Humanitarian crisis in Sudan - Assistant Secretary for African Affairs George E. Moose speech - includes statement by President Bill Clinton on recognition of government of Angola by U.S - Transcript

US Department of State Dispatch, May 24, 1993

I want to thank the members of this committee for the opportunity to review the situation in Sudan. I am particularly grateful for the interest members of this committee have shown in a very tragic and difficult situation, as demonstrated by the resolution submitted by you, Mr. Chairman, and Senators Kassebaum, Jeffords, and Feingold.

We, in the Administration, value your help in drawing attention to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and in seeking new ways to bring assistance to people who are in desperate need of it. The Government of Sudan and the rebel factions need to know that American concerns about their behavior extend beyond the executive branch, and you have helped to make that clear.

Sudan is a top foreign policy challenge for the Administration, because America's values do not permit us to sit idly by while civil war rages, human rights are systematically abused, humanitarian suffering intensifies, and serious concerns about terrorism and regional instability deepen.

We have made clear to all of the parties that we are willing to facilitate the peace process in any way we can.

Humanitarian Disaster:

The U.S. Response

I would like to frame my remarks to you today by first discussing the peace negotiations in Abuja, Nigeria, and how they impact on the humanitarian situation and our ability to respond to it, then addressing our other policy concerns, and, finally, reviewing some options for dealing with the Sudanese crisis.

Abuja II: Continuing Peace Negotiations

We have been following the Nigerian-sponsored peace negotiations closely, as peace is the only long-term solution to the humanitarian tragedy in southern Sudan. The second round of peace negotiations between the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) resumed in Abuja, Nigeria, April 26.

We have repeatedly told all sides that they must bring a more serious commitment to these talks than has been the case in the past. In recent meetings in Nairobi, I emphasized this in the strongest terms to Dr. Garang and to leaders of other SPLA factions.

Humanitarian Disaster: The U.S. Response

As you've heard in recent press reports, southern Sudan has become one of the world's worst humanitarian nightmares. The rainy season is beginning in some parts of southern Sudan, further complicating relief operations. You will receive a detailed report on the situation, and on the assistance the United States is providing, from Mr. Kunder, who has just returned from a visit to southern Sudan. But it is clear that several hundred thousand people face death from starvation and disease if they do not receive assistance in the coming months. In at least some areas, people are already dying in large numbers.

War is at the very heart of this human catastrophe. Despite the various cease-fire declarations, intra-SPLA fighting has flared up anew, once again shutting down relief operations in a number of critical areas. These actions demonstrate that the leaders of the rebel factions have little regard for the welfare of their own people. Because of the uncertain security situation, some non-governmental organizations have been reluctant to go back into the country, and others are just resuming fragile operations. The food pipeline for U.S. Government programs is in good shape, but access to affected populations will remain a problem as long as the fighting continues.

We appeal to all factions responsible for the most recent upsurge in the fighting to end the suffering of the people caught in its midst. With the humanitarian crisis reaching new depths, I cannot emphasize too strongly that relief organizations must be granted access not only to southern Sudan, but to the area known as the transition zone south Kurdufan, including the Nuba Mountains, and Bahr al Ghazal as well, where people are also in urgent need. We are prepared to examine any proposal that might ensure the delivery of relief assistance to Sudan. Our ambassador to Khartoum, Don Petterson, recently traveled to the south, along with Mr. Kunder, and reiterated my message to Dr. Garang and representatives of other SPLA factions, that it is imperative that all fighting end in the south so that urgently needed relief assistance can be delivered.

Other Bilateral Concerns

Let me turn for a moment from the central issue of the humanitarian crisis to touch on several other issues in our relationship with the Khartoum government.

I'd like to briefly summarize our principal human rights concerns with respect to Sudan. The forced removal of Khartoum's displaced populations has been a long-standing concern, as have the forced relocations and systematic abuses perpetrated against people in the Nuba Mountains. Since November 1992, thousands of these people have fled a brutal government crackdown in the area. We have recently received credible reports that human rights abuses are taking place throughout the transition zone, including massacres, kidnaping and forced labor, conscription of children, and forced displacement and arabization. Some of the abuses may be carried out by poorly controlled militias without the approval of the government; other abuses, however, are occurring with a frequency and on a scale that make it difficult to believe that they are happening without the knowledge and tacit complicity of the government. Arbitrary detention, torture, repression of the press, and restrictions on labor unions are routinely used by the government to suppress dissent.