[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 11, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H923-H924]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           WORLD IS SILENT AS SUDAN RENEWS GENOCIDAL ATTACKS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the 
deteriorating humanitarian and human rights situation inside Sudan. 
Regrettably, as the attention of the world has been pulled in many 
different directions, the people of Sudan have been forgotten.
  For over a year and a half, the situation inside Sudan has been 
getting worse and worse. It happens quietly, out of the limelight, but 
the suffering of the Sudanese people is not silent. Their cries are 
deafening to those trying to help.
  On July 22, 2004, the House of Representatives adopted House 
Concurrent Resolution 467 by a vote of 422-0. That resolution declared 
that the crimes of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in Darfur 
constituted genocide.
  Over a decade later, the Sudanese government has renewed and 
increased its genocidal attacks in Darfur. As humanitarian agencies 
withdraw from the region, unable to carry out their missions in the 
face of unrelenting attacks, the civilian and displaced populations of 
Darfur are left without protection and without witnesses.
  In the past weeks, the government-supported Janjaweed--now 
reincarnated as Bashir's Rapid Support Forces, or RSF--have intensified 
their scorched earth campaign of attacks, bombings, rape, displacement, 
and destruction.
  According to the Satellite Sentinel Project and the Enough project, 
these forces are ``better equipped, centrally commanded, and fully 
integrated into the state's security apparatus, with legal immunity 
from prosecution.''
  According to reports by United to End Genocide, since January 1, at 
least 20,000 innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes in 
Darfur. President al-Bashir is bombing civilians, blocking the 
investigation of the reported mass rape of over 200 Darfuri women and, 
in the midst of the sharpest increase in violence in years, demanding 
the removal of U.N. peacekeepers.
  On January 6, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of 
Humanitarian Affairs reported that 115 villages have either been 
abandoned or burned to the ground in North Darfur. Attackers have 
forced women, children, and the elderly to leave their villages with 
nothing to survive on, often looting everything belonging to civilians.
  It is clear that the RSF and their masters in Khartoum are engaged in 
a campaign to strip the people of Darfur of everything they own, 
anything that might keep them alive, and condemn them to increasing 
poverty displacement, starvation, and death. And the world--including 
Congress and the U.N. Security Council--remains silent.
  In the border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, defenseless 
civilians in the Nuba Mountains face a relentless bombing campaign by 
the Sudanese Air Force and ground attacks by the Sudanese Armed Forces. 
On January 20, a hospital in South Kordofan run by Doctors Without 
Borders was deliberately targeted by an aerial bombing campaign, 
depriving the local population of lifesaving care.
  In the past few months, under the auspices of the African Union, 
countries from the region, as well as the United States and Europe, 
have sought to bring the Bashir regime and various rebel forces to the 
table in order to negotiate a cessation of hostilities and promote an 
inclusive national dialogue. This is a worthy effort with worthy goals, 
but while such talks meander, Khartoum continues its genocidal campaign 
to impose military solutions to the political crisis facing Sudan.
  President Bashir has no political solution to Sudan's problems. As 
the people of Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile know only too well, 
displacement, starvation, and death are the only strategies being 
pursued by the government in real time and in real life.
  It is unconscionable--it is shameful--that these horrors are taking 
place inside Sudan in complete silence. The lack of response by the 
United States, by the Europeans, by the nations of the region only 
serves to provide Bashir with a green light to continue the killing.
  Over 10 years ago, Congress called these very same actions acts of 
genocide and crimes against humanity. At the end of this month, I 
intend to reintroduce an updated version of my bipartisan bill, the 
Sudan Peace, Security, and Accountability Act, and demonstrate to the 
suffering people of Sudan--especially those in Darfur, South Kordofan, 
and Blue Nile--that we hear their cries and that this House intends to 
take action.
  I ask all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in 
this effort.
                                  ____


              [From United to End Genocide, Dec. 9, 2014]

                 Will 2015 Be the Worst Year for Sudan?

                          (By Daniel Sullivan)

       Sudan's impunity and intransigence have taken a sharp turn 
     for the worse. That's a pretty high bar considering the 
     country's track record since the genocide in Darfur started 
     more than a decade ago. But even measured against a long 
     history of abuse, Sudan's recent actions led by President 
     Omar al-Bashir are a particularly harsh slap in the face for 
     the international community.
       In recent weeks, the Government of Sudan has newly bombed 
     civilians in Darfur and the Nuba Mountains, blocked the 
     investigation of a reported mass rape of over 200 Darfuri 
     women, and, in the midst of the sharpest increase in violence 
     and displacement in years, called for the removal of UN 
     peacekeepers.
       These new bold actions must be met with equally bold 
     measures by the United States and the rest of the 
     international community.
       The facts are astounding. More than 430,000 people newly 
     displaced in Darfur in 2014, the highest number since the 
     height of the genocide. Over 2,000 bombs dropped in South 
     Kordofan and Blue Nile since fighting began there in 2012. 
     And new bombings in Darfur are in clear violation of UN 
     Security Council Resolutions.
       ``Increased criminality'' and ``prevailing insecurity'' 
     cited in the latest report of the UN Secretary General on 
     Darfur including fifty-five cases of violence, nearly half by 
     government forces, in recorded by UN peacekeepers in the last 
     90 days. Serious allegations of mass rape that the UN 
     Secretary General and highest UN peacekeeping officials have 
     insisted must be investigated.
       Yet, the Sudanese government is blatant in its denial. 
     Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, wanted on charges of 
     genocide by the International Criminal Court, accused the UN 
     peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) of being a ``security 
     burden'' and blamed foreigners for fabricating rape 
     allegations to ``confuse the improvement of the situation in 
     Darfur''.
       To make matters worse, this is not just an escalation of 
     the kind of posturing the Sudanese regime has practiced in 
     the past. Bashir is also getting new support from Russia. In 
     a recent visit, the Russian Foreign Minister announced plans 
     for increased military support for the Sudanese regime and 
     the Sudanese government said that Russia supports its 
     position on removal of UNAMID.
       The irony is that as a permanent member of the UN Security 
     Council, Russia is among those responsible for failing to 
     support UNAMID.
       On paper, the Council has given UNAMID a strong mandate, 
     backed by the strongest authorizations under Chapter VII of 
     the UN Charter including the use of force to protect 
     civilians. But in reality, Sudan has been allowed to 
     intimidate UNAMID and there has

[[Page H924]]

     been little accountability from the international community 
     when the mission fails to report or act to protect civilians.
       The way to address these problems is not play into the 
     hands of the perpetrators and to remove the imperfect last 
     line of defense for many civilians, but rather to reinforce 
     the peacekeeping mission so that it can carry out the mission 
     that has been set out for it.
       The UN Security Council, including Russia, must live up to 
     its own commitments in terms of justice and accountability. 
     The year 2014 will close with the latest briefing of the UN 
     Security Council on Darfur by the Chief Prosecutor to the 
     International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda. Amazingly, 
     this is the 20th such briefing since the Council referred the 
     case of Darfur to the ICC.
       In her last such briefing, Bensouda admonished the Security 
     Council for its failure to take action in the face of ``total 
     impunity'' in Darfur and called for ``a dramatic shift in 
     this Council's approach to arresting Darfur suspects''. Six 
     months later little has been done to support the court.
       Sadly, the only dramatic shift has come on the part of the 
     Government of Sudan whose latest intransigence is mind-
     bogglingly being met with more welcome than condemnation. For 
     the sake of past victims of genocide and those now in the 
     cross-hairs of the sharpest uptick in violence in nearly a 
     decade, the Security Council must respond.

       Dear Madam, Dear Sir, Dear Colleague,
       Please find below a statement released today by Doctors 
     Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) regarding the 
     aerial bombing of a hospital operated by MSF in Sudan on 
     January 20, forcing the suspension of medical activities.
       You may find the full statement below, and on the website.
           Sincerely,
     Manuel Lannaud.
                                  ____


              Sudan: MSF Hospital Bombed in South Kordofan

       New York/Paris, January 22, 2015.--A hospital operated by 
     the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors 
     Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was directly 
     targeted in an aerial bombing in Sudan on January 20, forcing 
     the suspension of medical activities, MSF announced today.
       The hospital, located in the Nuba Mountains village of 
     Frandala in the South Kordofan region of Sudan, was bombed by 
     the Sudanese Air Force (SAF). Repeated and targeted bombings 
     in the region prevent the safe operation of medical 
     activities, depriving the local population of lifesaving 
     care.
       ``We condemn in the strongest terms the bombing of the 
     Frandala hospital,''said Marc Van der Mullen, MSF head of 
     mission. ``With more than 100 patients present, we were very 
     lucky not to have more casualties because people simply had 
     no time to seek protection. Everyone is shocked and 
     frightened of further attacks.''
       Approximately 150 patients and staff were in the hospital 
     when a SAF fighter jet dropped a cluster of 13 bombs, two of 
     which landed inside the hospital compound. The others struck 
     just outside the hospital fence. One MSF staff member and one 
     patient were injured. The property also suffered damage.
       The attack is part of an indiscriminate bombing campaign in 
     South Kordofan, a feature of the war between authorities in 
     Khartoum and rebels groups in the Nuba Mountains. Health 
     facilities are not spared, adding to the suffering of the 
     population created by the bombing raids.
       The Frandala hospital was previously bombed in June, 2014. 
     That attack took place despite the Sudanese government's 
     knowledge of the hospital location and its activities, which 
     had been previously communicated to the authorities by MSF. 
     One patient was killed in the attack and several others were 
     wounded. The hospital also sustained significant damage. MSF 
     publicly condemned the attack and demanded respect of medical 
     facilities.
       ``Today there can be no doubt that this was a deliberate 
     and targeted bombing on a civilian hospital structure and 
     part of a strategy to terrorize the community,'' said Van der 
     Mullen. ``MSF again calls on Khartoum to respect assistance 
     provided to the population. Despite this latest setback we 
     will try to find a way to continue to provide care to the 
     population caught in this largely undocumented war.''
       MSF is one of the few health care providers in South 
     Kordofan. The MSF facility in Frandala, featuring outpatient 
     and inpatient wards, began operating in 2012. Nearly 80,000 
     consultations have been performed, along with close to 4,000 
     hospitalizations.

                          ____________________