[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 128 (Thursday, September 20, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6528-S6530]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE IN SUDAN
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to highlight the following
letter written by over 60 genocide scholars, including Dr. Samuel
Totten of the University of Arkansas. Their letter urges the Obama
administration to do more to end the humanitarian catastrophe occurring
in South Kordofan and Blue Nile States of Sudan.
Last summer I joined a group of bipartisan Senators in making a
similar request of the administration. Unfortunately, humanitarian aid
to South Kordofan and Blue Nile continues to be severely limited and
the violence has not ceased.
I applaud the authors of this letter for their continued advocacy to
ensure that another genocide does not occur in Sudan, and I ask
unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
August 31, 2012.
To: President Barack Obama; Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton; Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice;
Special Assistant to the President Samantha Power.
From: The Undersigned Genocide Scholars
Subject: Humanitarian Catastrophe in South Kordofan and Blue
Nile States of Sudan
Dear President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton,
Ambassador Rice and Special Assistant Power: On June 6, 2011,
the Sudanese regime, led by indicted war criminal Omar al-
Bashir, unleashed a wave of targeted ethnic killings against
the people of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan state,
Sudan. Since then this state-sponsored violence has spread to
engulf much of South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
The continuing multiple atrocities amount to at least
crimes against humanity. This, in and of itself, is alarming.
According to the tenets of the Responsibility to Protect now
is the time to protect the targeted population.
Satellite imagery has revealed mass graves, razed
communities, and the indiscriminate low altitude aerial
bombardment of civilian areas in South Kordofan state.
Reliable eyewitnesses continue to report systematic
government shelling and bombing of refugee evacuation routes,
helicopter gunships hunting civilians as they flee their
homes and farmland to hide in caves, and a deliberate and
widespread blockage of humanitarian aid into South Kordofan
and Blue Nile states. Anecdotal evidence of perpetrators
screaming racist slurs as civilians are killed and raped are
familiar to anyone who knows what has been happening in
Darfur since 2003.
Sufficient evidence exists for us to believe the Sudanese
regime is attempting to annihilate those whom the government
suspects of supporting the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement-North's (SPLM-N) aims. Hence many local people are
automatically targeted regardless of their true political
affiliations.
Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese remain trapped in South
Kordofan, the victims of forced starvation, unable to farm
their land. This critical situation largely mirrors what the
same regime perpetrated in the 1990s, a case of genocide by
attrition.
Meanwhile in Blue Nile state, a scorched earth campaign by
government forces has forced the SPLM-N to retreat, leaving
tens of thousands with no protection from the perpetrators.
As genocide scholars we have a solemn responsibility to
educate the public about the horrors of the past in the hope
of creating a future free of such crimes. We are the keepers
of the chapters of human history that are difficult to
confront, casting a dark shadow on all of humanity. We study
the past to find ways to prevent such egregious actions in
the future. We exist to remind the world of humanity's
capacity to commit genocide anywhere and against any group of
people.
It is because of that responsibility that we write to you.
We call on you to fulfill your responsibilities as global
leaders when it comes to confronting mankind's most
terrifying of crimes.
Although we welcome your efforts to aid the refugees who
have found their way to camps in South Sudan, we must point
out that as world leaders you have the moral authority
granted by the UN's unanimous 2005 declaration of the
Responsibility to Protect to demand delivery of aid to those
inside Sudan. As guarantors of the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement signed that same year, moreover, you have not
fulfilled your legal and moral obligation to sanction
violators of that agreement.
The Sudanese regime continues to slaughter its own
civilians, while denying them access to aid and in defiance
of various international treaties and conventions it has
signed, not to mention the Sudanese constitution.
The Tripartite Agreement signed on 4 August 2012 in Addis
Ababa, called upon the Government of Sudan to allow
humanitarian access to all areas of the Nuba Mountains and
the Blue Nile state dependent on certain conditions. Yet the
Bashir regime's track record leads us to fear it will
interfere with aid delivery to those in most need. Seasonal
inaccessibility also requires extraordinary and timely
arrangements, such as airdrops. Hence we beseech you to take
the following steps immediately to ensure aid is delivered to
South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Establish a land and air humanitarian corridor through
which aid can be delivered without interference or hindrance
from Sudanese security, military or other forces or proxies.
Secure arrangements with the SPLM-N for the airlifting of
these supplies directly into territory in their control.
Inform relevant Sudanese officials that, due to the urgency
of the catastrophe created by their actions, the United
States will deliver relief directly into the war-affected
areas underneath SPLM-N control.
[[Page S6529]]
Invite relevant Sudanese officials to observe the cargo to
be delivered so they can verify the contents.
Use the most effective means possible, including airlifts,
to get supplies into affected areas in SPLM-N control.
Keep armed escort planes on standby for the protection of
aid delivery planes if necessary.
It is therefore unwise to respond to the Khartoum regime's
various crimes with appeasement. By allowing the NCP to
behave with impunity, the U.S. and the rest of the
international community signals a weakness that only
emboldens those who would flout its own international
agreements.
Furthermore, it is unwise to assume, as the international
community does, that Khartoum intends the best for its
citizens. Therefore we call on your administration to end
Khartoum's effective blockade of aid to South Kordofan and
Blue Nile. The regime will continue to kill their own people
if once again the United States declines to use the economic
and diplomatic leverage at its disposal to enforce the
delivery of aid into South Kordofan and Blue Nile states
under internationally acceptable terms.
We strongly urge you to act now to stave off the starvation
of an entire people. Nothing would speak louder to the United
States' concern for the protection of international human
rights than an immediate operation to deliver aid to the Nuba
Mountains people while they are still alive and able to be
helped.
If your administration chooses to stand with the victims of
Sudan's continuing campaign of ethnic cleansing, then history
will accord you respect and honor. If you do not stand with
the victims, history will be much harsher.
We very much look forward to hearing from each of you in
regard to our letter and the suggestions therein.
In solidarity with the victims, and with respect,
Dr. Samuel Totten; Professor Emeritus, and author of
Genocide by Attrition: Nuba Mountains, Sudan (2012);
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville;
[email protected].
Dr. John Hubbel Weiss; Associate Professor, History;
Cornell University.
Mr. David Kilgour, J.D.; Former Canadian Secretary of
State for Africa; Ottawa, Canada.
Dr. Israel W. Charny (dual citizenship, U.S. & Israel);
Director, Genocide Prevention Network and Past
President of the International Association of Genocide
Studies, and Chief Editor, Encyclopedia of Genocide;
Jerusalem, Israel.
Dr. Helen Fein; Chair of the Board, Institute for the
Study of Genocide, and author of Human Rights and
Wrongs: Slavery, Terror and Genocide; New York, NY.
Dr. Roger Smith; Professor Emeritus and Past President of
the International Association of Genocide Studies, and
editor of Genocide: Essays Toward Understanding, Early
Warning Prevention; College of William and Mary,
Williamsburg, VA.
Dr. John Hagan; MacArthur Professor, and Co-Director,
Center on Law & Globalizations, American Bar Foundation
Co-author of Darfur and the Crime of Genocide
(Cambridge University Press, 2008); Northwestern
University, Chicago, IL.
Craig Etcheson; Author of After the Killing Fields:
Lessons from the Cambodian Genocide; Canton, IL.
Dr. Ben Kiernan; Whitney Griswold Professor of History
and Director of Genocide Studies Program (Yale
University; Author of Blood and Soil: A World History
of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur
Yale University; New Haven, CT.
Dr. Herb Hirsch; Professor, Department of Political
Science and Co-Editor of Genocide Studies and
Prevention: An International Journal and author of
Anti-Genocide: Building An American Movement to Prevent
Genocide (Praeger, 2002); Virginia Commonwealth
University, Richmond, VA.
Dr. Hannibal Travis; Associate Professor of Law and
author of Genocide in the Middle East: The Ottoman
Empire, Iraq and Sudan (2010); Florida International
University College of Law.
Professor Linda Melvern; Department of International
Politics, and author of A People Betrayed: The Role of
the West in Rwanda's Genocide; University of
Aberystwyth, Wales.
Dr. Henry Theriault; Professor and Chair, Department of
Philosophy, and Co-Editor of Genocide Studies and
Prevention: An International Journal; Worcester State
University, MA.
Dr. Eric Weitz; Dean of Humanities and the Arts, and
author of A Century of Genocide: Utopias of Race and
Nation City College, City University of New York; New
York, NY.
Dr. Gregory Stanton; President, Genocide Watch, Research
Professor in Genocide Studies and Prevention, School
for Conflict Analysis and Resolution; George Mason
University, Fairfax, VA.
Dr. Rouben Adalian; Director, Armenian National
Institute; Washington, D.C.
Dr. Susanne Jonas; Professor (retired), Latin American &
Latino Studies, and author of The Battle for Guatemala:
Rebels, Death Squads and U.S. Power, University of
California, Santa Cruz.
Dr. Robert Skloot; Professor Emeritus; University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
Nicolas A. Robins; Co-editor, Genocide Studies and
Prevention: An International Journal, and author of
Genocide by the Oppressed: Subaltern Genocide in Theory
and Practice; Raleigh, North Carolina.
Dr. John D. Ciorciari; Assistant Professor of Public
Policy; Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy;
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Dr. George Kent; Professor, Department of Political
Science; University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Dr. Elisa Von Joeden-Forgey; Visiting Scholar, Department
of History; University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia,
PA.
Dr. Peter Balakian; Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar
Professor in Humanities, and author of The Burning
Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response;
Colgate University, Hamilton, NY.
Dr. Ernesto Verdeja; Assistant Professor of Political
Science and Peace Studies; University of Notre Dame;
Mr. Stephen D. Smith; Executive Director, USC Shoah
Foundation, and Adjunct Professor of Religion;
University of Southern California; Los Angeles,
California.
Dr. Paul Slovic; Professor, Department of Psychology;
University of Oregon, Eugene.
Dr. Jason Ross Arnold; Assistant Professor of Political
Science; L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and
Public Affairs; Virginia Commonwealth University,
Richmond, VA.
Dr. Jason K. Levy; Associate Professor; Homeland Security
and Emergency Preparedness and Director; National
Homeland Security Project; Virginia Commonwealth
University, Richmond, VA.
Dr. Amanda Grzyb (Dual Citizen, U.S. and Canada);
Assistant Professor, Information and Media Studies; and
editor of The World and Darfur: International Response
to Crimes Against Humanity in Western Sudan; University
of Western Ontario (Canada).
Dr. Alan L. Berger; Reddock Family Eminent Scholar in
Holocaust Studies, and Director, Center for the Study
of Values and Violence After Auschwitz; Florida
Atlantic University, Boca Raton.
Dr. Douglas H. Johnson; International Expert, Abyei
Boundaries Commission, 2005; Author of The Root Causes
of Sudan's Civil Wars; Haverford, PA and Oxford, UK.
Dr. Gagik Aroutiunian; Associate Professor, Department of
Art, Media & Design; DePaul University, Chicago, IL.
Dr. Gerry Caplan; Independent Scholar and Author of
Rwanda: The Preventable Genocide; Richmond Hill,
Ontario, Canada.
Dr. Dominik J. Schaller; Lecturer, History Department,
and author of The Origins of Genocide: Raphael Lemkin
as a Historian of Mass Violence; Ruprecht-Karls-
Univeristy, Heidelberg, Germany.
Dr. Philip J. Spencer; Director of the Helen Bamber
Centre for the Study of Rights, Conflict and Mass
Violence; Kingston University; Surrey, England.
Dr. Maureen S. Hiebert; Assistant Professor, Department
of Political Science, University of Calgary, Alberta,
Canada; University of Calgary (Canada).
Dr. Eric Reeves; Professor, and author of A Long Day's
Dying: Critical moments in the Darfur Genocide; Smith
College, Northhampton, MA.
Dr. Robert Hitchcock; Professor, Department of Geography,
and co-editor of Genocide of Indigenous Peoples;
Michigan State University, Lansing.
Dr. James Waller; Cohen Professor of Holocaust and
Genocide Studies, author of Becoming Evil: How Ordinary
People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing; Keene State
College, Keene, New Hampshire.
Dr. Rubina Peroomian; Research Associate; University of
California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Colin Tatz; Visiting Fellow, Political and
International Relations, and author of With Intent to
Destroy: Reflecting on Genocide; Australian National
University, Canberra.
Dr. Kjell Anderson; Project Manager; The Hague Institute
for Global Justice; The Hague, The Netherlands.
Dr. Adam Jones; Associate Professor, Department of
Political Science, and author of Genocide: A
Comprehensive Introduction; University of British
Columbia.
Dr. Elihu D. Richter, MD MPH; Jerusalem Center for
Genocide Prevention and Hebrew-University-Hadassah
School of Public Health and Community Medicine;
Jerusalem, Israel.
Matthias Bjornlund; Historian/Lecturer; Danish Institute
for the Study Abroad, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Jose Carlos Moreira da Silva Filho; Professor, Criminal
Law Post Graduate Department; Pontificia Universidade
Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul, Port Alegra RS--Brazil.
[[Page S6530]]
Tamar Pileggi; Co-Founder, The Jerusalem Center for
Genocide Prevention Jerusalem, Israel.
Dr. Uriel Levy; Director, Combat Genocide Association;
Jerusalem, Israel.
Dr. Penny Green; International State Crime Initiative;
Kings College, London.
Dr. Tony Ward; Professor of Law; University of Hull, UK.
Ms. Amy Fagin; International Association of Genocide
Scholars; New Salem, MA.
Dr. Ann Weiss; Director, Eyes from the Ashes Educational
Foundation, and author of The Last Album: Eyes from the
Ashes of Auschwitz-Birkenau; Bryn Mawr, PA.
Dr. Rick Halperin; Director, Embrey Human Rights Program;
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX.
Mr. Geoff Hill; Bureau Chief, The Washington Times;
Johannesburg, South Africa; South Africa.
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