Rep. Donald M. Payne Holds a Hearing to Review the U.S. Policy in Sudan

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Rep. Donald M. Payne Holds a Hearing to Review the U.S. Policy in Sudan

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA AND GLOBAL HEALTH HOLDS A HEARING TO REVIEW U.S. POLICY IN SUDAN

DECEMBER 3, 2009

SPEAKERS: REP. DONALD M. PAYNE, D-N.J. CHAIRMAN REP. DIANE WATSON, D-CALIF. REP. BARBARA LEE, D-CALIF. REP. GREGORY W. MEEKS, D-N.Y. REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE, D-TEXAS REP. BRAD MILLER, D-N.C. REP. HOWARD L. BERMAN, D-CALIF. EX OFFICIO

REP. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, R-N.J. RANKING MEMBER REP. JEFF FLAKE, R-ARIZ. REP. JOHN BOOZMAN, R-ARK. REP. JEFF FORTENBERRY, R-NEB. REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, R-FLA. EX OFFICIO

SEN. SAM BROWNBACK, R-KAN.

WITNESSES: MAJOR GENERAL J. SCOTT GRATION (USAF, RET.), U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SUDAN

RANDY NEWCOMB, PRESIDENT AND CEO, HUMANITY UNITED

ENRICO CARISCH, FORMER COORDINATOR, UNITED NATIONS PANEL OF EXPERTS, SUDAN

JOHN PRENDERGAST, CO-FOUNDER, ENOUGH PROJECT

LIEUTENANT GENERAL NHIAL DENG NHIAL, SPLM

[*] PAYNE: The hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health will come to order. Agenda: "Sudan, A Review of the Administration's New Policy" and a situation update. First of all, let me begin by welcoming our first panelist.

But before we get into the hearing on Sudan, I would like to regretfully report that this morning an estimated 20 people were killed in Mogadishu in Somalia, including three ministers. Two of the ministers I knew very well.

I visited Mogadishu seven months ago and met with these ministers, the minister of education, minister of health, and we had -- had previous meetings in -- in Nairobi. It was a graduation of the medical school in Mogadishu where this tragedy occurred. And so we would like to express our condolences to the victims and their family members, the transitional federal government of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, and the people of Somalia.

Secondly, I just got off the phone with the president of Puntland. Puntland, as you know, is one of the three regions of Somalia -- Puntland, Somaliland and Somalia -- and we just reached an agreement this morning on prisoners who were being detained by the government of Puntland. These were people from the Ogaden, and they were being held without cause, and so we have been working with the president of Puntland to try to get their release. And this morning the president will announce that they will -- he will commute their -- their sentences, and he will release them.

And so I'd like to thank the president of Puntland and Amnesty International, who's been working with it, and Jim Hill, a representative in the Ogaden community here in this area.

Let me then move to our hearing this morning, "Sudan: A Review of the Administration's New Policy" and a situation update. Let me also express my deep appreciation to the witnesses, who are certainly among the most knowledgeable people on Sudan. Over the years we have held so many hearings and briefings on Sudan, and people here are -- are tremendously interested in trying to bring attention to the suffering of innocent civilians and in the hope of promoting a just peace for all.

Many believe and hope that the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Darfur Peace Agreement would bring about the much desired peace and stability in Sudan. Unfortunately, and despite multiple efforts, millions of Sudanese continue to suffer. I sometimes wonder if we will ever get a just peace in Sudan as long as the Al Bashir regime is in power.

For those who still believe that a peace agreement with this regime will bring an ending to the suffering, I say look again at the situation in Darfur and in Abyei. Some of us saw firsthand the aftermath of the burning of Abyei by government and pro-government militia in May 2008, and more than 50,000 people were displaced from their homes.

As a senator, President Obama stated for years the government of Sudan has thwarted the will of the United States and the international community and offended the standards of our common humanity. Before we improve our relations with the government of Sudan, conditions must improve for the Sudanese people. We cannot stand down. We must continue to stand up for peace and human rights.

I fully agree with then-Senator Obama, now our president. It was not long ago that we witnessed another horrified, horrific genocide in Africa. The international community, including the United States, turned a blind eye to the gruesome genocide in Rwanda in 1994. In Rwanda an estimated one million people died in less than 100 days.

In Darfur six years since the genocide began, the people of Darfur are still waiting for t...

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