McGovern, Olver Push Darfur Resolutions
DARFUR
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Katherine Geyer
Boston University
News Service
September 28, 2006
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28– There is always a wave of urgency rippling through the Capitol to get bills passed, but two Massachusetts representatives are saying that delaying certain legislation until after the campaigns could cost thousands of lives.
“The situation in Darfur grows more desperate every day,” U.S. Rep. James McGovern (D-Worcester) told the House last week. “Many humanitarian aid groups have had to pull out, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without food and water.”
U.S. Rep. John Olver (D-Amherst) and Mr. McGovern have been urging Congress to pass the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006, achieving success Monday when the bill was sent to the President for his signature.
The bill “imposes sanctions against individuals responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, supports measures for the protection of civilians and humanitarian operations, and supports peace efforts in the Darfur region of Sudan,” according to a description of the bill in the Congressional Record.
This bill is in response to the 200,000 people who have died and the 2 million who have fled the Darfur region of Sudan because of the conflict there since 2003. The U.N. Security Council recently authorized a 20,000 person peacekeeping force, but the Sudanese government has rejected their deployment. The African Union Peace and Security Council recently voted to extend the mandate of the current 7,000-troop A.U. peacekeeping force from September 30 until the end of the year. That force is widely seen as lacking the resources necessary to stop the violence.
Mr. McGovern and Mr. Olver also convinced members of the House last week to approve two resolutions that encourage President Bush to increase his support for an international peacekeeping mission to Darfur. The resolutions also call upon the Sudanese government to withdraw military aircraft from the region.
Mr. Olver said that these resolutions had to be passed before Congress leaves to campaign, otherwise the Sudanese government will not take the U.S. government’s efforts seriously.
“Every time there’s a good deal of international focus on it [the genocide], the Sudanese government removes the foot from the pedal of their actions,” Mr. Olver said. “They slow down the Janjaweed and stop giving them the support that they would otherwise give.”
Mr. Olver said that the 200,000 deaths have been the result of “deliberate and indiscriminant” slaughter.
“The Sudanese government is using the same kind of terror tactics as Iraq used in the 1980s,” he said.
Mr. McGovern and Mr. Olver both point out that Darfur needs a U.N. peacekeeping force to help stabilize the area.
“The African Union peacekeeping force finally decided they would stay until the end of the year,” said Mr. Olver. “But if we don’t equip them and train them and give them a mandate, they will still just be watching the slaughter of innocents. I’m very worried about that.”
“The A.U. forces only have 7,000 boots in the ground, and the region of Darfur is about the size of France,” Mr. McGovern said in his speech to the House last week.
Humanitarian groups, such as the Genocide Intervention Network, have recently been critical of Congress, saying that it has done little to follow through with a resolution passed in 2004 calling for an end to the genocide.
“I think in 10 years we’re going to look back and say not nearly enough was done at all levels of government, not nearly enough attention was paid and not nearly enough funds were appropriated,” said Sam Bell, director of advocacy at the non-profit, non-partisan Genocide Intervention Network in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Bell said that the Massachusetts delegation has been the exception.
The Genocide Intervention Network released a scorecard in August rating members of Congress on their efforts in passing this legislation. They gave both houses of Congress an overall rating of C, but gave most of the Massachusetts members an A.
“The Massachusetts delegation has been a leader on this and lord knows where we would be without them,” said Mr. Bell.
He particularly praised the efforts of U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass), who recently introduced the Peace in Darfur Act of 2006.
“It hasn’t gotten a lot of support yet, but it is important legislation and I think it will,” Mr. Bell said.
He noted the efforts of U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) for helping to secure an additional $50 million for the African Union Mission in Sudan in March 2006.
He also stressed the importance of Mr. McGovern and Mr. Olver being arrested outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington in April of this year. The two representatives were detained on charges of disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly while attending a rally to end the genocide.
“These guys are putting their teeth into the game and showing that they’re committed in a real way,” said Mr. Bell.
Mr. McGovern, who has his arrest record framed in his office, recently sent letters to his constituents pleading for support in the divestment in the Sudan and encouraging involvement in Darfur rallies.
“It was so funny that he lobbied his constituents,” Mr. Bell said. “That’s how strongly he feels about the issue.”
Mr. Bell agrees that the Sudanese government is looking at the U.S. to see how seriously we’re taking the problem.
“For them to see that people of power are really putting themselves out there, this is what threatens them and shows them that we’re for real,” he said. “And that’s the thing that’s going to get them to stand down.”
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