[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 57 (Wednesday, April 24, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H2253-H2254]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         SUDAN PEACE, SECURITY, AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2013

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago, crimes by the Government of 
Sudan against its own people in Darfur were just beginning. The world 
witnessed the burning of villages, poisoning of water, murder, rape, 
brutal assault, and the deliberate forced displacement of entire 
villages by violence. In 2004, these acts were characterized by the 
U.S. Government and Congress as genocide.
  For the past 6 years, the International Criminal Court has indicted 
and issued arrest warrants for Sudan's high officials, military 
commanders, and militia proxies for multiple counts of war crimes and 
crimes against humanity. In 2009 and 2010, President Omar al-Bashir 
himself was indicted by the ICC for war crimes, crimes against 
humanity, and genocide.
  International movements in support of the people of Darfur arose 
around the world, including a broad coalition here in the United States 
of religious, labor, peace, human rights, and student organizations 
calling for an end to the genocide in Darfur.
  Between 2004 and 2007, Congress passed a series of bills limiting 
U.S. aid to Sudan and applying sanctions against Sudan for its 
atrocities in Darfur.

                              {time}  1020

  In 2007, I visited refugee camps in eastern Chad filled with hundreds 
of thousands of men, women, and children who had fled the violence in 
Darfur. Each has a personal story of horror and violence. While I was 
there, the janjaweed crossed the border and attacked two villages 
inside Chad, displacing thousands of people in the desolate landscape 
and brutal heat of Sahel in the dry season. I witnessed with admiration 
the emergency response mobilized within hours by U.N. and international 
humanitarian agencies and NGOs to provide these newly homeless and 
traumatized people with water, food, shelter, immunizations, and 
medical care.
  I will never forget those people, those children. And I will never 
forget the caring of highly professional humanitarian aid workers who 
provided lifesaving support to these refugees under difficult and 
dangerous conditions.
  Khartoum continues its brutal campaign in Darfur, and there is no end 
in sight. Eric Reeves, who 10 years ago bravely brought to the world 
some of the very first photo and video images of the scorched-earth 
campaign taking place in Darfur, continues to document ongoing 
atrocities in the region. The primary targets continue to be civilians 
from African tribal groups surviving tenuously in the chaotic region. 
Eric is now on the faculty of Smith College in Northampton, 
Massachusetts, and I am very proud to be his Representative in 
Congress.
  Today, the violence and abuses of Darfur have expanded across Sudan. 
This February, the U.N. reported that over 1.5 million people have been 
displaced or severely affected because of the violence in Darfur, 
Abyei, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile, including some 90,000 to 100,000 
people newly displaced in Darfur.
  For over 3 years, the Sudanese Government has carried out aerial 
bombing and a scorched-earth campaign against civilians in the states 
of South Kordofan and Blue Nile under the pretext of battling armed 
insurgencies that operate in the area. The government continues to deny 
the World Food Programme and other humanitarian and religious 
organizations access to South Kordofan and Blue Nile to help the 
thousands in desperate need of food and basic care. The U.N. High 
Commissioner for Human Rights has stated that abuses by the Government 
of Sudan in these States may constitute

[[Page H2254]]

war crimes and crimes against humanity.
  Mr. Speaker, there comes a time when we have to say enough is enough. 
That is why Congressmen Frank Wolf, Mike Capuano, and I are 
reintroducing today the Sudan Peace, Security, and Accountability Act.
  Khartoum's abuse of its own people is nationwide, and this bill 
focuses on Sudan as a whole. It requires a U.S. comprehensive strategy 
to end serious human rights violations in all of Sudan. It would 
provide genuine accountability for persons who have committed or 
assisted in serious human rights abuses. The bill supports the 
aspirations of the Sudanese people for peace and democratic reform. It 
encourages other governments and individuals to end support and aid to 
the Government of Sudan. And it reinvigorates genuinely comprehensive 
and sustainable peace efforts to end Sudan's multiple crises.
  We must send a clear message to Khartoum that the time for change is 
now, that these abuses must stop, and that peace and genuine 
participation in the future of Sudan are rights that belong to all of 
the people of Sudan, no matter their race, ethnic or tribal background, 
religion, or political affiliation.
  I urge all of my colleagues to join us on this legislation. It is 
past time to put an end to the pain, suffering, and genocide taking 
place in Sudan. It is time to support peace, security, and 
accountability.

         Sudan Peace, Security, and Accountability Act of 2013


                         Summary of Legislation

       Purpose: The ``Sudan Peace, Security and Accountability Act 
     of 2013'' would create a comprehensive U.S. strategy to end 
     serious human rights violations in Sudan, provide genuine 
     accountability for persons who have committed or assisted in 
     serious human rights violations, support Sudanese aspiration 
     for democratic reforms, encourage other governments and 
     persons to end support of and assistance to the government of 
     Sudan, and to reinvigorate genuinely comprehensive and 
     sustainable peace efforts that can end Sudan's multiple 
     crises.
       Background: 2013 marks ten years from the start of crimes 
     in Darfur that the U.S. government found to constitute 
     genocide. Previous legislation was passed to address the 
     genocide in Darfur, but abuses have continued and expanded to 
     other areas of Sudan. Aerial bombardment of civilian areas of 
     South Kordofan and Blue Nile states and continued blocking of 
     humanitarian relief by the Government of Sudan has led to 
     over 900,000 Sudanese in need of humanitarian aid. Violence 
     and aid restrictions also remain in Darfur where some 130,000 
     people have been newly displaced in the first months of 2013 
     alone. Reports by the UN and independent monitors have 
     documented ongoing abuses by the Government of Sudan and 
     those it supports that ``may constitute war crimes and crimes 
     against humanity''.


                       Highlights of legislation:

       Requires the Administration and all relevant agencies to 
     work together and create a comprehensive strategic plan to 
     end serious human rights violations, provide genuine 
     accountability for crimes committed in Darfur and other parts 
     of Sudan, support the path for democratic transformation, and 
     create peace throughout all of Sudan;
       Demands free and unfettered access for international 
     humanitarian aid and, absent such agreement, requires the 
     Administration to seek other mechanisms to mitigate the 
     effects of lack of such humanitarian aid;
       Promotes free and transparent democratic reform in Sudan, 
     including exploring technical support and funding for civil 
     society and others seeking sustainable democratic change;
       Increases engagement with other stakeholders with influence 
     in Sudan;
       Creates a broad-reaching sanctions regime to target any 
     government or individuals whose support assists the Sudanese 
     government in committing serious human rights violations or 
     who fail to execute international arrest warrants against 
     Sudanese officials;
       Seeks more effective enforcement of existing sanctions 
     including adequate resources and personnel and extends to all 
     of Sudan existing sanctions regimes included in prior enacted 
     legislation that were specific only for ``Darfur''; and
       Provides genuine accountability for crimes committed in 
     Darfur and encourages other countries to expand international 
     accountability efforts to include crimes committed in other 
     regions in Sudan.
                                  ____


                     [From Reuters, Apr. 12, 2013]

         Some 50,000 Flee Sudan Into Chad After Darfur Clashes

       N'Djamena.--Some 50,000 Sudanese have fled into 
     southeastern Chad in the past week following fresh tribal 
     conflict in the restive Darfur region, U.N. and Chadian 
     officials said on Friday.
       Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commission 
     for Refugees, said the fighting had spread as each side 
     received reinforcements from tribal allies and had become 
     more violent, with entire villages being razed.
       A total of 74,000 refugees had fled to Chad in the past two 
     months, she said.
       ``People are arriving wounded and telling us their houses 
     are destroyed and their villages completely burned down, with 
     many people killed,'' she told a news conference in Geneva.
       The refugees have fled to an arid area along the Chad, 
     Sudan and Central African Republic border.
       ``The area they are arriving in is very remote. They left 
     with nothing: there is no water, no food. They are sleeping 
     under trees,'' Fleming said, adding there was a risk of 
     disease.
       General Moussa Haroun Tirgo, the governor of the Sila 
     region of southeastern Chad where the refugees have fled, 
     told Reuters that about 52 wounded had arrived since 
     Thursday.
       ``The situation is worrying given that the zone does not 
     have enough medical infrastructure,'' Tirgo said. ``We're 
     evaluating the needs with the help of NGOs but the situation 
     is very serious.''
       Conflict has ravaged Sudan's western Darfur region since 
     2003 when mainly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the 
     Arab-led government, accusing it of politically and 
     economically marginalizing the region.
       Violence has subsided from its peak in 2003 and 2004, but a 
     surge has forced more than 130,000 people to flee their homes 
     this year, according to the United Nations.

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