The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“SUDAN SANCTIONS ON TARGET” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S11698-S11699 on Nov. 4, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SUDAN SANCTIONS ON TARGET
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to commend the Administration on a policy change announced today.
Last night President Clinton signed an executive order imposing comprehensive sanctions on the Government of the Sudan. Specifically, the United States has put into place new, unilateral sanctions that will prevent the Government of the Sudan from reaping financial and material gain from trade and investment initiatives by the United States.
As Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said earlier today, this policy change is designed to send a strong signal to the Sudanese Government that it has failed to address the concerns expressed in no uncertain terms and on several occasions by the Clinton Administration. In particular, the Sudan continues to engage in practices that we Americans find unconscionable, including: providing sanctuary for individuals and groups known to have engaged in terrorist activity; encouraging and supporting regional insur-gencies; continuing a violent civil war that has cost the lives of thousands of civilians; and engaging in abominable human rights abuses.
Mr. President, these are the four main issues that continue to plague U.S.-Sudan relations. Let me take each of them in turn.
First, terrorism. Terrorism is clearly one of the most vexing threats to our national security today. Terrorist groups, by seeking to destabilize or overthrow governments, serve to erode international stability. By its very nature, terrorism goes against everything we understand to be part of the ``international system,'' challenging us with methods we do not necessarily comprehend. People--often, innocent bystanders--die as a result of such terrorism. Buildings are destroyed. And everyone's sense of personal safety is shattered.
According to the State Department's most recent Patterns of Global Terrorism report, Sudan ``continued to serve as a refuge, nexus, and training hub in 1995 for a number of international terrorist organizations,'' which likely include some of the most notorious groups in the world such as Hamas, Abu Nidal and Hezbollah, among others. In addition, the government continues to harbor individuals known to have committed terrorist acts. For example, it is widely believed that Osama Bin Laden, who was once described by the State Department as ``one of the most significant financial sponsors of Islamic extremist activities in the world,'' enjoyed refuge in the Sudan in the early 1990's.
Second, Sudan's support of insurgency movements in many of its neighboring countries poses a significant threat to regional stability. In Eritrea, it supports the Eritrean Islamic Jihad, and in Uganda, it supports both the Lord's Resistance Army and the West Bank Nile Front. Sudanese government officals have been known to smuggle weapons into Tunisia.
Third, Sudan continues to promote a brutal civil war against the largely Christian and animist people of Southern Sudan. Sadly, during its 41 years of independence, Sudan has only seen about 11 years of peace. This seemingly endless conflict has taken the lives of more than 1.5 million people and resulted in well over 2 million displaced persons or refugees. Perhaps the saddest consequence of the war is that there are thousands of teenagers who do not remember a peaceful period, and who know better the barrel of a gun than the inside of a classroom.
The international community has done the best that it can with this situation; there are approximately 40 national and international humanitarian organizations providing millions of dollars annually in food aid and development assistance. For its part, the United States government has provided more than $600 million in food assistance and non-food disaster assistance since the mid-1980's.
The United Nations' Operation Lifeline Sudan [OLS], which maintains a unique agreement with parties to the conflict, has been instrumental in allowing humanitarian access to displaced persons in the southern Sudan. I commend the humanitarian organizations operating in the region who daily face not only enormous technical and logistical challenges in serving the Sudanese population, but also the all-too-frequent threat of another offensive nearby.
Fourth, the Sudanese government has a deplorable record in the area of human rights. According to the most recent State Department human rights report, the Khartoum government maintains not only regular police and army units, but also internal and external security organs, a militia unit, and a parallel police called the Popular Police, whose mission includes enforcing proper social behavior. In 1996, according to the report, government forces were responsible for extrajudicial killings, disappearance, forced labor, slavery, and forced conscription of children. Basic freedoms--of assembly, of association, of privacy--
are routinely restricted by the government. Worse, imposition of Islamic law on non-Muslims is far too common. An April 1997 U.N. Human Rights Commission resolution identified pages of similar abuses.
Mr. President, this is not a regime that should be included in the community of nations.
In response to Sudan's actions in these areas, particularly with respect to terrorism, the U.S. government has imposed a series of sanctions on the current Sudanese regime over the past several years, including suspending its assistance program and denying senior Sudanese government officials entry into the United States.
In part at my urging, the Administration officially designated Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism by placing it on the so-called
``terrorism list'' in 1993. Inclusion on the terrorism list, according to Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act (P.L.96-72), automatically puts statutory restrictions on the bilateral relationship including prohibitions on foreign, agricultural, military and export-
import assistance, as well as licensing restrictions for dual use items and mandated U.S. opposition to loans from international financial institutions.
In addition, the United States has supported several resolutions by the United Nations Security Council, including three demands that Sudan extradite three suspects wanted in connection with the failed 1995 assassination attempt against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. After Sudan failed to comply with these resolutions, the Council later adopted measures calling on member states to adopt travel restrictions and to ban flights by Sudanese-government controlled aircraft.
But, as important as these measures have been, Sudan has apparently refused to get the message that its actions are simply unacceptable.
Sudan has the potential to be one of the most important countries in Africa. It is the largest country on the continent and has a population of 29 million people. With cultural and geographic ties to both Arab North Africa and black sub-Saharan Africa, the Sudan has the potential to play a significant role in East Africa and the Gulf region.
Unfortunately, Mr. President, Sudan continues to squander that potential by engaging in or supporting outrageous acts of violence and terrorism.
So, Mr. President, I welcome the President's decision to take a tougher line with respect to Sudan.
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