Calling For the Suspension of Sudan's Membership on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights

CALLING FOR THE SUSPENSION OF SUDAN'S MEMBERSHIP ON THE UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS -- (House of Representatives - September 22, 2004)

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 137) calling for the suspension of Sudan's membership on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

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Mr. MEEKS of New York. Mr. Speaker, let me just say thanks to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) for the fine work that they have done in bringing this resolution to the floor.

We are here to speak about, why is it that the world is not doing more to stop the Sudanese Government troops and their allied military, the Janjaweed? Together, they have raped, tortured, maimed and burned entire villages to cleanse the area of African Muslims resulting in close to 50,000 deaths.

Another 1.5 million persons have been forced from their homes into camps where they remain vulnerable to attacks by the Janjaweed, who are among the police guarding the camps. The world cannot continue to condone this genocide.

We can also not continue to condone the presence of human rights abusers on a commission that is charged with protecting human rights because it is ridiculous and unconscionable to think that the very perpetrator of a genocide could also be the enforcer of human rights. But that is exactly what is happening by allowing Sudan to continue to serve on the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

That is why I stand behind this bill to suspend the Sudan from the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and for the U.N. to launch a formal inquiry into its acts of genocide in Sudan.

Let us hope the world will begin to work harder to end the atrocities by, first, suspending Sudan from a commission it fails to respect, and second, by standing behind the efforts of the African Union to stop these atrocities.

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We are here today to simply speak about why it is that the world is not doing more to stop Sudanese government troops and their allied militia, the Janjaweed. Together they have raped, tortured, maimed, and burned entire villages to cleanse African Muslims from the area-resulting in close to 50,000 deaths. Another 1.5 million persons have been forced from their homes and into camps, where they remain vulnerable to attacks by the Janjaweed, who have been hired as police to guard the camps. The world cannot continue to condone this genocide.

We can also not continue to condone the presence of human rights abusers on a Commission that is charged with protecting Human Rights. It is simply unconscionable to think that the very perpetrators of genocide could also be the enforcers of human rights. But that is exactly what is happening by allowing Sudan to continue to serve on the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

Numerous reports provide evidence of the Sudanese government's involvement in actively committing atrocities in Darfur. However, the Sudanese government continues to deny any connection to the atrocities carried out by the Janjaweed and simultaneously, has done little to stop them. By insisting that no genocide is taking place and repeatedly denying any responsibility for protecting their own people, the Sudanese government has demonstrated that it is not fit to serve on the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

What is needed now is action from the international community. First, Sudan's membership on the United Nations Human Rights Commission must be suspended. The universal declaration on human rights states that, "everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person" and that no "state, group or person has any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms." The Sudanese government, through its involvement in perpetrating the genocide in Darfur, and its inaction in doing anything to resolve the humanitarian crisis, is in violation of the basic principles of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. It, therefore, cannot remain a member.

Second, the international community must offer increased support to the African Union, which has been a leader in attempting to resolve the conflict in Sudan. In addition to leading peace talks, the African Union has led a small contingency of troops to Darfur to monitor the cease-fire and serve as observers. The African Union must be congratulated on these efforts. Additionally, support for their efforts must be increased. It is essential that the African Union's force be enlarged and allotted a robust mandate to protect Darfur's civilians from new attacks.

We can no longer sit on the sidelines and pretend that nothing is going on while the Sudanese government commits crime after crime against humanity. Murder, rape, forced displacement-these are clearly not the tools of human rights supporters. That is why I stand behind this bill to suspend Sudan from the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and for the U.N. to launch a formal inquiry into the acts of genocide in Sudan.

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