[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 142 (Tuesday, November 1, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12123-S12124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 DARFUR

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, we must not lose sight of the devastating 
humanitarian crisis in Darfur, where some 3000,000 people were killed 
in the genocide and almost 2 million more forced into displacement 
camps. While some progress has been made in ending large scale attacks 
by government forces, daily attacks against civilians and aid workers 
continue in a climate of lawlessness, and the Khartoum government still 
has not reined in the Janjaweed militia. Given these circumstances, I 
remain concerned that the administration has not done enough to bring 
about a peace agreement in the region.
  The African Union soldiers sent to Darfur to date have made some 
progress in providing much needed protection. However, their mandate 
and current personnel levels are not sufficient to keep the civilians 
and aid workers safe. America and the international community should 
work to ensure that the African Union is able to get more peacekeepers 
into place, with an expanded mandate that allows them to complete their 
important work.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a Christian 
Science Monitor article from October 25, 2005 describing the current 
problems Darfur and providing some sensible proposals to solve them.

[[Page S12124]]

  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

          [From the Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 25, 2005]

                 Help Africans Help Themselves in Sudan

                          (By Jeremy Barnicle)

       West Darfur, Sudan.--As a white foreigner visiting a 
     displacement camp here, I was greeted with the chant, 
     ``khawaja no kwa.'' ``The foreigners say no,'' they sang, 
     meaning international intervention helped curb the violence 
     and ease the suffering in Darfur. The song was a gesture of 
     thanks and respect.
       The wealthy world fulfilled the first part of its 
     obligation to the people here when it finally started sending 
     emergency aid over a year ago. The second part of that 
     obligation--helping African Union (AU) soldiers provide 
     security for the 2 million people driven from home by the 
     conflict--would consolidate humanitarian gains in Darfur and, 
     as important, serve as a long-term investment in the 
     stability of the entire continent.
       In Darfur, the international community--specifically NATO 
     and the United States--has a unique opportunity to help 
     Africans provide security for their own conflict zones. The 
     village raids have largely subsided, and access for aid 
     workers has improved dramatically in Darfur over the past 
     year, but the countryside is now racked with lawlessness and 
     warlordism. Neither the government of Sudan nor the rebel 
     parties seem able to control the violence.
       Within this challenging context, it is critical that 
     Darfurians living in refugee camps start to go home and 
     recover their lives. Peace talks between the government of 
     Sudan and various rebel groups continue in Nigeria, but there 
     is little hope of a durable political agreement in the near 
     future. Meanwhile, the people of Darfur are stuck suffering 
     between no war and no peace.
       Their most basic needs are met in displacement camps, but 
     the situation is unsustainable: The longer they are displaced 
     the more expensive it becomes for the international community 
     and the less likely it is that they'll ever get home to 
     rebuild their own communities. Ask a Darfur refugee what she 
     wants and inevitably the answer is ``to go home, but only if 
     there is security.''
       People will return to Darfur only when they have security 
     assurances they see as credible, and that's where the AU 
     force comes in.
       So far, the AU mission in Sudan has surpassed expectations. 
     Displaced women used to be terrified of leaving camps to 
     collect firewood, as armed men would stalk the outskirts of 
     town and prey on them. Now, women can time their trips 
     outside to coincide with AU patrols, which deter assaults. 
     This is a development of which the AU and its backers should 
     be proud.
       The problem is that there are currently only about 6,000 AU 
     troops in Darfur, an area the size of Texas. The AU says it 
     plans to ramp that number up to about 12,000 by 2006. That 
     would be too little, too late.
       In order to help get Darfurians back home and back on track 
     in safety, the AU would need to hit that 12,000 as soon as 
     possible and be prepared to send at least a few thousand more 
     if necessary. The U.S. and NATO are already providing 
     important logistical and technical support for the AU 
     mission, but standing up this larger force would require a 
     speedy and substantial increase in their financial 
     commitments. The U.S. specifically needs to apply diplomatic 
     pressure to ensure that our allies meet the pledges they have 
     made to the AU.
       That commitment is the least the world can do. Consider 
     this comparison. Following the war in Bosnia, the 
     international community secured the country--especially high 
     refugee return areas--by providing more than 18 peacekeepers 
     per thousand Bosnians. In Kosovo, the world came up with 20 
     peacekeepers per thousand people. In Darfur right now, there 
     is one AU soldier per thousand people, spread over a much 
     larger geographic area. That is disgraceful.
       An increased investment in the AU's peacekeeping capability 
     now would also advance a huge shared goal for Africa and the 
     West: to help Africans protect Africans. Several of the 
     continent's conflicts need sustained, legitimate, outside 
     military intervention and history proves that the West is 
     unwilling to commit its own troops in any meaningful way.
       Some respected analysts have called for NATO to deploy its 
     own peacekeepers to Darfur. That is an appealing idea, but 
     the fact of the matter is that the government of Sudan will 
     never accept NATO troops on its soil, and their presence 
     could actually further destabilize the region.
       An indigenous peacekeeping force legitimized by 
     international support and conforming to international 
     standards is critical to mitigating conflict, enabling 
     humanitarian access, and easing human suffering in Africa.

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