[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 125 (Monday, September 30, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9573-S9579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REPORT ON TRIP TO AFRICA
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, during the month of August, Senator
Shelby and I made an extensive trip to Africa. In Africa, we visited
many countries and noted some very material changes. For example, the
Government of the Sudan finally wants to have good relations with the
United States and is willing to make significant concessions to the
rebels in the south Sudan. Through the good offices of the President's
emissary, former Senator Danforth, a treaty has been worked out which
has great promise if implemented and if enforced.
The Muslim-Islamic military has come down from the northern part of
Sudan, invaded Christian cities, killed all the men and taken the women
and children and sold them into slavery, a practice which is really
hard to believe in the 21st century. The peace treaty brokered by
Senator Danforth has the promise of ending that. But as we talked to
clerics in both Khartoum, Sudan, and in Eritrea, it will have to be
enforced by the United States.
We saw in South Africa great advances since my last trip there in
1993 when there was so much contention between the blacks and the
whites on apartheid. A government was formed in the 1994 elections.
President Mandela has become the national hero and a great many of
those problems are on their way to resolution. Great progress has been
made.
We saw in Mauritius, an island off the east coast of Africa,
tremendous progress being made on trade with a sweater factory yielding
compensation up to $300 a week, whereas in some countries in Africa
they do not earn more than $250 a year.
To reiterate, in accordance with my custom of reporting on my foreign
travel, this is a brief summary of a trip with Senator Richard Shelby,
R-Alabama, from August 6-22 to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South Africa,
Mauritius, Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sicily, Italy.
We explored the emerging trade relationship with Africa during
implementation of the 2000 African Growth and Opportunity Act, AGOA,
and the 2002 Trade Promotion Authority, TPA, legislation. We also
looked at health issues--primarily the African HIV/AIDS crisis and
poverty and famine that impact upon the U.S. foreign aid posture and
the issue of ``trade versus aid.''
The delegation travel began on Tuesday, August 6, 2002, stopping
overnightin Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, en route to South Africa. Brazil's
economy outweighs that of all other South American countries and will
be aided in this respect by the new TPA and a $30 billion loan
guarantee by the World Bank. I spoke about this with U.S. Consul
General Mark Boulware. He is optimistic that the TPA will help further
expand the economy of Brazil now that the Brazilian currency, the real,
is no longer pegged to the U.S. dollar. Despite open anti-American
protests following comments by U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill
suggesting widescale corruption in the Brazilian
[[Page S9574]]
monetary system, our delegation was treated well and found the brief
visit to Brazil informative.
The delegation proceeded to Cape Town, South Africa, where we were
informed by U.S. Ambassador Cameron Hume that South Africa is a middle-
income, developing country with an abundant supply of resources, well-
developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport
sectors, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient
distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region.
President Thabo Mbeki has vowed to promote economic growth and foreign
investment, and to reduce poverty by relaxing restrictive labor laws,
stepping up the pace of privatization, and cutting unneeded
governmental spending.
However, President Mbeki has been disappointing in the battle against
HIV/AIDS. Despite estimates that one in four South Africans is HIV-
positive, Mbeki has refused to accept the premise that HIV causes AIDS,
and did not attend this year's World HIV/AIDS Conference in New York
City. Mbeki's inaction in the face of this crisis has recently been
criticized by former South African President Nelson Mandela.
The United States continues to provide large sums of money and
resources to confront this growing epidemic. In this year's
supplemental appropriations bill, Senator Richard Durbin, D-Illinois,
and I proposed that $700 billion be allocated to confront AIDS in
countries such as South Africa where it threatens large segments of the
population. President Bush has proposed a compromised figure of $500
billion. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, CDC, has assigned five
employees to South Africa to work on the AIDS epidemic, and the
National Institutes of Health has recently contributed $11 million.
Ambassador Hume believes that we are essentially ``force feeding''
South Africa with assistance on this issue, suggesting that South
Africa is still dragging its feet.
I questioned Ambassador Hume on the future of race relations in South
Africa. Despite the existing divide, for the time being race relations
are comparatively good, but the great conciliator Nelson Mandela is
slowing down at age 84 and the technocrat Mbeki lacks his personal
stature. Nonetheless, South Africa has come a long way with the
assistance of the United States since the U.S. Senate voted to override
President Reagan's 1986 veto of legislation forbidding certain U.S.
corporate investments in South Africa's apartheid regime an important
moment in the relationship between our two countries.
Our delegation also conducted discussions of a classified nature with
U.S. officials in South Africa and other countries we visited.
South Africa's fledgling post-apartheid government was the topic of
discussion at a dinner hosted by Ambassador Hume with parliamentarians
from South Africa's National Assembly and National Council of
Provinces. Progress is being made in governance and oversight. I
discussed with Johnny de Lange, the Chair of the National Assembly's
Judicial Committee, the extent of permissible electronic surveillance
and physical search undertaken under South African law.
Our next series of meetings occurred in Durban, South Africa. There
we met with Consul General Liam Humphreys and his staff to explore,
among other things, post-September 11 security procedures. Durban is an
important ``feeder port'' for U.S.-bound goods, and the crews that
accompany them. As such, potentially lethal materials and individuals
traveling under false credentials may enter U.S. ports if authorities
in Durban are not vigilant. It is therefore imperative that individual
visas--and not blanket crew visas--be issued to individuals only after
cross-referencing U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation files for
potentially derogatory information. It is important to continue our
oversight of FBI information sharing for this purpose and to ensure the
proper coordination of visa and cargo manifest procedures--particularly
as proposals take shape for our new Department of Homeland Security.
Durban is geographically located in the KwaZulu Natal province of
South Africa, the only province in which the ANC is not in power. At a
dinner hosted by Consul General Humphreys, Senator Shelby and I
exchanged views with two leaders of the provincial majority Inkatha
Freedom Party, IFP: Provincial Minister of Agriculture and
Environmental Affairs and delegate to the National Council of Provinces
Narend Singh, and Reverend Musa Zondi, a member of the National
Assembly and the Deputy Minister of Public Works.
Minister Singh noted the tremendous progress of South Africa and the
KwaZulu Natal region when compared to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa,
where land reform--or more appropriately, the lack thereof--has been an
unyielding challenge.
I questioned Deputy Minister Zondi about the nature of race relations
in South Africa. Minister Zondi is optimistic about race relations, and
noted that relations in South Africa are far better than Saudi Arabia
or Egypt where radical Islamic tensions place these societies on the
cusp of ``a full-scale race war.'' Minister Zondi also noted with
affection his friendship with the late Reverend Leon Sullivan of
Philadelphia, a spiritual leader who promoted employment practice
standards for U.S. companies doing business in South Africa. Zondi said
that Reverend Sullivan did a great deal to make U.S. corporations more
socially conscious. Minister Zondi visited Reverend Sullivan
in Philadelphia in 1985 and believes strongly in the so-called
``Sullivan Principles,'' the labor code promoted by Reverend Sullivan.
From Durban the delegation traveled to Mauritius to explore trade and
other issues in advance of the Presidential visit for the AGOA
Conference in January 2003. Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has
developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle-
income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and
tourist sectors. Mauritius has the highest median income in sub-Saharan
Africa and an unusually high literacy rate. Investment in the banking
sector alone has reached over $1 billion. Employment in Mauritius is at
or above 95 percent, according to our dinner guest Raouf Bundhun, the
Vice President of Mauritius.
I asked the U.S. Ambassador to Mauritius, the Seychelles, and the
Comoros, John Price, about the need for expanded commercial
opportunities and enhanced security in the Indian Ocean region. I heard
concern about the recent developments of official Seychelles passports
reportedly being sold for $65,000 to those who wish to move freely in
the Indian Ocean region. I also heard concern about aggressive
recruitment in the Comoros by Islamic fundamentalists of young,
impressionable individuals for schooling in radical theology and
military training under the guise of Islamic education.
I also inquired about how the new TPA law and AGOA will help
Mauritius further progress economically. Ambassador Price informed us
that the new TPA will help entrepreneurs such as Sunil Hassamal, who
showed us the sweater factory that he has built from the ground up and
who now employs 2500 workers. On the labor front, we were assured by
Ambassador Price that despite some recent unfavorable press coverage of
the treatment of Chinese laborers at one problem factory, in Mauritius
no child labor is being employed, that overtime is being paid, that
working conditions are tolerable, and that a viable minimum wage is
being paid along with appropriate benefits, and that a 60-hour work
week is respected--as required by AGOA.
We met with Mauritian Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth and Deputy
Prime Minister Paul Berenger to explore trade and security issues.
Prime Minister Jugnauth is nearing the end of his term as Prime
Minister, and will next year pass the reins to Deputy Prime Minister
Berenger and assume the ceremonial role of President of Mauritius.
I questioned Prime Minister Jugnauth and Deputy Prime Minister
Berenger about what the U.S. should do if Saddam Hussein does not
respond to demands for inspections. Prime Minister Jugnauth responded
that the U.S. should not attack Iraq without clear provocation, for
this act would ``lose the respect of the world.'' Jugnauth said that
the U.S. must be careful that it is the U.S., and not Saddam, who will
be perceived as ``sympathetic.'' Berenger said that we should await a
resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis before addressing Iraq.
[[Page S9575]]
I asked Minister Berenger about U.S. security interests in the
region. He seemed to qualify what we understood to be the official
Mauritian position on the Chagossian island of Diego Garcia by stating
that, in return for full sovereignty over all the other Chagossian
islands, Mauritius would be willing to defer the issue of Diego
Garcia--``agreeing to disagree'' over its final status while seeking to
build U.S. confidence in the prospect of eventual Mauritian succession.
On the situation in the Mid-East, Berenger favored a new arrangement
within the Palestinian Authority, PA--involving the establishment of a
purely symbolic President of the PA such as Yasser Arafat but with all
real power going to a new PA Prime Minister.
Our delegation next traveled to Tanzania, beginning our oversight of
regional and broader security and trade issues in the lesser-developed
countries of sub-Saharan Africa. At a luncheon meeting with U.S.
Ambassador Robert Royall and the Tanzania country team, we learned that
Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world, with $250 per
capita annual income. The economy is heavily dependent upon
agriculture, which provides 85 percent of exports, and employs 80
percent of the workforce. The World Bank, the International Monetary
Fund, and bilateral donors have reportedly been awaiting meaningful
Tanzanian land reform prior to investing more heavily in the country.
Under the government's socialist land policy, true private ownership is
unlawful and investors can acquire merely leaseholds forfeitable at the
government's discretion.
I was disappointed to hear that Tanzania is not yet fully prepared to
export commodities to the U.S. without further local economic reform
and development. Tanzania has the potential to follow the example of
Mauritius, a country with an 85 percent literacy rate, 95 percent
employment, and an entrepreneurial spirit. I suggested that a Tanzanian
delegation visit Mauritius and learn from its example. I also noted
that with the passage of TPA, Congress expects real movement in the
direction of ``trade rather than aid'' and I suggested to Ambassador
Royall that he should provide President Bush with a list of achievable
goals for Tanzania.
We also discussed the AIDS epidemic. A team of researchers from the
Centers for Disease Control, CDC, in Atlanta, Georgia, recently
completed test kit evaluation in Tanzania, and has acquired data on
which AIDS tests are the best performers in statistical pools. New CDC
offices are also being constructed in Dar es Salaam, to assist with the
disbursement of $7 million in U.S. aid, including $2 million dedicated
to blood safety.
We also explored the economic and political issues surrounding the
tourism industry and the problems with refugees flowing into Tanzania
from war-torn countries on its long western border. Tanzania currently
has approximately 550,000 recent refugees--80 percent Burundian and 20
percent Congolese and Rwandan--and 400,000 ``old caseload'' refugees
from relocations in the 1970s.
Ambassador Royall is working to help return these refugees as soon as
possible in a fair manner. Ambassador Royall is also working closely
with USAID, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and local U.S. non-
governmental organizations to assure that the system of national parks
that supports Tanzania's tourism industry, accounting for approximately
60 percent of GDP, can be sustained and expanded in conjunction with
private sector support. Organizations with which we met, such as the
African Wildlife Foundation, work closely with the Tanzanian national
park system and the U.S. government. For example, USAID is providing
assistance to the Tanzanian Park Service in maintaining roads and
natural habitats in two national parks to protect this segment of the
Tanzanian economy.
The delegation also visited the United Nations' International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, ICTR, which is hosted by Tanzania and
located in Arusha. At the ICTR, we were briefed by Lovemore Munlo, the
Deputy Registrar, and Kingsley Moghalu, who serves as Special Assistant
to the Registrar. Our visit to the ICTR coincided with the arrest by
Angolan authorities of Augustin Bizimungu, Rwanda's former armed forces
chief who had been indicted by the ICTR for a major role in the 1994
Rwanda genocide. His arrest came less than a month after the U.S.
offered up to $5 million under the Justice Department's ``Rewards for
Justice'' program for tips leading to the arrest of eight Rwandan
genocide suspects, including Bizimungu. Currently, 21 individuals
suspected of genocide or complicity therein are on trial in the ICTR in
eight separate trials. Former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda of Rwanda
confessed in 2000 to war crimes and was convicted by the ICTR. He was
subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment. Currently, two-thirds of
the top leadership of the Kambanda government are on trial for genocide
and related war crimes. For lower-ranking participants in the genocide,
Rwandan courts have prosecuted over 6,000 individuals--many of whom
face the death penalty, which is not available at the ICTR.
Later, I questioned U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Johnnie Carson as to
whether the U.S. was late in responding to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
While conceding that we were not swift, he assured me that we acted as
quickly as we could and that the genocide would have continued--and
would have been much worse--if we had not acted when we did. He
suggested that the French were in a much better position to intervene
to prevent the genocide.
The ICTR is expected to remain in existence until 2008 or 2009, by
which point the last of the appeals should have run their course. We
were able to observe the proceedings of the trial of Eliezer
Niyitegeka, former Minister of Information in the interim government of
Rwanda in 1994.
From Tanzania, the delegation proceeded to Nairobi, Kenya for
additional trade and security meetings. Ambassador Carson led a country
team briefing focused upon political stability after nearly a quarter
century of rule by current President Daniel Moi, security arrangements
for the war on terrorism, HIV/AIDS, and related matters. Carson's team
noted that Presidents Clinton and Bush and Secretaries of State
Albright and Powell have all been privately assured by Moi at various
points that he will step down after his term ends and that free
elections will be called, likely in the period December 1, 2002 through
March 31, 2003. Moi is now backing as his successor Uhuru Kenyatta, the
41 year-old son of Kenya's independence leader, Jomo Kenyatta, and a
leader in the majority Kenya African National Union, KANU, party. If he
can hold the traditional KANU coalitions together, Kenyatta is favored
to succeed Moi.
Kenya is a strong security partner of the United States. For example,
the United States is the only country with which Kenya has entered a
``Military Access Agreement,'' ``MAA'' allowing for U.S. military
assets to be deployed there. Kenya appears well positioned to
facilitate regional and other international security issues such as our
global war against international terrorism.
I also asked whether we are doing enough to combat the AIDS epidemic
in Kenya. According to Carson, the hard data shows that the rate of
infection among adults appears to be decreasing in Kenya. The CDC is
engaged in programs in West Kenya to find new vaccines, to provide
education and awareness programs, and to support 40 counseling/testing
centers. USAID is also active in AIDS education, prevention, and
behavior change. The Peace Corps also plays a role in Kenyan public
health projects relating to HIV/AIDS.
We next met with Kenya's Foreign Minister Marsden Madoka. Minister
Madoka said that Kenya's cabinet had yet to discuss the Kenyan reaction
if the U.S. were to move against Saddam Hussein for regime change.
While noting that the cabinet would naturally have the final say, he
did say, importantly, that ``chances are that Kenya would support the
U.S. under these circumstances.'' On the issue of HIV/AIDS, I asked
Minister Madoka how serious the problem is and what the United States
can do to help. Minister Madoka said that Kenya has lowered
the prevalence rate from 14 percent to 13 percent nationwide. There is,
however, a long way to go in addressing this crisis and its collateral
effects.
We then traveled to Sudan. Sudan has been ravaged by civil war since
1956
[[Page S9576]]
with intermittent breaks. The Sudan country team, led by Charge de
Affairs Jeffrey Millington, contrasted the Bush policy of engaging
Sudan in light of recent reform efforts contrasted with the Clinton
Administration's approach to maintain sanctions because of human rights
violations and religious suppression. With the Bush engagement policy,
peace talks between the government of Sudanese President Omar el-
Bashier and Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement, SPLM, leader John
Garange are moving forward in talks in Machakos, Kenya. Sudan is not
only attempting to remedy its own civil strife with the Machakos
negotiations, but its leadership is at least speaking in terms of
engaging the United States in its views toward democracy, human rights,
religious freedom, and suppressing international terrorism.
On the domestic side, the government of President Bashier is
conducting ongoing peace talks with the SPLM, which controls much of
the southern regions of the Sudan. Former Senator John Danforth, with
whom we met in Nairobi on August 18 after returning from Khartoum,
accepted his role as Special Envoy to negotiate this conflict on
September 6, 2001, and first visited the region on November 6, 2001.
Senator Danforth is working with a small team made up of veteran
diplomats including Michael Miller from the National Security Council
East Africa staff, Charge Millington and Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State Charles Snyder.
Senator Danforth has been successful to date. On July 20, 2002,
breakthrough agreements were reached leading to the ``famous
handshake'' between Sudanese President Omar el Bashier and SPLM leader
John Garange on July 27, 2002 in Kampala. The July 20 Machakos round
produced an agreement in principle not to apply Sharia (Islamic law) in
the post-reconciliation South, and would provide the people of the
South the right to self-determination after 6\1/2\ years (including a
referendum on secession). Still to be determined in further Machakos
rounds will be the precise form of government in the South for the 6\1/
2\ year trial period such as judiciary, infrastructure, security, and
the ultimate status of the SPLM, including whether John Garange can
keep a standing army. Senator Danforth, in preparation for upcoming
rounds, has skillfully tested the two sides' willingness to come
together on four vital humanitarian issues: (1) continuation of a
ceasefire in the Nuba Mountain region between North and South, where
Evangelicals working with Christian populations have been the target of
religious persecution; (2) a polio vaccination program; (3) prevention
of attacks against civilians; and (4) prevention of ``raiders,'' who
with the encouragement of the government in Khartoum, have killed male
populations and enslaved their women and children. Satisfaction of the
four Danforth preconditions would lay the groundwork for final
agreements in Machakos on a more permanent peace in the Sudan.
A key aspect of our trip involved gathering information on religious
persecution. Persecution of religious minorities, focused particularly
on Christians in Muslim countries such as Sudan, led in 1998 to the
passage of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, ``IRFA'',
which I introduced with Representative Frank Wolf. The IRFA established
the Office of International Religious Freedom and the U.S. Commission
on International Religious Freedom with the mission of reviewing and
making policy recommendations on religious freedom.
We met with Reverend Ezekiel Kondo, the Provincial Secretary of the
Province of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan. Reverend Kondo raised
the following issues: (1) the persecution of those who convert from
Islam to Christianity, which is apparently continuing and is not
covered by Machakos; (2) the withholding of permits to build new
churches and to license existing churches, which remains a problem with
non-Muslim clerics; (3) the refusal to grant visas for religious
leaders to leave the country for professional conferences and for
religious leaders from abroad to visit Sudan; and (4) the need for more
precise coverage of the Nuba Mountain region dispute within the context
of the Machakos agreements. Reverend Kondo is skeptical that Muslim
attempts to reach out to non-Muslims will work if the basic rights for
non-Muslims are not committed to in writing, implemented, monitored and
enforced.
When I referenced this religious persecution with President Bashier's
Peace Advisor, Dr. Ghazi Sulahaddin, and his Foreign Minister, Mustafa
Ismail, I was told that the current Sudanese government should be given
a chance to show the international community that the acts underlying
the persecution have occurred during many years of civil war, and a
process toward reconciliation only began in 1997. Both men assured us
that Sudan is on the path to religious freedom and respect for human
rights in general. President Bashier pledged that it is ``the
obligation of Muslims to provide religious freedom,'' and that he has
made this issue a priority and has commanded local officials to ``study
this issue closely.''
Dr. Sulahaddin, and Foreign Minister Ismail highlighted for us their
views on U.S.-Sudan relations. Sulahaddin said there is a ``huge''
potential for normalization and improvement of relations between our
countries and Sudan does not engage in terrorism because the taking of
innocent life is contrary to Islamic beliefs. He argued that the U.S.
had no basis for concluding that the Sudanese plant that was targeted
for missile strikes by the U.S. in 1998 actually produced nerve gas. He
emphasized the positive aspects of the new interaction between U.S. and
Sudanese intelligence agencies, and the resulting shift toward more
engagement and intensification of dialogue with the Bush
administration.
Foreign Minister Ismail stressed that the international community,
particularly the United States, should be patient with Sudan since the
real beginning of movement toward democracy, human rights, religious
freedom and other elements of a free society only began in 1997-1998
with the drafting of the new Sudanese Constitution. This in combination
with the debilitating effects of the North-South war has caused
``growing pains,'' according to Minister Ismail. Minister Ismail handed
to Senator Shelby a report that provides details that Sudan has done
everything that it can to fight terrorism.
President Bashier stated his appreciation for the existing
cooperation between the U.S. and Sudan, including the special role of
our country and Senator Danforth in brokering the Machakos talks. In
stressing the need for the ultimate unification of Sudan following the
6\1/2\ year trial period envisioned by Machakos, President Bashier drew
an analogy between the Sudanese civil war and the U.S. Civil War.
Bashier said that if the U.S. had not remained unified the Union could
have ended up ``more like Canada or Mexico.''
On regime change in Iraq, Dr. Sulahaddin said, any attack on Iraq
would fragment the Arab world, and urged the U.S. to seek a unified
stance in the United Nations among various Arab countries. President
Bashier said that he hopes that the U.S. will seek alternatives to
military action because the Iraqi people have suffered enough.
Our delegation next moved to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to further
explore trade, security and health issues. We met with the U.S. country
team led by Charges de Affairs Thomas Hull. Hull briefed us about the
state of Ethiopia in the wake of its two-year border war with Eritrea.
The U.S. intelligence relationship with Ethiopia has grown even
stronger after September 11. The Ethiopians believe that the war on
terrorism serves their own domestic security interests, as Ethiopia
must also contend with radical Islam as a constant threat. Other issues
that were discussed included potential U.S. basing in Eritrea in
preparation to act militarily against Saddam Hussein and the impact
such basing might have on Ethiopian security concerns vis-a-vis
Eritrea. Ethiopia is also concerned about cross border terrorist
incursions into its country from Somalia.
We then met with Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zanawi, who was
quite articulate and spoke in depth about many subjects. He said that
Ethiopia is a close ally in the war against terrorism, but for
Ethiopian reasons. The
[[Page S9577]]
reasons to which he refers is the constant threat of radical Islam to
Ethiopia and its African neighbors. He referred to the war on terrorism
as something of a godsend for Ethiopia, because it has focused the
world on the practices of radical Islam. Ethiopia, according to the
Prime Minister, is at the epicenter of terrorism and a secular island
in the sea of Islam.
We questioned Prime Minister Meles about the U.S. policy of regime
change in Iraq. He responded that Saddam should be removed in order to
force countries like Saudi Arabia with large Islamic populations to
choose whether to allow radical Islam to take hold or to fight against
that very radicalism. He calls this a fight for their very survival.
Regarding trade, Ethiopia stands to gain by the combination of the
AGOA and the TPA, and Meles appreciates the role of the United States
in engaging sub-Saharan Africa on trade. He said Ethiopia wants access
to the U.S.'s trillion-dollar economy.
We also sought the Prime Minister's views on the Sudanese peace
process and its effect upon Ethiopia. According to Meles, the Sudanese
Muslim government has already taken anti-Islamic actions by agreeing in
principle to non-application of Sharia in the South. This, according to
Meles, will make it easier to achieve breakthroughs on other issues.
The Prime Minister also sees the exploitation of oil and gas reserves
in a stable Sudan, and the willingness of the United States to engage
the peace process, as positive incentives for the Sudanese to move the
peace process forward.
With regard to Somalia, Prime Minister Meles compared Somalia to
Afghanistan and Yemen as a potential haven for terrorists. When I asked
what the U.S. should do to address the situation, Meles noted that the
United States must devote nonmilitary resources rather than attempting
to broker a Machakos-type agreement. Somalia is not ready for a
negotiated agreement because there are too many actors on that stage.
We also discussed the HIV/AIDS crisis and human suffering in
Ethiopia. The Prime Minister linked solutions to both crises to United
States assistance in bolstering Ethiopian infrastructure and
institutions, providing access to U.S. markets through expansion of
trade, and removal of Ethiopia from the cycle of reliance on foreign
aid.
U.S. appropriations for HIV/AIDS projects in Ethiopia have increased
from $4 million to $18 million in the past two years. At this time,
both USAID and the CDC are active in Ethiopia. USAID focuses both on
famine relief, drought issues and along with the CDC, HIV/AIDS
prevention and education efforts. CDC has also opened HIV/AIDS
diagnostic clinics in Addis Ababa. While the HIV/AIDS rate is 13
percent, consistent with Kenya prevalence percentages, actual numbers
of those with HIV/AIDS is higher in Ethiopia as the population is
higher.
From Ethiopia we moved to neighboring Eritrea. Ethiopia's annexation
of Eritrea as a province in 1962 started a 30-year struggle for
independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating
governmental forces. A two and a half year border war with Ethiopia
that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices on December 12, 2000.
Final lines of demarcation are being arbitrated.
According to U.S. Ambassador to Eritrea Donald McConnell, the
relationship between the United States and Eritrea is sweet and sour.
Ambassador McConnell gives Eritrea an ``A+'' grade in joining with the
United States in the war against terrorism. Eritrea may soon be
assisting the United States to change the regime in Iraq by allowing
our troops to use bases in Eritrea. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki
said in our meeting with him that there must be a change altogether in
the Iraqi regime if Iraqi behavior is to change.
In terms of promoting stability in the region, Ambassador McConnell
told us that Eritrea might face greater challenges from radical
fundamentalism. President Isaias is skeptical of Sudanese intentions
and believes that the Bashier government will continue to quietly
encourage radical fundamentalists to further destabilize the region.
President Isaias said that the Sudanese leadership is committed to
radical Islam and are worse than bin Laden, and that they preach hatred
under the guise of Islam. He believes that the United States must
remain constructively engaged in the region to prevent radical Islamic
views from overtaking neighboring countries or threatening their
security.
While in Eritrea, we continued to hear of religious persecution in
Sudan and the importance of the United States in stopping it. In
separate discussions with Abune Philipos Woldetensae, the Patriarch of
the Eritrean Orthodox Church, and Abba Menghisteab Tesfamariam, the
Bishop of the Catholic Church of Eritrea, we were told that the
Sudanese are oppressing Christians in southern Sudan. Abune Philipos
went so far as to say, Christian believers in Sudan will not exist if
the U.S. Government does not bring pressure to resolve their
persecution by Islam. Bishop Menghisteab recounted how five of his
fellow Catholic Bishops from Sudan have told him as recently as July
28, 2002 of Christian women and children being sold into slavery.
The Sudanese Bishops also told him that President Bashier is
attempting to Islamize the entire country by using Sharia law to
suppress Christians. According to both clerics, some new Eritrean
churches may be facing problems obtaining permits to worship. These two
men stay in close contact with the head of the Eritrean Muslim
community, as well as leading Protestants, which make up the
traditional four churches in Eritrea. The new churches not belonging to
this traditional group of four have been told in recent weeks that they
must register with the government and provide information on their
activities and source of funding, according to Ambassador McConnell.
We discussed other human rights issues such as the detention without
charge of two Eritrean employees of the U.S. embassy due to national
security concerns. There is just so much the U.S. can do as it relates
to the internal affairs of a country like Eritea, and we remain hopeful
of an acceptable resolution of the detention of the two employees.
The United States can help Eritrea by remaining engaged in the
region. Among other things, we can assist Eritrea in becoming an
exporter of valuable products by focusing foreign aid on building their
infrastructure. Then Eritrea can take advantage of AGOA and TPA and
become a viable U.S. trade partner and thus expand our bilateral
relationship.
Our codel then traveled to Sicily for refueling the night before
returning to the United States.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that copies of op-ed pieces
which I have written for the Morning Call and the Harrisburg Patriot
and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also be printed in the Congressional
Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From The Morning, Call, Sept. 16, 2002]
Prosperity and Peace in Africa Will Help Fight AIDS
(By Arlen Specter)
PHILADELPHIA--``I want access to America's trillion-dollar
economy,'' Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zanawi told Sen.
Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, and me in our mid-
August fact-finding travels through Africa. If the developing
nations of Africa can stop the spread of HIV and AIDS and end
their bloody wars, the continent stands at the brink of real
economic development with expanded foreign aid and new U.S.
trade laws, which will open our markets.
Wherever we went--South Africa, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia,
Mauritius, and Eritrea--we heard of the debilitating effects
of the AIDS epidemic. In many African countries, the U.S.
National Institutes of Health and Center for Disease Control
are providing funding and personnel to combat AIDS. President
Bush recently announced a new $5 billion aid package to
Africa to spur economic development and AIDS control. This
year's World HIV/AIDS Conference in New York City is
promoting education, testing, and treatment. Follow-up action
by African governments and increased foreign aid offer some
promise, but winning the war against AIDS will be very
difficult.
Prospects for ending civil wars are brighter. On July 20, a
breakthrough agreement was reached between the Sudan
government and the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement
(SPLM) largely due to the mediation efforts of former Sen.
John Danforth. Sudan's President Omar el-Bashier told us of
his keen interest to improve relations with the U.S. and to
have his country taken off the terrorist list. This has led
Sudan to offer unlimited, surprise visits by U.S.
intelligence agents to its weapons factories and laboratories
to assure it is not developing weapons of mass destruction,
and Sudan has
[[Page S9578]]
also agreed to grant religious freedom to Christians who have
been persecuted and sold into slavery for decades by their
Islamic oppressors. Much more needs to be done to, but our
former colleague, Sen. Danforth, gave us a detailed report on
the reasons for his optimism.
In Addis Ababa and Asmara, we heard assurances from
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zanawi and Eritrean President
Isaias Afwerki that the war over their boundary dispute had
been resolved. Both men, along with other regional leaders,
were focusing on the conference for ``Samalia
Reconciliation'' held in Kenya last week, sponsored by IGAD,
the Intergovernmental Authority for Development. Anarchy in
Somalia, with numerous war lords, causes regional instability
and breeding grounds for al Qaeda.
In our visit to the Rwanda War Crimes Tribunal in Arusha,
Tanzania, we observed a trial on charges of genocide. That
Tribunal established an historic precedent in 2000 by
convicting a head of state, former Prime Minister Jean
Kambanda of Rwanda.
Perhaps the Rwanda criminal proceedings have even been a
factor in ending the wars in Angola and Sierra Leone in the
last few years. Peace negotiations are also now promising in
Burundi and Congo. An optimistic note was sounded by Charles
B. Snyder, deputy assistant secretary of state for Africa:
``I like to think peace is contagious.''
If answers can be found to war and AIDS, the isle of
Mauritius, located 1,200 miles off the east coast of South
Africa, is a prototype for economic prosperity. Mark Twain
once said upon visiting the island that ``One gets the
impression that God made Mauritius first, and then modeled
Heaven after it.'' We visited a sweater factory that was
started by a Mauritian in 1985 and now employs, 2,500 people
using the most modern equipment. Some of the piece workers
there earn $300 a week, a stark contrast from the $250 annual
earnings in Tanzania. Our Ambassador John Price and the
factory owner, Sunil Hassamal, expect those earnings to
increase as a result of the U.S. African Growth and
Opportunity Act passed in 2000 and the newly enacted
legislation on Trade Promotion Authority.
Perhaps the most remarkable development since my last trip
to South Africa in 1993 is what has happened to that country.
With the election victory of the African National Congress in
1994, apartheid has given way to a stable government where
blacks and whites work together and Nelson Mandela is
everybody's hero.
____
[From the Patriot News, Sept. 1, 2002]
Christians Face Many Obstacles in Sudan
(By Sen. Arlen Specter)
A peace agreement between the government of Sudan and the
Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement offers the prospect of
ending slavery and the persecution of Christians in Sudan.
The civil war, which has raged since 1956 with only
intermittent lapses, has seen governmental Muslim forces
attack Christians in the south, kill the men and kidnap the
women and children who are then sold into slavery.
In September 2001, President Bush appointed former Sen.
John Danforth as his Special Envoy to broker a peace
agreement between the warring factions. After intense
negotiations, a break-through agreement was reached on July
20 leading to the ``famous handshake'' one week later between
Sudanese President Omar el Bashier and SPLM leader John
Garange.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and I traveled to Sudan in
mid-August to discuss these issues with the parties with
special emphasis on what was happening on religious
persecution.
I tried to visit Sudan, but could not do so because of
dangers from the civil war. Instead, I visited neighboring
Eritrea where I met with Sudanese Christians in exile and I
then traveled to Addis Ababa where I discussed religious
persecution with Patriarch Abuna Paulos of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church.
These meetings plus fact finding in Egypt and Saudi Arabia
in 1998 provided part of the bases for legislation that Rep.
Frank Wolf, R-Va., and I introduced that later became the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
In Khartoum last month, Rev. Ezekiel Kondo, the Provincial
Secretary of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, advised that
persecution of Christians by the government of Sudan was
continuing, but there was hope that a peace agreement would
produce real change. Rev. Kondo said Christians weren't able
to build churches, were denied visas to attend out-of-country
conferences and Islam converts to Christianity faced death.
When we traveled to Asmara, Bishop Abba Menghisteab
Tesfarmariam of the Eritrean Catholic Church told us about
complaints of five Sudanese Catholic Bishops at a conference
in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in July, that Catholics were
persecuted and sold into slavery by their Islam oppressors.
In Asmara, we also met with 97-year old Patriarch Abune
Philipos Woldetensae of the Orthodox Church who emphasized
that Christians will not be permitted to practice their
religion even with guarantees in the peace agreement unless
the U.S. makes it happen.
In our meetings with Sudan's top officials, Sen. Shelby and
I stressed the importance of carrying out the guarantees for
freedom of religion. President Omar el-Bashier, foreign
Minister Mustafa Ismail and Peace Advisor Ghazi Sulahaddin
all pledged to do so. When we discussed the issue with
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, he scoffed at the
prospects for Sudan to honor the commitment on religious
freedom because Islam fundamentalists are fanatic about
spreading their religious beliefs as part of gaining control
of people and countries.
From meeting many people in the region and especially Sen.
Danforth, it is my judgment that Sudan very much wants to
gain favor from the U.S., which is the principal reason for a
peace agreement with the SPLM.
Repeatedly, the Sudanese officials asked about being taken
off the terrorist list.
Sudan's government has made other significant concessions
such as giving U.S. intelligence agents unlimited access to
weapons factories and laboratories for surprise ``visits'' to
check for production of weapons of mass destruction.
The ``Strategic Paper on Just Peace in the Framework of
Comprehensive Political Settlement in Sudan'' specifies
``Religious belief and cultural identity are natural
aspirations at the individual and group level, but cannot be
imposed on others by any single party.''
A final written agreement must spell out religious rights
and deal with many specific pending issues.
Whatever the words, only the deeds matter.
Ultimately, U.S. pressure will be indispensable.
The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 provides
the mechanism to monitor and, where necessary, impose U.S.
sanctions to guarantee religious freedom in Sudan and
elsewhere.
____
[From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 13, 2002]
Try the Sudan Model for Inspections in Iraq
(By Arlen Specter)
Washington.--On a trip to Sudan in August, Sen. Richard
Shelby and I learned about ``visits'' to Sudan's weapons
factories and laboratories by U.S. intelligence agents that
could provide a model for U.N. inspections in Iraq.
Sudan's president, Omar el-Bashir, told us his country was
very eager to improve relations with the United States with a
view to ultimately getting off the terrorist list. In
addition to promising to stop persecuting Christians, Sudan
is allowing U.S. agents unlimited, unannounced visits to any
location--to break locks, inspect and photograph. Our agents
told us they are confident that Sudan is not developing
weapons of mass destruction at any of these installations.
Obviously, the situations between Iraq and Sudan are very
different, so many questions would have to be answered. The
first question is whether Saddam Hussein will ever honor his
commitment to the United Nations to permit such inspections.
Last April, Secretary General Kofi Annan told me of his
frustrations in dealing with Saddam's ``cat and mouse'' game.
First, Saddam stalls, then his people say yes with
qualifications, then another Iraqi official says no and
meanwhile Saddam is free to do what he pleases. Since the
United States downplays such inspections, there isn't much
push to get them done. While it is true that no inspection
regime can guard against factories or laboratories we don't
know about, visits on the Sudan model would go a long way.
Then there is the doubt about whether the Bush
administration really wants inspections. Inspections might
delay a planned attack. In any event, Bush's team doubts
their value. The President addressed the United Nations
yesterday and stated that the U.N. Security Council
resolutions must be adhered to by Iraq. Inspections are an
integral part of those resolutions, and could be patterned
after the inspections currently being used in Sudan. A very
high-level expert in the U.S. intelligence community told me
unrestricted, surprise inspections could provide adequate
information on what Iraq is doing on WMD at those locations.
As President Bush has escalated the rhetoric for regime
change, even his customary Republican allies have joined the
international chorus in raising questions and insisting that
he receive congressional authority to go to war against Iraq.
Former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, Republican
Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, Jack Kemp and even columnist
Robert Novak represent a strong conservative base in urging
caution, restraint and even no action.
Former Secretary of State James Baker has proposed a U.N.
resolution calling for the use of force to compel Saddam to
honor his 1991 commitments to permit inspections. That could
provide the basis for an international military coalition if
the Security Council agrees and Iraq continues to resist. If
the United Nations does not adopt the Baker idea, it gives
the United States a strong reason to unilaterally enforce
Iraq's inspection commitments if the United Nations won't.
In order to make the case for military action, President
Bush will have to deal with other tough issues: the cost in
casualties, who will replace Saddam and what will be the
repercussions in the region and beyond. But if Saddam
continues to turn away inspectors, this will raise the
common-sense
[[Page S9579]]
conclusion that he has something to hide, like weapons of
mass destruction. And as the risk looms large that Saddam is
continuing to develop such weapons, those issues will be
subordinated to avoiding another Sept. 11 or worse.
Mr. SPECTER. I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in
morning business for 30 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________