[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 25, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E929]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     OBAMA IGNORES SUDAN'S GENOCIDE

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                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 25, 2010

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I submit a piece by actress and activist Mia 
Farrow which ran in today's Wall Street Journal. It is appropriately 
titled, ``Obama Ignores Sudan's Genocide.'' The President has failed to 
exhibit the necessary leadership on this issue. He has barely uttered a 
word on Sudan or Darfur since coming to office.
  Having spent extensive time in the region, Farrow points out, ``When 
Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, hope abounded, 
even in Darfur's bleak refugee camps.'' Later she continues, ``Such 
hopes did not last long.''
  Were the President to move swiftly to empower Secretary of State 
Clinton and U.N. Ambassador Rice to take the reins of the 
administration's languishing Sudan policy, perhaps hope could be 
restored.

              [From the Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2010]

                     Obama Ignores Sudan's Genocide

                            (By Mia Farrow)

       Last week U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration told 
     the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that although he 
     remains supportive of ``international efforts'' to bring 
     Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to justice, the Obama 
     administration is also pursuing ``locally owned 
     accountability and reconciliation mechanisms in light of the 
     recommendations made by the African Union's high-level panel 
     on Darfur.''
       Mr. Bashir is indicted by the International Criminal Court 
     (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but the 
     African Union Panel on Darfur has clearly aligned itself with 
     Khartoum. One panel member, former Egyptian Foreign Minister 
     Ahmed Al Sayed, said in an interview with an Egyptian 
     newspaper, ``The prosecution of an African head of state 
     before an international tribunal is totally unacceptable. Our 
     goal was to find a way out.''
       The African Union panel is led by former South African 
     President Thabo Mbeki, who in 2008 dismissed the ICC 
     indictment, saying that it is ``the responsibility of the 
     Sudanese state to act on those matters.'' Then, late last 
     year his panel proposed a counter initiative to the ICC in 
     the form of a hybrid, Sudan-based court with both Arab and 
     African judges to be selected by the African Union.
       But all this is moot since Mr. Bashir swiftly rejected Mr. 
     Mbeki's proposal. Perversely, Mr. Gration has now thrown U.S. 
     government support to a tribunal that does not and probably 
     will never exist. Even if it did, the ``locally owned 
     accountability'' he refers to is not feasible under 
     prevailing political conditions, as any Sudan-based court 
     will be controlled by the perpetrators themselves.
       For seven years, the people of Darfur have been pleading 
     for protection and for justice. They do not believe either 
     peace or justice can come while Mr. Bashir--orchestrator of 
     their suffering--remains president of Sudan. Nor do they 
     believe ``locally owned accountability'' is remotely possible 
     under the current regime.
       When Barack Obama was elected president of the United 
     States, hope abounded, even in Darfur's bleak refugee camps. 
     Darfuris believed this son of Africa could understand their 
     suffering, end the violence that has taken so much from them, 
     and bring Mr. Bashir to justice. The refugees hoped that 
     ``Yes we can'' was meant for them too. They believed 
     President Obama would bring peace and protection to Darfur 
     and would settle for nothing less than true justice.
       I have held new babies named Obama and watched as Darfuris 
     began to dream again. Fatima Haroun, a 24-year-old widow and 
     mother, told me the day was surely near when the refugees 
     could leave the filth and hunger of the camps and safely 
     return to the ashes of their villages. First, she said, they 
     would honor their lost loved ones; they would search the 
     ashes for bones, wrap them in best cloths, and bury them with 
     respect. They would gather wood and tall grasses to rebuild 
     their homes, they would sing new songs and prepare their 
     fields for planting. Hunger and terror would go away. Omar 
     al-Bashir would rot in jail.
       Such hopes did not last long.
       Nearly three million souls are still waiting in wretched 
     camps across Darfur and eastern Chad. Sudanese government 
     bombs are still falling, murderers and rapists still roam 
     free, and the refugees have not felt safe for a very long 
     time. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has 
     expressed concern over increasing levels of violence in 
     Darfur.
       In their darkest hours and through losses too grievous to 
     fathom, the world has repeatedly abandoned the people of 
     Darfur. Over more than seven years, two American presidents 
     have used the word ``genocide'' to describe what has unfolded 
     there, but they have done little to end it.
       It is past time for us to step up and accept our moral 
     obligation to protect a defenseless people. The American 
     people should urge Mr. Gration and the Obama administration 
     to lead a diplomatic offensive to convince the world to 
     isolate Mr. Bashir as a fugitive from justice, and to 
     wholeheartedly support the only body offering Darfur's people 
     a measure of authentic justice: the International Criminal 
     Court.
       Ms. Farrow has visited Darfur and eastern Chad 13 times 
     since 2004.

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