased.
From my observations on this trip, we have several recommendations
for the new administration. On the general issue of Africa, I would
recommend that the new Bush administration move quickly to show an
interest in Africa. A Presidential task force could be created to study
Africa which could be made up of experts both in and out of government
who have an expertise and interest and a sense of caring with regard to
what is taking place in Africa, particularly with regard to women and
children.
The panel should make a top-to-bottom review of what policy the
United States should take toward Africa, particularly sub-Saharan
Africa. It should be charged with offering practical and strategic
insight into the promotion of democracy, the prevention and spread of
AIDS. Everywhere we went, the issue of AIDS came up over and over; in
dealing with other diseases and economic development and trade and
education and human rights and religious freedom and other aspects of
improving life such as eliminating hunger for the average person in
Africa. The panel should submit a country-by-country analysis as well
as a regional analysis about the problems and challenges on what the
United States should be doing with regard to Africa. There are many
people in our government in the State Department and other agencies who
have deep personal knowledge of Africa, and if they could be joined by
some in academia and others to do this on a fast-track basis so we now
know what the policy should be, how we deal country by country and
region by region and problem by problem.
Debt relief also must be addressed. Today I introduced the
Responsible Debt Relief and Democracy Reform Act, legislation that will
provide incentives to countries to institute democratic reforms and
basic structures of civil society in order to receive debt relief. The
problem is that it is the poorest people in the world and the poorest
countries who suffer as a result of the government debt.
Now, this has to be done in a way that as we forgive debt, they, an
individual country, does things like bring about democracy,
transparency, freedom of the press, freedom of movement; and this has
to be done in a way that does not line the pockets of the dictators and
the corrupt.
Regarding the area of central Africa with the assassination of
Congolese President Kabila on January 16, the situation in Central
Africa is more complicated than ever. Kabila's son, Joseph, has been
tapped the successor; but it is unclear how all of the Congo's rivals
will react. Nevertheless, the United States needs to send a clear and
early signal that it cares about the fate of Congo because I think we
may have ignored it too long. And when you listen to what the new
president, Joseph Kabila, says, he appears to be open and here is the
opportunity. I said earlier that 1.7 million people in the Congo have
died. There are millions more who are in the bush in a third of the
Congo that cannot even be reached who may be dying on a daily basis and
no food, and so there are many more that we cannot even get into the
region to find out how bad life is for them.
I also recommend that all foreign armies be publicly pressured to
leave the Congo. In addition, something must be done to disarm and
demobilize and resettle the former Rwandan Army and militia forces and
the rebel factions warring in the Congo. When we ask the Rwandan
Government to pull its soldiers out, we also have to have some
mechanism whereby the Rwandans are comfortable that their border will
be protected and those who did the mass genocide cannot come back in
and do those things again. There are ways of doing it with balance.
The United Nations should put together an assessment team to develop
a strategy for withdrawal. The United States must forcefully speak out
and act creatively on this issue. Our failure to speak out during the
genocide in Rwanda in 1994 was wrong. The failure of the United States
and the failure of the West not to speak out on the issue of genocide
in 1994 was wrong and will go down as a dark day as historians look
back on that period. We should not now remain silent on the issue of
foreign troops because nearly 2 million people have already died in the
Congo over the last few years and that number should not be allowed to
continue to multiply.
Regarding Sudan, I believe there should be a major effort on the part
of the United States, the United Nations and the European Union to
bring an end to the war in Sudan and peace with justice. Peace with
justice has to be a priority of the Bush administration. Sudan is a
litmus test; and as history looks back for those who care about human
rights, about civil rights, and about religious persecution and about
hunger, it should be viewed in terms of this decade's South Africa. The
same amount of time and energy and resources should be put into ending
the war in Sudan that was put into bringing democracy and freedom to
South Africa.
I recommend that a full-time high-profile envoy be appointed by
President Bush to help bring peace to Sudan. This must be a person of
national stature such as former Secretary of State Jim Baker or former
U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke.
When President Clinton appointed former Senator Mitchell of Maine to
be the special envoy for Ireland, everyone knew that Mitchell had
President Clinton's ear. Any time Mitchell wanted Clinton to make a
telephone call, he was able to get it done; and former Senator Mitchell
should be commended for the outstanding job he did in bringing peace to
Northern Ireland.
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When Tony Lake was working on the Ethiopian-Eritrean war, he was the
special envoy, and when he needed something done, he was able to get
President Clinton to do it. The envoy must be someone that the
President and the Secretary of State have confidence in and has a real
interest in seeing the conflict in Sudan resolved. The envoy also must
have the President's ear. Clearly the envoy concept with somebody like
Senator Mitchell worked in Ireland and I believe can work and will work
in Sudan.
Not to try it would be in essence sentencing the women and children
in the south and the villages to continual death. One young man I spoke
to said, I was born in this war and I am afraid I will die in this war.
This is an opportunity for the new administration to really bring about
peace and demonstrate that we can make a big, big difference. I also
recommend that our allies in the region be pressured, be urged to be
encouraged to become more engaged.
Egypt. Egypt, for example, has tremendous influence over the Khartoum
regime. The United States Government, the American taxpayer, everyone
out there, should know that we have given over $45 billion in foreign
aid to Egypt since the Camp David Accords were signed in 1978. Over $45
billion. We should use this leverage. Egypt should not be sitting by on
the sidelines when this war is raging in Sudan where there are over 2.2
million people killed, where there is slavery, where there is terrorism
problems. Many terrorist groups who operate in the Middle East have
training camps and operate around Khartoum.
Where the problem of hunger is growing, Egypt and other friendly
countries like that who are friends of the United States should be
urged to be engaged and be involved to help bring about the peace, as
should our allies in Europe.
{time} 1430
I also believe it is important for the United States to support
systems of local governance and sustenance in southern Sudan. Operation
Lifeline of Sudan, which has cost billions, is subject to the control
of the government of Sudan and it is manipulated by the Khartoum
government to suit its objectives. The government claims that its
territorial integrity is violated by foreign NGOs in the south trying
to help the people it claims as citizens. And until the fighting
actually ends and there is peace, the United States should strongly
support the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement.
In conclusion, from what I saw on the trip, I believe the Bush
administration and the Congress, working together, have a unique
opportunity to make a real difference in Africa and in Sudan, and now
is the time to seize it.
I was pleased to learn that the African bureau was the first section
area our new Secretary of State Colin Powell visited at the State
Department. That is a small step, but it was an extremely positive one.
I am also pleased that Secretary Powell addressed Africa during his
confirmation hearings.
Africa and the world is watching. We can provide hope and opportunity
to these people who have suffered so much, particularly in southern
Sudan and in central Africa. The figures are hard to comprehend, but
more than 4 million people, more than 4 million, a population larger
than some of our largest cities, have died in Sudan and in the Congo.
Four million. The number is staggering and the number is increasing.
With more weapons being purchased, it is increasing more. With more
child soldiers running rampant through the Congo and Sudan it is
increasing more.
We cannot, we in the Congress and those in the Bush administration,
cannot allow the suffering to continue without trying, without making
an effort. The Bush administration has a unique opportunity to make a
difference in Africa.
Throughout my trip, the constant refrain I heard was that the United
States just needed to show that it cared. No one, no one asked for
American troops to be deployed. No one needs, supports, believes that
American soldiers have to be involved in any way. They just want
America to use its efforts, and they want America to send a signal that
it will begin to focus on the plight of Africa before another
generation of young people is lost to civil war, famine, disease, and
AIDS.
America has a rich history of reaching out to bring peace and
stability and reconciliation to communities around the world. We have
made a difference in northern Ireland, we have made a difference in
Eastern Europe, we have made a difference in so many places. We are
attempting to bring peace to the Middle East. It is now time to focus
on Africa, to focus on the Congo and to focus on the Sudan to end the
killing.
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