[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14645-14647]
[From the U.S. 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.
       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.

[[Page 14646]]

       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-
           University, 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.
         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.

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         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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