[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 100 (Monday, July 19, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H5918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           THE WORLD MUST ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 20, 2004, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, after visiting Darfur, Sudan, and seeing 
firsthand the horrific conditions and oppression, and I have here a 
picture of a camp that was burned down by the Janjaweed, but having 
seen the horrific conditions and oppression, and having talked to 
eyewitnesses, I believe genocide is taking place in Darfur.
  The United States and others around the world said never again after 
the genocide in Rwanda. So now I call on the United States, the United 
Nations, and world leaders to call it what it is, genocide, and to take 
action before more die. We have the ability to prevent further deaths 
and to stop genocide in its tracks. Our actions should follow our 
words.
  Amnesty International just released a new report. It documents 
hundreds of cases of women who have been raped in Darfur. To highlight 
one story, I quote:
  ``I was sleeping when the attack on Disa started. I was taken away by 
the attackers, they were all in uniform. They took dozens of other 
girls and made us walk for 3 hours. During the day, we were beaten. And 
they kept telling us, `You, the black women, we will exterminate you, 
you have no God.' At night, we were raped several times. We were not 
given food for 3 days.''
  This story echoes the stories of rape that I heard when I was in 
Darfur. We were given a letter by 44 women who were raped. The 
translation is heartbreaking.
  It said, and this was to Senator Brownback and myself, ``We are 44 
raped women. As a result of that savagery, some of us became pregnant, 
some have aborted, some took out their wombs and some are still 
receiving medical treatment. Hereunder, we list the names of the raped 
women and state that we have high hopes in you and the international 
community to stand by us and not forsake us to this tyrannical, brutal, 
and racist regime, which wants to eliminate us racially, bearing in 
mind that 90 percent of our sisters at this village are widows.''
  Women are systematically raped on a massive scale. These are crimes 
against humanity. The overall situation constitutes genocide.
  Despite promises to rein in the militia, the violence continues to 
escalate. Over the weekend, U.N. humanitarian agencies reported that 
local authorities and militia continued to loot convoys and gang rape 
women.
  The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment on the 
Crime of Genocide describes genocide as acts committed with the intent 
to destroy, in whole or in part, national, ethnic, racial or religious 
groups. Specifically cited is:
  Number one. Killing members of the group.
  Thousands of black Africans have been killed. There are reports of 
mass graves.
  Number two. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the 
group.
  One woman told us that the Janjaweed told her that she was being 
raped to create ``lighter-skinned babies.''
  Number three. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life 
calculated to bring about physical destruction in whole or in part.
  It is clear that the eradication of the Darfurian African population 
will occur if people do not return to their homes.
  Number four. Forcefully transferring children of the group to another 
group.
  There are constant stories of the abduction of children.
  No matter what we call it, Mr. Speaker, genocide, ethnic cleansing, 
crimes against humanity, people are dying on a massive scale, and that 
is not acceptable. What matters now is action.
  The international community has a moral and a legal obligation to 
stop what is occurring, and those responsible must be brought to 
justice. The United Nations Security Council needs to take immediate 
action to end this crisis.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, a large peacekeeping force made up of troops 
in the African union is now needed to allow the Darfurians to return to 
their homes and to verify that the government of Sudan is disarming the 
rebels. We must remember that the government of Sudan armed the rebels. 
We need independent monitors to ensure that they are disarmed. We need 
monitors and forensic experts on the ground to preserve the evidence 
for a future war crimes trial.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, two points: Every day that we delay and 
hesitate, more people die. The United States must speak out loudly. We 
must not shy from calling it what it is: Genocide.

                          ____________________