Calling on the President and International Community to Take Immediate Steps to Respond to and Prevent Rape and Sexual Violence Against Women and Girl

CALLING ON THE PRESIDENT AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO TAKE IMMEDIATE STEPS TO RESPOND TO AND PREVENT RAPE AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS IN DARFUR, SUDAN, EASTERN CHAD AND CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC -- (House of Representatives - October 29, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee, and I rise in support of House Resolution 726, calling on the President of the United States and the international community to take immediate steps to respond to and to prevent acts of rape and sexual violence against women and girls in Darfur, Sudan, eastern Chad, and the Central African Republic.

I was proud to introduce this resolution, and I have been proud to work with my colleague Chairman Lantos, whose attention to the crisis in Darfur has been unrelenting. His dedication made it possible to move this important legislation through the committee and onto the floor of the House so quickly.

My friend Congressman BRAD MILLER also took a lead on this resolution, and following his trip to Darfur this summer, he has shared his unique insight about the region and our responsibility.

And today it is also important to note that we have reached this point together with my colleagues from across the aisle. Congresswoman ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN led our bipartisan collaboration, and we now have the support of more than 100 cosponsors from both parties. That broad support from Members at every point along the political spectrum makes sense because this is not a political issue; it is a moral issue. And it is urgent. We have an obligation to act and to act now.

As Members of the United States Congress, we believe we must do everything in our power to protect the basic human rights of individuals around the world, and there may be no greater violation of a woman's or a girl's basic human rights than when she is a victim of rape or sexual violence.

All too often during war, rape and sexual violence are used systematically as a weapon of intimidation, humiliation, terror, and ethnic cleansing. There is no other way to put it. These crimes are crimes against humanity and war crimes. And we cannot ignore them.

The use of rape as a weapon of war is as prevalent today as ever. An average of 40 women are raped every day in the ongoing armed conflict in the Congo. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 women were raped during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the early 1990s. And it is estimated that between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped during the genocide in Rwanda.

Now, as these atrocities occur in the Darfur conflict region, we must ask ourselves, again, when will we learn from history? The answer, it seems, is not soon enough for the untold number of Darfuri women and girls beaten, kidnapped, and raped, often multiple times by multiple attackers, and held as sex slaves by the Sudanese armed forces, the janjaweed, and other armed combatants. Since the current conflict began over 4 years ago, instances of rape and sexual violence have all been documented by NGOs like Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders. And the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has reported on widespread and systematic mass rape occurring in the region as well as grave health risks, psychological trauma, and resulting pregnancies.

In July, the United Nations Security Council adopted its most recent Security Council resolution relating to Darfur in which it expressed strong concern about the ``continued and widespread sexual violence'' while ``emphasizing the need to bring to justice the perpetrators of such crimes.''

But we cannot simply talk about the downward spiral in Darfur or the conditions that have only worsened since the so-called Darfur Peace Agreement was signed in May 2006. As we saw just this weekend, peace talks in Libya appear to be breaking down because key rebel groups refuse to participate, demonstrating that we are a long way from peace and security in Darfur.

We cannot sit idly by as women and children are targeted. The resolution before us today calls for action. It calls on the President and it calls on the international community to do the following:

One, develop within the State Department and USAID a Women and Girls of Darfur Initiative to, among other things, provide victims and potential victims of rape in Darfur, eastern Chad, and the Central African Republic with all essential and quality medical supplies and health care services, psychological counseling, and legal advice;

Two, to ensure that a hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force is deployed that can properly protect women and girls from and respond to acts of rape and sexual violence;

And, three, through the U.N. Security Council, find Sudan in noncompliance with its obligations to protect women and girls and call on Khartoum to bring perpetrators of rape and sexual violence to justice.

Our State Department and USAID must make this a top priority. As the rape and murder in Darfur goes on, the perpetrators of these atrocities go unpunished. And while the rhetoric of the administration and the international community have hit the mark, their action has fallen far short. Too much is at stake to allow these atrocities to continue. We have the power, the will, and the moral obligation to stop sexual violence and rape in the Darfur conflict region. There is no reason that we stand by when we should be acting.

I plead with my colleagues to understand what women and girls are undergoing in Darfur and to please pass this resolution. Let's act together in the best interests of women and girls around the world.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source