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 خطاب السيناتورفرانك وولف حول ج كردفان وابيي لرئيس اوباما(تتواصل الحملة
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WOLF URGES PRESIDENT TO SEND COLIN POWELL
TO SUDAN TO SALVAGE PEACE AGREEMENT
For Immediate Release
June 9, 2011
Washington, D.C. – Rep. Frank Wolf (VA-10) today called on the Obama Administration to send former Secretary of State Colin Powell to Sudan to attempt to secure a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Abyei and salvage the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in the weeks remaining before South Sudan becomes an independent nation.
Wolf, co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and the Congressional Sudan Caucus, made the request in a letter to the president. The full text of the letter is below.
The Honorable Barack H. Obama
The President
The White House
Washington DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
I am deeply concerned by the rapidly deteriorating situation in Sudan, especially in Abyei and Southern Kordofan. I strongly urge you to act swiftly to dispatch former Secretary of State Colin Powell to Sudan to attempt to secure a peaceful resolution of the crisis and salvage the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in the weeks remaining before South Sudan becomes an independent nation. I am afraid Sudan could plunge into another major war if a peaceful resolution is not soon found.
Secretary Powell working in partnership with Special Envoy Princeton Lyman would make a compelling team at this critical juncture. Powell was present at the signing of the CPA in Nairobi, as was I, and he is a respected diplomat of the highest caliber who is well-versed in Sudan policy and history.
Time is running short and the situation is grim. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that roughly 100,000 people have been displaced by the recent violence in Abyei. News reports also indicate that many people were forced to leave their homes so rapidly that they have little in the way of food, shelter or basic provisions. In addition, in the chaos, some children have been separated from their parents. Reports indicate more than 100 civilians have been killed in the recent fighting.
A statement last week from the United Nations Security Council called Khartoum’s military operations in Abyei a "serious violation" of the 2005 CPA which ended more than two decades of brutal civil war. Sudan’s President Bashir, himself an indicted war criminal, has unabashedly rejected calls to pull out northern troops and has ordered U.N. peacekeepers to leave the north when the mission mandate ends on July 8.
These developments are not entirely unexpected, especially in light of the North’s 2008 unprovoked scorched earth attack on Abyei. In fact, a recent Congressional Research Service report indicated that, "The invasion of Abyei seems to have been pre-planned, according to Sudanese and regional sources. The Sudanese Armed Forces have been building up their military presence in the Abyei region since January 2011. The government of Sudan claimed that they attacked Abyei in order to restore law and order. But a day after the invasion, pro-government militias and government forces were seen #####ng and burning, according to United Nations and South Sudanese officials."
A poignant piece in The Washington Post two weeks ago, authored by actor and activist George Clooney and Enough Project co-founder John Prendergast, highlighted Khartoum’s long record of broken agreements and flagrant disregard for basic human rights.
The pair wrote, "...(t)he list of dishonored agreements and massive human rights crimes in Sudan is shocking in scope. In Darfur, the Khartoum regime has cleared millions from their lands, allowing ethnic groups allied with the government to move into the deserted areas. In the oilfield areas of southern Sudan in the 1990s, the regime strategically killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of indigenous residents to facilitate Chinese oil exploitation. In the Nuba mountains during the late 1980s and 1990s, the vast majority of locals were forcibly displaced by Sudanese government attacks, and hundreds of thousands died. The international community threatened real consequences during and after these incidents and after other targeted crimes against civilian populations. But the consequences never came..."
Not only did the consequences never come, but in recent months administration policy has focused heavily on incentives for Khartoum in the hopes of securing a favorable outcome to the CPA. But as Clooney and Prendergast point out, "...what’s happening to the people of Abyei is the regime’s unacceptable answer."
Indeed, the regime’s answer is unacceptable and must not be allowed to stand. I urge you to call upon Secretary Powell, given his historic involvement with the CPA, and to do so swiftly.
Best wishes.
Sincerely,
Frank R. Wolf
Member of Congress
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