[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 111 (Monday, September 11, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9296-S9297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 DARFUR

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, we are at a crossroads in the 3-year-old 
conflict raging in Sudan's Darfur region. Last week's Security Council 
Resolution 1706, authorizing a United Nations peacekeeping force for 
Darfur, represents the culmination of persistent advocacy for a robust 
international intervention and offers the resources and mandate 
necessary to bring an end to violence which has already taken more than 
200,000 lives and forced an estimated 2.5 million Darfurians from their 
homes.
  Unfortunately, the Government of Sudan has rejected the U.N.'s plan 
and is actively undermining peace efforts while exacerbating the 
humanitarian situation. The Sudanese Government's behavior increasingly 
violates both international law and the terms of the Peace Agreement it 
signed in May.
  If the Sudanese Government remains on its current trajectory, 
disaster--perhaps on the scale of the 1994 Rwandan genocide--is 
imminent. The current 7,000-member African Union Mission in Sudan, 
which has been struggling valiantly to protect innocent civilians for 2 
years, is set to withdraw at the end of this month. If it is not 
replaced by a U.N. force at that time or given an extended and expanded 
mandate, a power vacuum will result that many agree would lead to a 
resurgence in violence from all sides.
  Already, the future of the peace process is at risk and increasing 
insecurity are leading humanitarian aid organizations to retreat from 
the areas where their services are needed most. More than a dozen aid 
workers have been murdered since the Darfur Peace Agreement was signed 
in May.
  It is time for the United States and the international community to 
use all means of influence at their disposal to ensure that U.N. 
Resolution 1706 is implemented. In contrast to the small African Union 
contingent, which is severely limited in both what it is able and 
allowed to do, the recently-authorized United Nations force would 
include up to 22,500 U.N. troops and police officers and an immediate 
injection of air, engineering, and communication support for the 
African Union force. The resolution, passed unanimously by the Security 
Council on August 31, also gives the U.N. peacekeepers power to take 
all necessary measures to protect humanitarian aid workers and civilian 
populations.
  In an affront to international law and the international community, 
Sudan's envoys refused to attend last week's United Nations meetings 
and the Government has rejected the introduction of a U.N. peacekeeping 
force, likening it to ``western colonization.'' Most recently, the 
Government has issued an ultimatum to the African Union, demanding that 
it refrain from incorporating U.N. reinforcements or withdraw its 
peacekeepers from the country. The Sudanese Government insists that it 
will defeat rebel groups in Darfur on its own and has announced 
intentions to move more than 10,000 troops to the region. In effect, 
this amounts to sending the same soldiers who displaced Darfur's 
refugees to protect them.
  Over the past week, there has been a military buildup in Darfur, with 
witnesses reporting an influx of Sudanese military equipment and 
troops, which is in direct violation of May's Darfur Peace Agreement. 
In fact, while the Security Council was debating how to end the 
violence in Darfur, the Sudanese military was indiscriminately bombing 
rebel-held villages. Firsthand sources report flight crews rolling 
bombs off plane ramps, a tactic often practiced by Government forces in 
their 21-year civil war to devastate whole areas of southern Sudan, 
with nightmarish consequences for civilians.
  Meanwhile, the situation on the ground is deteriorating rapidly. The 
more than 2 million refugees in Darfur and neighboring Chad--two thirds 
of them children--are particularly susceptible to malaria, diarrhea, 
and other health problems and live in fear of forced recruitment by 
rebel fighters or bomb attacks by the military. This current escalation 
in instability seriously impedes the mobility of humanitarian 
organizations, preventing them from reaching civilians in Sudan's most 
dangerous areas. The World Food Program reports that its existing food 
rations--upon which some 6 million Sudanese rely--will run out in 
January, adding another dimension of desperation.
  In unanimously passing Resolution 1706, the international community 
has delivered a clear message to the Government in Khartoum that it 
needs to abide by international law and its own commitments. Last-
minute changes the recent resolution included a reaffirmation of the 
sovereignty and ``territorial integrity of Sudan'' and the first 
paragraph of the resolution invites the Sudanese Government to consent 
to the deployment of a U.N. force, but such consent is not required by 
international law or the text of the resolution. Additionally, the U.N. 
Resolution threatens sanctions for any individual or group that 
violates human rights or the Darfur Peace Agreement.
  At this critical juncture, the Government of Sudan must fulfill its 
obligation to relieve the suffering of its citizens by working with the 
United Nations to agree upon a robust, coordinated force to end the 
violence in Darfur. It is essential that the international community 
displays steadfast solidarity in insisting upon the implementation of 
United Nations Resolution 1706 and provides the troops and resources 
necessary to follow through on its commitment. The implications of 
allowing another genocide to take place in Africa could lead to a 
complete collapse in the U.N.'s authority and the deterioration of 
international law.
  In conclusion, I am deeply troubled by recent developments regarding 
Sudan. The international community has asserted its determination to 
bring

[[Page S9297]]

an end to the violence in Darfur. Now we need to act upon these 
intentions and pressure the Government of Sudan to cooperate in efforts 
to improve prospects for peace throughout Sudan and the greater east 
Africa region.

                          ____________________