Darfur

Floor Speech

DARFUR -- (Senate - June 28, 2007)

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I come to the floor this evening to address an issue which I have addressed every week for several months now. It is the ongoing genocide in Darfur. How long are we going to allow this genocide to continue? How long will we allow mass killings, rapes, torture and the torching of homes and entire villages? How long will we tolerate 200,000, maybe 400,000 deaths? How long will we tolerate 2.5 million people displaced from their homes, a refugee crisis in Chad and other nearby crises? How long will the global community tolerate such brutality in today's world.

In May, more than 4 years after the crisis in Darfur began, President Bush said:

For too long, the people of Darfur have suffered at the hands of a government that is complicit in the bombing, murder, and rape of innocent civilians. My administration has called these actions by their rightful name: genocide. The world has a responsibility to help put an end to it.

I agree with the President. I agree, and I call on the President to help America take action by use his upcoming visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin to demand a halt to Russian military sales to the Sudanese Government, sales that fuel the violence and are in violation of the U.N. arms embargo. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle--Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas; Russ Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin; Gordon Smith, Republican of Oregon--have joined me in a bipartisan request. Together we wrote President Bush asking him to take action on this urgent issue when he meets with the President Putin. Russia can't claim to be a responsible leader in the global community and at the same time flaunt United Nations sanctions established to help end this ongoing genocide. Mr. Putin cannot have it both ways.

Amnesty International recently reported that Russia and China, two permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, are supplying the bulk of weapons to Sudan. That is right. Two permanent members of the U.N. Security Council are providing the weapons and ammunition being used by the Sudanese Government to perpetuate the genocide, killing innocent life. That is unacceptable. Mr. Putin must put an end to weapons sales. Weapons sold to the Sudanese Government contribute to the massive human misery and violence in Darfur. As I speak today, human rights violations, rapes, murders, attacks on humanitarian workers continue without end. The accounts are ongoing and widespread.

For example, the Associated Press recently reported a horrible story, one that is sadly too common in Darfur. Seven women at a refugee camp in Kalma, Darfur, pooled their money to rent a donkey and a cart. They ventured out of the camp to gather firewood, which they hoped they might be able to sell and use the proceeds to feed their families. A few hours away from the camp, they were attacked and robbed by the Janjaweed militia. They were gang raped and beaten. They had to flee naked back to the camp.

According to Amnesty International, in recent years, Russia exported to Sudan $21 million worth of aircraft and related equipment and more than $13 million worth of helicopters. Witnesses have documented Russian attack helicopters used by the Sudanese Air Force during Janjaweed attacks. Russian-built Antonov aircraft have been seen bombing areas along the border with Chad.

I have photos I will share with those following the debate. This is an MI-24 attack helicopter at Nyala airport in Darfur, March 2007. It is a Russian helicopter. According to the United Nations, the sales of this aircraft are prohibited. The Russians make these sales, and these helicopters are used to kill innocent people. President Bush is meeting with the President of Russia. I hope he will mention this attack helicopter and how it is being misused in violation of U.N. resolutions.

Similarly, this is the Antonov-26 aircraft spotted in many places in Darfur between January and March 2007, parked here at Nyala airport in late March 2007, another Russian aircraft sold in violation of U.N. resolutions that can be used, unfortunately, to sustain a government which is perpetuating a genocide. Russia should not be helping the genocidal efforts of the Sudanese Government.

It has been 2 1/2 years since President Bush decisively called the crisis in Darfur a genocide. We have tightened sanctions and called for greater action to stop it, and I applaud that. But we must do more. I have appealed to the President personally and directly on three different occasions. Last week, I appealed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to seize every single opportunity to make the genocide in Darfur a big issue, an issue of diplomacy and for action.

I say to the President, we have many issues to discuss with our Russian partners, ranging from cooperation in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and materials to reaffirming support for basic democratic principles and institutions in Russia. Our relationship with Russia is a very important one. But we can't look the other way when an ally is aiding in a genocide. I hope President Bush will use his visit with President Putin to help highlight an issue that requires immediate attention, helping to stem the crisis in Darfur. Put an end to this genocide by putting an end to Russian weapons sales to the Sudanese Government.

I yield the floor.

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