THE
PRESIDENT: I want to thank Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for
joining me, and I also want to thank Deputy Secretary of State Bob
Zoellick. He has just briefed me on his trip to Abuja, where he has
played a very important role in setting up a peace agreement between the
government of Sudan and a major rebel group in the Darfur region.
Congratulations on a job well done, Bob. Thank you.
Last week we saw the beginnings of hope for the people of Darfur. The
government of Sudan and the largest rebel group signed an agreement and
took a step toward peace. Many people worked hard for this achievement.
I'm particularly grateful for the leadership of President Obasanjo of
Nigeria and President Sassou-Nguesso of Congo. Deputy Secretary Zoellick
told me of their really fine work, and I had the honor of calling both
of them to thank them over the phone the other day. Their personal
hands-on involvement was vital.
We're still far away from our ultimate goal, which is the return of
millions of displaced people to their homes so they can have a life
without fear. But we can now see a way forward.
Sudan is one of the most diverse nations in Africa and one of the
most troubled countries in the world. A 22-year-old civil war between
north and south took more than 2 million lives before a peace agreement
was made that the United States helped to broker. About the same time,
another conflict was raging in the west, and that's in Sudan's vast
Darfur region.
Darfur rebel groups had attacked government outposts. To fight that
rebellion, Sudan's regime armed and unleashed a horse-mounted militia
called the Janjaweed, which targeted not only rebels, but the tribes
thought to be supporting them. The Janjaweed murdered men, and they
raped women, and they beat children to death. They burned homes and
farms, and poisoned wells. They stole land to graze their own herds.
Hundreds of villages were destroyed, leaving a burnt and barren
landscape.
About 200,000 people have died from conflict, famine and disease. And
more than 2 million were forced into camps inside and outside their
country, unable to plant crops, or rebuild their villages. I've called
this massive violence an act of genocide, because no other word captures
the extent of this tragedy.
A cease-fire was declared in this conflict in April 2004, but it has
been routinely violated by all sides. The Janjaweed continued to attack
the camps and rape women who ventured outside the fences for food and
firewood. The government took no effective action to disarm the
militias. And the rebels sometimes attacked food convoys and aid
workers.
An African Union force of about 7,200 from the region has done all it
can to keep order, by patrolling an area nearly the size of Texas, and
they have reached the limits of their capabilities. With the peace
agreement signed on Friday, Darfur has a chance to begin anew. Sudan's
government has promised to disarm the Janjaweed by mid-October, and
punish all those who violate the cease-fire. The main rebel group has
agreed to withdraw into specified areas. Its forces will eventually be
disarmed, as well, and some of its units will be integrated into the
national army and police.
The African Union will meet a week from today, urge its members to
help implement this new agreement.
Our goal in Darfur is this: We want civilians to return safely to
their villages and rebuild their lives. That work has begun and
completing it will require even greater effort by many nations. First,
America and other nations must act to prevent a humanitarian emergency,
and then help rebuild that country. America is the leading provider of
humanitarian aid, and this year alone we account for more than 85
percent of the food distributed by the World Food Program in Sudan.
But the situation remains dire. The World Food Program has issued an
appeal for funds necessary to feed six million people over the next
several months. The United States has met our commitment, but other
major donors have not come through. As a result, this month the World
Food Program was forced to cut rations by half.
So I proposed in the emergency supplemental before Congress to
increase food aid to Sudan by another $225 million. I hope Congress will
act swiftly on this true emergency. To get food to Darfur quickly I've
directed USAID to ship emergency food stockpiles. I've directed five
ships and ordered them to be loaded with food and proceed immediately to
Port Sudan. I've ordered the emergency purchase of another 40,000 metric
tons of food for rapid shipment to Sudan. These actions will allow the
World Food Program to restore full food rations to the people of Darfur
this summer.
Americans who wish to contribute money to help deliver relief to the
people of Darfur can find information about how to do so by going to the
USAID website at www.usaid.gov, and clicking on the section marked
"Helping the Sudanese People."
Moving forward, we cannot keep people healthy and fed without other
countries standing up and doing their part, as well. The European Union,
and nations like Canada, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Japan
have taken leadership on other humanitarian issues, and the people of
Darfur urgently need more of their help now.
In addition, the government of Sudan must allow all U.N. agencies to
do their work without hindrance. They should remove the visa and travel
restrictions that complicate relief efforts. And all sides must cease
attacks on relief workers.
And finally, the United States will be an active participant in the
Dutch-led reconstruction and development conference. And it's an
important conference. It will take place within the next couple of
months, to help the people get back on their feet so they can live
normal lives in Darfur.
Second, America and other nations must work quickly to increase
security on the ground in Darfur. In the short-term, the African Union
forces in Darfur need better capabilities. So America is working with
our NATO allies to get those forces immediate assistance in the form of
planning, logistics, intelligence support and other help. And I urge
members of the alliance to contribute to this effort.
In the longer-term, the African Union troops must be the core of a
larger military force that is more mobile and more capable, which
generates better intelligence and is given a clear mandate to protect
the civilians from harm. So I'm dispatching Secretary Rice to address
the U.N. Security Council tomorrow. She's going to request a resolution
that will accelerate the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers into Darfur.
We're now working with the U.N. to identify countries that contribute
those troops so the peacekeeping effort will be robust.
I've called on President -- I just called President Bashir of Sudan,
both to commend him on his work for this agreement, and to urge the
government to express clear support for a U.N. force. The vulnerable
people of Darfur deserve more than sympathy. They deserve the active
protection that U.N. peacekeepers can provide.
In recent weeks, we've seen drastically different responses to the
suffering in Darfur. In a recent audio tape, Osama bin Laden attacked
American efforts in Sudan and urged his followers to kill international
peacekeepers in Darfur. Once again, the terrorists are attempting to
exploit the misery of fellow Muslims and encourage more death. Once
again, America and other responsible nations are fighting misery and
helping a desperate region come back to life. And once again, the
contrast could not be more clear.
In late 2004 in Darfur, the Janjaweed attacked a village of a woman
named Zahara. They raped her, murdered her husband, and set fire to
their home. One of the attackers told her, "This year there's no god
except us. We are your god now." But you and I know that at all times,
in all places, there is a just God who sides with the suffering, and
calls us to do the same. America will not turn away from this tragedy.
We will call genocide by its rightful name, and we will stand up for the
innocent until the peace of Darfur is secured.
Thank you.