BIDEN on Darfur: Genocide Continues -- What Are We Going To Do About It?
April 23, 2008
Washington, DC – Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) chaired a hearing this morning entitled, “The Continuing Crisis in Darfur”. The Committee was first briefed on the current situation by Dr. Jane Holl Lute, a representative of the United Nations. Following that, Committee members heard testimony from Richard Williamson, the President’s Special Envoy to Sudan and Katherine Almquist, Assistant Administrator for Africa at USAID.
The full text of Sen. Biden’s opening statement from this morning’s hearing is below:
“I want to welcome our witnesses and thank them for testifying today. A little over a year ago, this Committee held a hearing entitled ‘Darfur: A Plan B to Stop Genocide?’ At that time, there were over 2 million people living in camps in Darfur, millions more at risk, and an estimated 7,700 African Union peacekeepers.
“The United Nations assumed joint control of the peacekeeping mission on December 31, 2007, but the situation seems little improved. Since January 1, more that 90,000 people have been driven from their homes. Since that date, the peacekeeping forces have seen a net increase of only 293 troops. Additional police personnel are now present, and the peacekeepers on the ground may be better equipped, but it defies my comprehension that the international community has not managed to do better.
“Violence and banditry are still the order of the day. Last week, the World Food Program announced that it is going to have to cut rations for people in Darfur in half because so many of its trucks are being hijacked that it cannot maintain supply lines. Just yesterday, the head of the United Nations–African Union mission to Darfur reported that it is unlikely that that the peacekeeping force will be fully operational this year. Another top United Nations official estimated that 300,000 people have died in Darfur since the beginning of the conflict. That’s a very grim juxtaposition of the world’s inability or unwillingness to act.
“At the time of our hearing last April, the biggest obstacle to peace seemed to be the refusal of the Sudanese government to agree to allow UN peacekeepers in the country. Well, last June, Sudan agreed to let them in -- at least they agreed on paper.
“Why have we seen so little progress over the course of a year?
“Earlier this month, the UN Secretary General published a report assessing the situation in Darfur in which he expressed disappointment at the ‘lack of progress on all fronts.’ His report spells out this dismal situation in stark terms, stating: ‘The parties appear determined to pursue a military solution; the political process is stalled; the deployment of UNAMID is progressing very slowly…and the humanitarian situation is not improving.’
“This is the best that the international community can do in response to genocide? This really is discouraging and, in my opinion, is simply not acceptable.
“The purpose of this hearing is to get answers to some very basic questions:
- What is delaying the deployment of the full complement of 26,000 peacekeepers and police? Sudanese obstruction; the failure of other countries to contribute needed equipment such as helicopters; and UN bureaucracy have all been cited as sources of delay. Is it some or all of the above? Is it the fact that the rebels have morphed into more than two dozen groups?
- What is the UN doing to help overcome obstacles to deployment? What is the United States doing to lead the way through or around any of these impediments? Is it helicopters that are needed? Then we should find a way to provide them or convince others to step up.
- Is it Sudanese obstruction? Five years into this conflict, that is simply not something the international community should tolerate. Are bureaucracies getting in the way? Then it is past time to steamroll them.
- What is the current security and humanitarian situation on the ground in Darfur?
- What are the prospects for a peace process between the government and the rebel groups or even among the rebel groups?
- Why are we allowing Sudan to continue to violate the UN ban on offensive military flights over Darfur?
- And finally, I would pose the same question that I did a year ago: On September 9, 2004 – in testimony before this Committee – Secretary of State Colin Powell said clearly that the killing in Darfur was genocide. Shortly thereafter, so did President Bush.
“So, now, I ask again: What are we going to do about it?
“Recent news accounts in the New York Times and elsewhere have described bilateral talks between the United States and the government of Sudan, held in Rome. These talks were headed up on the U.S. side by Ambassador Williamson -- who we will hear from later this morning -- and by high-ranking Sudanese officials on theirs. The newspaper articles indicated that these talks might lead to the U.S. easing sanctions on Sudan, removing Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, or taking other steps to normalize relations.
“I know that the Administration has asked to discuss this issue in a classified forum and we can schedule that if we need to, and I’ve been around long enough not to believe everything I read in the papers.
“But, I would like to state very clearly, in terms strong enough to be heard all the way to Khartoum, that in my opinion, none of these steps should be considered until the Sudanese government ceases all attacks on civilians; allows the UN peacekeeping mission full access in Darfur with the freedom to carry out its mandate; disarms the Janjaweed whom it unleashed on innocent villagers; and upholds its commitments to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement with the South and the Darfur Peace Agreement.
“For five years, the people of Darfur have suffered death, deprivation and destruction. Government forces, janjaweed militia, and rebel groups have all preyed upon civilians and the aid workers trying to help them. When the United Nations finally assumed joint control of the peacekeeping mission, hopes rose that it would make a real difference to the people of Darfur. Those hopes have not yet been fulfilled. I truly want to know: why not and what will we do to change this?
“I don’t want to be here a year from now, asking the same questions to the new Administration that I posed last April, and that I’m posing today.
“Genocide is happening on our watch. What are we going to do about it? What we’re doing now is not working.”
