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67–718PDF 2011

SOUTHERN KORDOFAN: ETHNIC CLEANSING AND

HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN SUDAN

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, 

AND HUMAN RIGHTS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

AUGUST 4, 2011

Serial No. 112–103

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

DAN BURTON, Indiana 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

RON PAUL, Texas 

MIKE PENCE, Indiana 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

CONNIE MACK, Florida 

JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida 

JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio 

BILL JOHNSON, Ohio 

DAVID RIVERA, Florida 

MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania 

TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York 

RENEE ELLMERS, North Carolina 

VACANT 

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California 

GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

DENNIS CARDOZA, California 

BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

ALLYSON SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania 

CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut 

FREDERICA WILSON, Florida 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

YLEEM D.S. POBLETE, Staff Director 

RICHARD J. KESSLER, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, AND HUMAN RIGHTS

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman 

JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska 

TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York 

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

KAREN BASS, California 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

WITNESSES 

Rt. Reverend Andudu Adam Elnail, Bishop, Anglican Diocese of Kadugli, 

Sudan .................................................................................................................... 7

Mr. Bradford Phillips, president, Persecution Project .......................................... 14

Luka Biong Deng, Ph.D., executive director, Kush Inc. ....................................... 26

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING 

Rt. Reverend Andudu Adam Elnail: Prepared statement .................................... 10

Mr. Bradford Phillips: Prepared statement ........................................................... 19

Luka Biong Deng, Ph.D.: Prepared statement ...................................................... 31

APPENDIX 

Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 60

Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 61

The Honorable Russ Carnahan, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Missouri: Prepared statement ......................................................................... 62

(1)

SOUTHERN KORDOFAN: ETHNIC CLEANSING 

AND HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN SUDAN 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, AND HUMAN RIGHTS

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m., in room 

2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith 

(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. SMITH. The subcommittee will come to order. And good 

morning to everyone. We have called today’s emergency hearing because of the escalating crisis in the Sudanese State of Southern 

Kordofan. This crisis first arose in June of this year, shortly after 

the military forces of the Republic of Sudan attacked the Abyei region, apparently as a provocation to South Sudan’s Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement, or SPLM. South Sudan was about to 

become independent and these attacks may have been intended to 

provoke a fight that could derail their independence. 

At the same time, Sudanese attacks on SPLM North members in 

the Sudanese State of Southern Kordofan were increasing. Because 

of the fighting and the displacement of Sudanese and foreigners 

from Southern Kordofan, no one is estimating how many people are 

being killed in the area. We do know that more than 73,000 people 

have been displaced. Whatever the numbers involved, we can be 

sure that the suffering of the people of Southern Kordofan, especially the Nuba people, has been catastrophic. 

This latest violence is a tragic resumption of a prior war by the 

Khartoum government on the Nuba. Beginning in the 1980s, 

Islamist elements of the North began an eradication campaign 

against the Nuba, pitting northern Arabs against Africans in the 

South. Unfortunately for the Nuba, they are not Southerners, even 

though they have fought with the Southern army during the NorthSouth civil war. But neither are they accepted by the elements ruling the North, even though many of them are Muslims. 

This left the Nuba on their own to suffer the onslaught of the 

Khartoum government. The strategy of cultural cleansing pursued 

by the government involved harsh attempts to depopulate vast 

areas, killing potential combatants as well as many others, and 

herding survivors into tightly controlled government so-called refugee camps. 

When jihad was declared by the Government of Sudan in 1992, 

even Nuba Muslims were targeted with the rationale that Muslims 

2

in SPLM areas were not true Muslims. Rape of Nuba women has 

been a central component of the government’s strategy aimed at 

destroying the social fabric of Nuba society. Almost every woman 

who has been in one of Khartoum’s so-called peace camps reportedly was either raped or threatened with rape. According to the 

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, between 30,000 and 40,000 people out of a population of 

60,000 in Southern Kordofan, capital of Kadugli, have fled the 

town. Many of the attacks in Southern Kordofan were indiscriminate, including aerial bombardments and artillery fire by Sudanese 

Armed Forces. Bombings have been reported in five villages south 

of the state capital of Kadugli, as well as Talodi, Hebon and Kaudo 

and other towns. 

The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights told 

the U.N. Security Council on July 29th that there were reports as 

recently as July 27th of aerial bombings, forcing civilians to flee 

into the Nuba Mountains. 

I would point out that one of our witnesses today, Bradford Phillips of the Persecution Project, earlier this week, on Monday, 

brought with us very, very troubling evidence, eyewitness evidence 

that he had gleaned being there for almost 2 weeks. So when we 

hear about the reports, here is a man who actually saw it and it 

is the reason, frankly, it was the genesis of this hearing today: His 

sense that we need to do something to bring focus and scrutiny and 

hopefully action to this terrible plight. 

Some today are trying to downplay the overwhelming responsibility of the Sudanese Government for the devastation taking place 

in Southern Kordofan by referring to the refusal of the SPLM 

North to lay down their arms to negotiate with Khartoum. But 

there is no moral equivalence between the SPLM North actions and 

those of the Bashir government. SPLM-North members are not 

bombing people indiscriminately, not driving Arabs off their lands 

and out of their homes, nor going door to door to identify their perceived enemies in order to execute them. The Government of Sudan’s military forces are. And we will soon see photographic evidence of these atrocities. 

In addition, the recent attacks on Southern Kordofan have disrupted the planting season and will have a long-term negative impact on the ability of its people to feed themselves. In parts of Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, people suffer from drought made 

worse by conflict. In Southern Kordofan, the national government 

is creating a similar humanitarian crisis. The death and destruction to which Sudanese Africans have been subjected was thought 

to have ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 to end the North-South Civil War. However, the 

genocide in Darfur diverted the international community’s attention away from the unresolved issues between North and South. 

These lingering points of contention threaten to derail independence for South Sudan just as the independence process was coming 

to a conclusion. And now the struggle over Abyei threatens to stifle 

the suffering cries and pleas for help that are arising from the 

Nuba people as they are dragged into a resumption of the Northern 

war against them. 

3

We discussed this war during the subcommittee’s June 16th 

hearing of South Sudan. At that time, the fighting in Southern 

Kordofan was as horrific as any attacks waged by the Khartoum 

government. The testimony that will be presented today by witnesses who have seen the carnage firsthand will reveal the horrific 

extent of this situation. 

Again, I welcome today’s testimony to reveal the depth of this 

tragedy and to discuss ways to address the suffering of this particular region of Sudan. 

I would like to now yield to my good friend and colleague, Mr. 

Payne, for any opening comments. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. And let me commend you, Mr. 

Chairman, for calling this very important hearing. I just rushed 

here from an earlier meeting that was called on the problem of Somalia and the drought that is going on there. And so I appreciate 

the chairman giving the attention to this region, which, of course, 

because of our pressing problems here in the U.S., and we do know 

that we have a primary obligation to our Nation to make it strong 

and to correct some of the errors that we have made in the past, 

we still cannot forget that we have a world that is really being 

shattered by unshared bread and that we have a responsibility 

still, as it says in the Bible, to be our brother’s keeper. 

And so I know that it is difficult to focus on areas outside of our 

immediate problems, but I do appreciate the chairman keeping the 

issues before our Nation, because we do, I believe, have an obligation. 

Less than a month ago, the world witnessed the birth of a new 

nation, the Republic of South Sudan. I was among the delegation 

present at the ceremony. And I witnessed the joy of the people of 

South Sudan that day following many decades of struggle; struggle 

before independence, struggle since the independence in 1956, 

struggle with the civil war that broke out in 1989, struggles that 

continued until the CPA was signed in 2005, and struggles up until 

the conclusion of the referendum on July 9, 2011, when independence was announced and celebrated. So it has been a struggle for 

the people of South Sudan, and the struggle continues. 

The Sudanese people accomplished a great deal and their celebration is well deserved and certainly overdue. The peaceful nature 

in which 98.8 percent of South Sudanese voted for their independence was commendable and should serve as a witness of what Sudanese people are capable of. As a matter of fact, voter registration 

was probably in excess of 90 percent also. And it is recorded that 

this turnout even exceeded the turnout of South Africa when they 

had their first election, when Mr. Mandela was a candidate for 

President of a new South Africa. So we have to really commend the 

people of South Sudan for their determination and their appreciation for democracy. 

Unfortunately, though, persistent violence in South Kordofan 

and other border areas also remind us that the important work 

still remains to be done to ensure peace within both countries, 

North and South Sudan, and a peaceful relationship between the 

neighboring states. 

In June, this subcommittee convened to discuss the challenges 

that the pending nation of South Sudan would face. We are now 

4

on the other side of the independence celebration and are witnessing some of the challenges that Southerners living in the North 

are facing. 

In today’s hearing, we will be focusing on the disputed region of 

South Kordofan and the human rights violations that are occurring 

at the hands of President Bashir against the Nubian people. As you 

know, the map was drawn in 1956, or prior to that, and when the 

British gave independence on January the 1st, 1956, the lines were 

drawn. Had they been drawn today, we would know that South 

Kordofan and Abyei and the Nuba Mountains would indeed be a 

part of South Sudan. The people in those areas fought along with 

the SPLM and feel a part of the South. However, the lines have 

been drawn and they find themselves in the North. 

However, there was supposed to be accommodation made so 

there could be a discussion on what type of arrangement could be 

made in Kordofan, South Kordofan. However, the popular consultation has not taken place. The referendum in Abyei has not taken 

place. The elections in South Kordofan were not fair and free, and 

so we have problems that persist today. 

In today’s hearing, we will be focusing on the disputed regions 

of South Kordofan and the human rights violations that are occurring at the hands of President Bashir against the Nuba people. In 

Southern Kordofan, an estimated 1.4 million are being affected by 

fighting between the South Armed Forces and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement North. Thousands of innocent civilians 

have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. 

There are disturbing reports of targeted killing of Nuba people and 

mass graves that the SAF are searching homes for SPLM supporters, and then detaining, torturing and killing them. This is all 

evidence of ethnic cleansing. 

Unfortunately, the SAF are armed to do the job. They are using 

heavy weapons, including artilleries, helicopters, MiG fighters and 

Russian-made Antonov bombers to hunt the Nubians like animals, 

as it was said. The violence that is occurring is by no means an 

isolated or localized incident. Bashir has done this many, many 

times before in Darfur and Eastern Sudan and here in South 

Kordofan. 

Our first visit to Sudan in 1993, in a SPLA-controlled town near 

the Ugandan border at that time, was the front line, and I saw the 

firsthand suffering of the people in that area. When I returned, I 

introduced a resolution saying that the people of South Sudan had 

the right of self-determination, and that began the whole notion of 

a new nation. 

With deep sadness, I remember visiting Abyei in May 2008, just 

after the town had been attacked and burned to the ground by the 

Bashir forces and pro-government militia. The atrocity displaced 

more than 40,000 people. And upon return, I introduced a resolution to highlight this hideous act of violence that continues with 

the war-indicted al-Bashir. 

In late May, at the order of Bashir, Sudanese Army Forces invaded Abyei, killing over 100 and displacing an estimated 100,000. 

South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir, has shown considerable restraint thus far because he does not want to have a war that would 

5

interfere with a peaceful resolution of the crisis. We must remember the human cost of these acts of aggression. 

The people of Abyei, Southern Kordofan, and throughout Sudan 

have suffered severely after prolonged civil war. For many, the violence and oppression continues, with targeted killings and prolonged displacement. 

Let us also not forget the ongoing crisis in Darfur, where many 

remain in displaced camps, and malnutrition, without any way to 

support their families due to the oppressive government of the 

Bashir people and the military tactics. 

Along with my fellow Sudanese Caucus co-chair, we are circulating a letter to President Obama urging him to condemn the violence in Southern Kordofan. We must use all available diplomatic 

and political tools to combat these human rights abuses, including 

possible sanctions and other accountable measures. 

It is also important that the United States properly fund aid programs and peacekeeping missions that are helping to save countless lives. The proposed foreign aid budget cuts would greatly 

hinder our ability to provide relief to these affected areas and to 

help bring stability to the region. That is why during the foreign 

operations authorization bill markup last month, I proposed an 

amendment that would have increased funding for the U.N. peacekeeping budget, the President’s request of $1.92 billion, and to add 

60 million to be set aside for a contingency fund specifically to address these atrocities we are now witnessing in Southern Kordofan 

and the border regions. I am interested at this hearing and hearing 

from our panel on how the budget cuts would affect the work they 

are doing. 

I am also encouraged to see that today President Obama announced a new initiative directing a comprehensive review to 

strengthen the United States’ ability to prevent mass atrocities. 

This new initiative will include the creation of the Atrocities Prevention Board that will have the authority to develop prevention 

strategies to aid the U.S. and its allies in responding to early warning signs and prevent potential atrocities. 

The President has also issued a proclamation barring persons 

who organize or participate in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and serious violations of human rights from entering the 

United States of America. I applaud the President for remaining 

engaged in combating the mass atrocities that are occurring in 

Sudan and around the world. 

On July 9th, the world celebrated with the people of South 

Sudan, and rightfully so. After all, the United States and people 

here like Mr. Wolf and others have played such an important role 

in what we see today. And so we are a critical partner in the 

Sudan peace process, as we all know. While our efforts have been 

fruitful, our work to ensure stability and prosperity for all Sudanese people is far from complete. We must remain engaged and 

commit our support to democracy, rule of law, justice and peace for 

the people of Sudan, whichever side of the border they live. Thank 

you very much. 

Mr. SMITH. I want to thank the ranking member for his statement. 

6

I recognize Ann Marie Buerkle from New York, a member of the 

subcommittee. 

Ms. BUERKLE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for calling this extremely important emergency hearing. Just reading the 

testimony for today’s hearing is a sobering reminder that the suffering of the Sudanese people remains ongoing. 

Although it is important that we celebrate the new nation of 

South Sudan, we cannot forget their fellow Sudanese across the 

border. The South Kordofan area has been beset by slaughter and 

disease and heartbreak for decades. It is frankly unfathomable, but 

the people who were responsible for the Darfur genocide are still 

in positions of authority, still carrying out their horrific war crimes. 

And now with the struggles between the North and South Sudan 

over Abyei, the crisis in South Kordofan is escalating and is further 

destabilizing an already fragile region. And that destabilization 

means the cost of thousands of lives and presents a serious threat 

to not only the Nuba Mountains and contested areas, but also to 

the newly born South Sudan. 

Thank you to our witnesses for being here today to share what 

you have learned firsthand. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield 

back. 

Mr. SMITH. Ms. Buerkle, thank you very much. 

The Chair recognizes Chairman Wolf. 

Mr. WOLF. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I will just be 

very, very, very brief. One, I want to thank the witnesses. Two, I 

want to personally thank both you and Mr. Payne for having this 

hearing so fast. I almost have never seen something turn around, 

I mean, when the two of you got together. So I personally want to 

thank both of you. I think it is incredible, your interest, and how 

the two of you work together, and you both deserve a lot of credit. 

Lastly, I would just say to the church in the West, I think the 

church in the West has to really do a better job of advocating for 

the persecuted church. I see one of the witnesses, Richard 

Wurmbrand, who I have read his books over the years and visited 

once in Romania. The silence of the church in the West is actually 

incredible. And when I think of what is taking place to believers 

in that part of the country, that part of the world and others, and 

yet I hear total complete silence, is sort of incredible. If anything, 

hopefully this hearing can motivate not only the administration, 

but also the church, the leaders of all the denominations to come 

together to advocate for this. But we will see what comes out of 

this hearing. 

I will thank the witnesses. And I want to again thank you and 

Mr. Payne for just working together, getting this thing done right 

away. I mean, somebody comes up with an idea and 48 hours later 

we have got a hearing. So thank you very much. I yield back. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Chairman Wolf. 

Let me introduce our very distinguished panel of witnesses 

today, beginning with Bishop Andudu Adam Elnail, the Anglican 

bishop of Kadugli, Sudan, the capital of the conflict-torn region of 

South Kordofan. He chairs the Interfaith Committee for this conflict-torn region. He has been outspoken and courageous. In a recent interview with Bishop Andudu, Religion Dispatchers writes: If 

Anglican Bishop Andudu had not been in Denver receiving medical 

7

treatment in early June, he might be in a mass grave now. That 

is how volatile and how dangerous the situation is today. 

And again, we are deeply indebted that he is here, flew here and 

will be providing this subcommittee and hopefully the entire Congress, and, by extension, the American people, very, very important 

insights and will be a rallying cry for action. 

We will then hear from Mr. Bradford Phillips, who serves as 

President of the Persecution Project Foundation and as a Sudan 

country director for the Voice of the Martyrs, two nonprofit organizations dedicated to serving the persecuted church. And I would 

point out parenthetically that in 1980, I read Richard Wurmbrand’s 

book, ‘‘Tortured for Christ.’’ He had suffered horrifically under the 

Securitate, Nicolae Ceausescu, the dictator of Romania, and spent 

years of being tortured, he and other believers. And that is what 

got me involved in religious freedom issues after reading that book. 

Mr. Phillips is one of the leaders of Voice of the Martyrs, the group 

that continues that work. 

And he also is founder and President of the Persecution Project. 

Since 1998, Mr. Phillips has helped document acts of genocide committed by the Government of Sudan, while also assisting in a variety of humanitarian efforts in Southern Kordofan. He recently 

spent 2 weeks interviewing victims of war crimes against Nuba. As 

I said in my opening, the reason why we are meeting here today 

was his urgent plea on Monday that this Congress bring light, 

scrutiny, and hopefully an action plan, as well as the President and 

the State Department, to try to mitigate this terrible, terrible, 

worsening situation in South Kordofan. He is also founder of 100 

Wells Campaign, the humanitarian project that provides clean 

water to Darfur refugees. 

Then we will hear from Dr. Luka Biong Deng, who is the executive director of Kush Incorporated. Dr. Biong is an expert in African affairs, civil wars, and conflict resolution and has published 

numerous articles in international journals addressing these issues. 

He is also a founding member and chairperson of the board of directors of the Abyei Community Action for Development. Dr. Deng 

serves as Minister of Cabinet Affairs for the Government of Sudan 

and is a Minister of Presidential Affairs for the government of 

Southern Sudan. He has also worked for the World Bank and for 

Southern Sudan Centers for Census, Statistics and Evaluation. 

Again, thank you all for being here on such extraordinarily short 

notice. I would like to begin with the Bishop, if I could. And please 

proceed as you would like. 

STATEMENT OF RT. REVEREND ANDUDU ADAM ELNAIL, 

BISHOP, ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF KADUGLI, SUDAN 

Bishop ANDUDU. Thank you, Chairman Smith, for calling this 

emergency hearing on the threat of human rights and human security in my home region of South Kordofan. 

I would like also to thank the ranking members for their leadership support of the endangered Nuba people as well. I am here to 

testify about all of my people and my members of my church and 

the flock. They just give me all the time is the news from the 

ground. 

8

I want to start with what happened in my diocese and in my 

town of Kadugli, where the major atrocities are taking place. My 

house was shot with the guns, and my chaplain was able to escape 

through the window. And also my offices and cyber cafe was 

burned down, and cathedral as well. And, really, the atrocities is 

taking place not only with the Christians, but also even the Muslims, and the mosques has been bombed for the black Muslims. 

And one of my flocks told me very clearly he has seen the earth 

mover in South—the school of Tilo, and and digging two pits. And 

in the evening, they brought bodies in the location, and the SAF 

and militia PDF and other people putting on uniforms of the prisons in Kadugli, and also some people working with Red Crescent. 

And some of the people was put in the body bags, white body bags, 

and they are put in the pits. 

So he has seen this personally and I have spoke to him many 

times. And I believe really what he has seen. And also this is consistent with the image that was taken with the satellite. And really 

I appeal for the United States also to deploy its own satellites so 

that it can prevent the eyewitness and also for the government not 

to tamper with the mass graves that was found. And also call for 

an investigation to find out exactly what is taking place. 

And in the Nuba Mountains now, the children are killed, the 

women—the bombing is—the civilian is targeted. It is a war of horror. So, really, creating ethnic cleansing in the Nuba Mountains. 

Every day I have been indebted from different cities in South 

Kordofan, and we are experiencing people running in the mountains. I have given photos last week for the people that just eat 

greens. Eat greens and there is no food. And at the same time, this 

is very important time for us in Nuba Mountains. We are cultivating. This is the beginning of the season. So if you have not died 

by the bombs, in next October, the time of harvest, we will not 

have any food and then also you will die. 

That is why we are calling for the U.N., government, and other 

international communities and the African Union. These are the 

people that help us to sign the CPA, the peace agreement in 

Sudan. And we are very grateful for the decision of South Sudan. 

But at the same time, Nuba Mountains is left struggling, and I 

want the U.S. Government really to go farther and to secure our 

people in Nuba Mountains. The bombs get dropped every day. Really we need the government and international community to stop 

these bombings. They are killing people. SPLM have no planes, 

have no bombings. So if these planes can be stopped to spare the 

lives of the people. It is not thrown on the military, but it is thrown 

on the civilians, and in places where there is not any near barracks 

of the soldiers. 

And at the same time, the government is not allowing the humanitarian access, there is no—any organization is going to give 

food. They are forbidden. 

I am also calling for the international community and the U.S. 

to make any ways for the humanitarian to get access to give aid 

of food and also to give the medicines for the injured people in the 

Nuba Mountains. 

And at the same time, the U.N. troops in South Kordofan, they 

are threatened by the government of Bashir. They have been told 

9

now they have to move. They were not allowed to go and investigate the mass grave. And really, we want the increased and also 

effective peacekeepers in the Nuba Mountains. The people of Nuba, 

they want peace, but they were forced to fight to defend their people. And Nuba people are afraid. They don’t know what is going to 

happen. They feel they are forgotten because nothing is going there 

to give them the freedom. 

And Bashir and Haroun, these are people wanted by International Criminal Court. They don’t want—the crimes in Darfur. 

They are the same people. And the war is running after them. We 

create these unsigned peace in another part of the region, like in 

Southern Sudan. When the CPA was signed, they start war in 

Darfur. And also now when the South Sudanese have ceased, also 

they start war in Nuba Mountains. 

This is the type of government we have been dealing with for 

over 20 years. This is a government that is just killing people, its 

own people, and people continue to engage in the signable peace 

and it would be broken. 

We are not alone calling for the international community to help 

us, but all of the people in the world. Like here, we have the petition. Over half-a-million of the people around the world, they are 

striving and they are calling for a stop and butcher ethnic cleansing in Nuba Mountains. So we are calling for, really, action in the 

region of Nuba Mountains and other marginalized areas. Thank 

you. 

Mr. SMITH. Bishop, thank you very much for your testimony and 

for your urgent appeal to the United States and the world, the intention of the community, to respond and to do so immediately. 

[The prepared statement of Bishop Andudu Adam Elnail follows:]

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Mr. SMITH. Mr. Phillips. 

STATEMENT OF MR. BRADFORD PHILLIPS, PRESIDENT, 

PERSECUTION PROJECT 

Mr. PHILLIPS. Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Payne and 

members of the subcommittee, thank you very much for inviting 

me to testify at this emergency hearing on the current crisis of the 

Nuba Mountains of the Southern Kordofan State in the Republic 

of Sudan. 

By way of introduction, my name is Brad Phillips, and I am here 

on behalf of two organizations that have a relatively long history 

of working in Sudan. The first is Persecution Project, as was mentioned; and the second is the Voice of the Martyrs. And much of 

our emphasis has been on Sudan during more than the last decade. 

My very first trip to Sudan brought me to the Nuba Mountains 

after reading the reports of the genocide that was happening there. 

Alex de Waal, Julie Flint, and many others had written reports. I 

had heard about the extermination of more than half of the Nuba 

population. And so that was my first introduction to Sudan. And 

at that time, as was with my most recent visit, there were bombings going on every day that were part of an aerial campaign of terror against civilians. 

Mr. Chairman, I realize that you and your colleagues are only 

now concluding a very busy time concerning the recent debate on 

raising the debt ceiling, so I am extremely grateful that you have 

taken time to hear about this very important issue, which is a nonpartisan issue. It is an issue of genocide. Genocide is currently 

being perpetrated in the Nuba Mountains in the Southern 

Kordofan State of the Republic of Sudan. 

I know you have had the opportunity several times to receive testimony on this issue from my learned friend, Roger Winter, who 

has acted in many different capacities, including the former Special 

Representative on Sudan. And during his last testimony on the 

16th of June, he reported to you on this war of genocide now being 

waged in the Nuba. And I am here simply to say that everything 

that Mr. Winter presented in his testimony about Southern 

Kordofan State is true. I have seen it with my own eyes. 

Less than 3 weeks after Mr. Winter’s testimony, I was in the 

Nuba Mountains for 12 days. I fully understand that what is happening right now in the Nuba Mountains requires some context 

and some background. And I appreciate very much the long history 

that you have had, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Payne and 

Congressman Wolf, and so many others on this committee on this 

issue. But for the sake of others, in 1989, through a coup d’etat, 

the National Islamic Front came to power in Sudan. And its leadership consisted of Islamic extremists. Many of them were founding 

members of al-Qaeda. They were birthed by the Muslim Brotherhood. They were identified by our Government as terrorists or supporters of international terrorism. 

And as soon as the National Islamic Front came to power, it 

began an intensive military campaign to Arabize and Islamize the 

indigenous African population in Southern Sudan, the Blue Nile, 

and the Nuba Mountains region of Southern Kordofan State, and 

more recently in Darfur. During the 1990s, up until the peace 

15

agreement was signed in Naivasha in 2005, more than 2 million 

Southern Sudanese people, most of whom were Christian or 

animist, were slaughtered. But in the Nuba Mountains in the 

1980s and the 1990s, roughly half the population of an estimated 

more than 500,000 people were slaughtered in a similar genocide. 

And all of us, I think, are aware of the genocide that took place 

in Darfur beginning in 2003 that claimed an estimated 400,000 

lives. 

The primary resistance of the National Islamic Front during the 

last war came from the SPLM, the Sudanese People’s Liberation 

Movement, that was led by its charismatic leader, Dr. John Garang 

de Mabior. Dr. John was a Christian from South Sudan, but he desired freedom and self-determination for all of the Sudanese people 

and his vision was called the New Sudan. After more than 20 years 

of fighting, the SPLM fought the National Islamic Front to a standstill. And with the help of international pressure, much of it led by 

the United States, the NIF was forced to the negotiating table. And 

all of that was consummated in January 2005 with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in Naivasha, Kenya. 

This agreement provided South Sudan with semiautonomy and 

eventually a referendum vote on self-determination which we all 

know resulted in the welcoming in of the Republic of Sudan as the 

world’s newest nation most recently on July the 9th. But while we 

do celebrate with South Sudan its independence from this murderous regime, we must not forget that many marginalized groups 

in the North were not given the same guarantees as the South, 

specifically the Abyei region in Southern Kordofan State. The Nuba 

Mountains also in Southern Kordofan and the Blue Nile State received implicit promises for self-determination and for—as well as 

some explicit promises in this agreement. But as subsequent actions have shown during the interim period of the CPA, the NIF, 

now renamed the National Congress Party, really had no intention 

of granting self-determination to these marginalized areas. 

Under the CPA, the Nuba were guaranteed a free election. A gubernatorial election, most recently, was supposed to take place in 

May of this year, followed by a popular consultation whereby elected leaders would interview their constituents and determine what 

the people wanted to do with regard to their political future. This 

consultation process would hopefully have paved the way for regime change or some sort of power-sharing arrangement in Khartoum that would recognize and respect the rights of all of Sudan’s 

diverse communities in Southern Kordofan State. As of today, the 

popular consultation that was promised by the CPA has not taken 

place. 

Moreover, Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, publicly stated in 

April of this year, that if the National Congress Party could not get 

its way at the ballot box, it would use the ammo box. He went on 

to say that he would smoke the Nuba people out of the mountains 

using tanks and camels. This was really a declaration of war on the 

27th of April by Omar al-Bashir and it was a violation, a clear violation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. 

Earlier that month of April, as an intimidation tactic and I believe as an attempt to draw the SPLM into war before the election, 

Bashir sent militia forces to an area called el Fayit, which is the 

16

home area of Commander Abdel Aziz Adam al-Hilu, and 27 members of Commander al-Hilu’s family were murdered in this attack. 

He didn’t take the bait and he went through with the elections. 

When the elections finally took place, the evidence of large-scale 

vote rigging was reported. Yet even with the evidence of vote fraud, 

Bashir jumped a few steps and sent down his advisor, Nafie ali 

Nafie, to declare their candidate, indicted war criminal, Ahmed 

Haroun, the winner without any verification process taking place. 

The newly elected Governor Haroun then ordered all SPLM 

forces out of Southern Kordofan by the 1st of June. This order was 

in direct violation of the CPA, which allowed the SPLA to operate 

in Southern Kordofan up to 90 days after the close of the interim 

period on July 9th. This attempt by the NCP to cleanse the North 

of the SPLM/A before the July 9th independence of South Sudan 

was also carried out in the disputed Abyei region. After amassing 

troops around Abyei, NCP forces invaded on the 20th of May, forcing most of the indigenous African population out. Some estimates 

of the number of refugees from this area are as high as 100,000. 

It became obvious to all watching these events unfold what was 

happening. It is no wonder that the SPLM refused to disarm or to 

leave Southern Kordofan State. 

When the order was not obeyed by the June 1st deadline, the 

NCP tried to disarm the SPLM by force, and this was the beginning of the war on June the 5th. On June the 6th, the NCP attacked and sacked the capital of Kadugli, murdering potentially 

thousands of civilians in the subsequent days. 

The NCP also pulled out an old card from their deck, which is 

the daily indiscriminate aerial bombardment of civilian targets. 

Using Antonov bombers, MiG fighters and helicopter gunships, the 

NCP launched a campaign of terror in the skies. I have included 

some pictures of these bomb locations, which I think are playing 

now on the screen, bombing civilians. 

I personally arrived in the Nuba on the 4th of July in one of the 

few private charters that was flying to the Nuba, since all humanitarian flights had ceased. And during my visit I had the opportunity to spend time with and interview more than a dozen individuals who had escaped from Kadugli during the first few days after 

the ethnic cleansing started, and all of whom shared the same 

basic story, the one which the Reverend has just shared and which 

you will hear from others. 

Sudan Armed Forces went from house to house searching for any 

Nuba citizen, anyone who was identified with the church or anyone 

who has associated with the SPLM. And anybody fitting either of 

these three descriptions was either killed on the spot or arrested 

and never seen again. Fortunately, a few thousand residents obtained shelter at the UNMIS compound, but the compound after 

being filled—and I have heard many stories and accounts of people 

being killed at the gates of this compound as a result of the 

UNMIS allowing the security forces and the intelligence forces of 

the SAF to enter the pound and take Nuba people out of that compound while they stood by and watched. 

I had the opportunity to spend time with one of the colleagues 

of Rev. Andudu, Rev. Luka Bolis, who is the chairman of the Sudan 

Council of Churches and he is also an Episcopal priest from the 

17

same area. And he escaped from Kadugli within a few days after 

it started. And what he said to me—and I have submitted the video 

of my interview with him to this committee—the NCP is targeting 

the church in this war. Rev. Luka received a call from some of his 

friends after first escaping to an area called Shaiir, and then making his way outside of Kadugli County. And they basically told him 

that he was on the list, which is what the bishop here has told me 

as well. Meaning that if they find him, if they catch him, they are 

going to kill him. Rev. Luka’s testimony corresponded with so 

many other Nuba Christians and non-Christians alike who were 

persecuted in the last war by the same regime. 

I would just mention one story of a man who I met whose fingernails were pulled out, his genitals were crushed, he was dragged 

behind a tank, he was in and out of prison for 8 years. And what 

he pointed out to me was this is the very same regime that did this 

to him that is now bombing his village, and we saw the planes 

passing over three or four times a day. Rev. Luka said the NCP 

does not distinguish—in addition, they do not distinguish between 

a Christian and a member of the SPLM political party. They assume that if you are associated with the church, that in fact you 

must be SPLM and SPLA. And this was the testimony that we got 

from so many pastors that we interviewed. 

When they captured them, the first thing they did was, they 

asked them for a list of all the members of their congregation. Because if you are a part of the church, you are the enemy. Consequently today, even today, pastors and church leaders are being 

specifically targeted as leaders and recruiters of the SPLM. 

Another pastor who I interviewed, who I will refer to as Kumi 

for security reasons, was arrested by the NIF, tortured in some of 

the most horrific ways and, as mentioned, he was forced to divulge 

the names of his church members. During his capture, which I 

have already mentioned, they pulled out his fingernails and his 

toenails, they hung him by the neck and they crushed his genitals. 

They poured gasoline on his hands and they set them alight. And 

they did many other cruel acts. This pastor was imprisoned for a 

total of 8 years. And although he lives a several-hour drive from 

the area where Rev. Luka was from, his testimony was the same. 

Yet another church leader that I met in a completely different 

area was stabbed 10 times. His name was Musa. They stabbed him 

10 times. He told me that he was killed along with 7 other elders 

and pastors in his church. They destroyed his church, they stabbed 

him 10 times. They believed he was dead, but he survived. And 

each one of the people that they killed, they cut off their ear as a 

trophy to go and take back and show what they had done. And his 

message to me was again was that these are the same people that 

are bombing us today, these are the same people that are cutting 

off people’s heads and slaughtering people like animals in Kadugli. 

And if they have their way, they are going to exterminate us. 

So I heard these stories over and over again during the 12 days 

that I was in the Nuba Mountains. The only difference in what I 

saw in 1998 and what I saw last month is that the SPLM has 

clearly taken the initiative and taken the fight, as it were, to their 

enemies, led by their leader, Commander Adbel Aziz Adam al-Hilu. 

The people of the Nuba Mountains are fighting back and have won 

18

some impressive victories on the ground. And this has occurred 

without any significant help from the international community. 

This determined resistance by the SPLM in the Nuba Mountains 

is a genuine popular uprising, and the only thing that has prevented another Rwandan-styled genocide from happening. But time 

is running out. The U.N. ended humanitarian relief efforts early in 

June and most NGOs operating under the U.N. umbrella pulled 

out. All the roads to the North have been closed and the rainy season in South Sudan has effectively closed supply routes to the 

south until the end of the season in November or December. The 

daily bombings have terrorized the local populations to a degree 

that normal cultivation is not taking place during this very crucial 

planting season. 

The Nuba Mountains are isolated, cut off and facing a very severe humanitarian crisis within the next 60 days or less unless relief flights are allowed to recommence. And this will not happen 

while SAF MiGs and Antonov bombers and gunships continue to 

patrol the skies. The NCP refuses to allow U.N. observers into the 

Nuba Mountains to document what is happening, which should not 

surprise anyone. 

It is absolutely essential that the international community bring 

pressure on the United Nations to immediately declare humanitarian emergency in the Nuba Mountains and impose a no-fly zone 

to stop the bombing campaign and allow humanitarian access so 

that relief flights back into the region may resume. 

I will conclude by stating there is more than enough evidence to 

justify speedy action on the part of the United States Government 

and the international community to address this very dire situation 

in the Nuba Mountains. The President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, 

is an indicted war criminal. The current governor of the Nuba 

Mountains is Ahmed Haroun, also an indicted war criminal because of his role in the Darfur genocide. In fact, he was the one 

carrying out the genocide in the Nuba Mountains in the 1990s. 

These men make Libya’s Ghadafi look like a choir boy. There is no 

justification in my mind for a bombing in Libya while we do nothing in a place like the Nuba Mountains. 

Many seasoned reporters from the New York Times, Time Magazine, Aljazeera English, The Independent and others, had visited 

the Nuba Mountains. Some of them were with me during my time 

there. And they brought back testimonies, pictures and video that 

corroborate and prove that the war crimes are being committed 

right now against the Nuba people by the National Congress Party 

regime. 

I have included some copies of some of these articles with my testimony, and I ask the question: How is it, then, that the U.S. Government still claims there is not enough evidence to charge the NIF 

with war crimes? Why does the U.S. Government treat—deal with 

the NCP and the victims of their crime with a moral equivalency. 

Based on the history of the NCP and what we know about what 

they are doing in Darfur, in Abyei and the Nuba Mountains, it 

amazes me how the U.S. and the international community is able 

to tolerate these killers for so long, yet aggressively pursue other 

villains who have not killed 1⁄100th of the people for which deaths 

Omar al-Bashir and his regime are responsible. 

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[The prepared statement of Mr. Phillips follows:]


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Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much for that very powerful testimony. 

Dr. Deng. 

STATEMENT OF LUKA BIONG DENG, PH.D., EXECUTIVE 

DIRECTOR, KUSH INC. 

Mr. DENG. I thank you for inviting me to testify today. Good 

morning, Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Payne, and other distinguished members of the committee. It is indeed an honor for me 

to testify in this opportunity and to focus on a critical issue. I welcome and honor the opportunity to provide my thoughts to you 

today on the issues facing Sudan, Southern Sudan, and indeed the 

people of Nuba Mountain. 

I am currently serving as executive director of Kush, Inc. It is 

a nongovernmental organization trying to promote peace and stability, both to forge a relationship between Africa and the U.S., but 

indeed focusing on Abyei and Southern Sudan. 

Mr. Chairman, I am one of the people who participated in the negotiation of the peace agreement, but even importantly, I was negotiating the protocol of the two areas. And I want to echo again 

what happened during the peace agreement. The people of Nuba 

Mountain not only participated in the struggle for the rights, but 

indeed even the popular consultation that was given to them by the 

CPA, that was not that choice. The choice was to have the right 

of self-determination, but they did not get it. And they are so determined, having the popular consultation as a step for them to pursue the right of self-determination. 

What I want to share with you today also, before I became the 

executive director of Kush, I served as a senior minister of national 

government, as a Minister of Government Affairs. Mr. Chairman, 

I resigned on the 21st of May this year after al-Bashir and his government invaded Abyei. And when he invaded Abyei, I saw thousands of people marching out, crying children, dazed, in order to 

look for safety. And I saw clearly a pattern, a clear pattern, of a 

leadership focusing on selectively targeting its own people. 

It started with Darfur, but coming through to Abyei, what indeed 

you are seeing today in Southern Kordofan, a clear case of ethnic 

cleansing, a clear case of the African people in that continent, that 

country being displaced, and the Arabs being settled on their land. 

So I decided to resign, and I sent him my own resignation because of what I saw as real atrocities against humanity in Sudan. 

And I share this, Mr. Chairman, because I think Numa Mountain 

is just an example of the pattern that is happening along the 

North/South border, and that is why I felt we should widen it in 

order to look at the border between the North and the South. 

Definitely what is happening is unacceptable, and it is going to 

continue throughout the border region of the North/South. But you 

should remember also there is another region that is going to face 

the same soon; that is, the Blue Nile. 

I appreciate the opportunity you have provided me today to discuss the current situation in Southern Kordofan and others, and 

the recommendation that this great government and people of 

America could do in order to address the alarming situation in 

Sudan. But it is very important to look also at the hopeful picture 

27

that is emerging in the South, and that is why I would like to look 

at those issues as well. 

Mr. Chairman, as echoed and mentioned by Congressman Payne, 

I see the people of Southern Sudan, when we talk about the stability and peace, we should look at the success that the international community did in that region of Southern Sudan. And I 

think, when we talk about the relationship of the North and the 

South, Southern Sudan is a reflection of the marginalized people 

who suffered to get their independence. But indeed, what we are 

seeing in Numa Mountain is echoing again—what happened to the 

people of Southern Sudan we are seeing in Nuba Mountain and 

Abyei, and definitely in Darfur. 

What is most important for you and us to know is after the secession of the South, I see it becoming critical that the emerging 

or the remaining—the continuing leadership in Northern Sudan 

are tending now to go to the radical elements, and the military government or the worst elements are actually directing that state. 

From even echoing of the secession of the South, now they have repurified Sudan, a Sudan that only has two elements, Muslims and 

Arabs, this with disregard to the great African people in Darfur 

and Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. You can see extremists 

emerging in that country in the Northern Sudan. 

Personally, I feel what is happening in South Kordofan is not 

only ethnic cleansing, as you have put, I would say it is indeed a 

crime against humanity. And let us put it in that context because 

it will help us to focus more rather than on ethnic cleansing. It is 

not about Nuba, it is about the people and about the traditions of 

their land. That is what we are seeing. And there is a similar pattern that is also being committed, as I mentioned earlier. 

As a personal witness, I came 10 days ago from Abyei area, and 

I saw how such atrocities are affecting the people. Two months ago, 

hundreds of thousands of people got displaced, and when I saw 

them again, they are in very appalling conditions, no shelter. But 

even children are dying at great numbers because of one action by 

the leadership in Khartoum. 

But I feel also, with those in Northern Sudan and the remaining 

Sudan, it is critical for us also to look to the opportunities in 

Sudan. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement Northern Sector, 

headed by people like Malik Agar, Abdel Aziz, and Yasir Saeed. 

This is the only credible political party that I feel it is a real ally 

that could really challenge the NCP democratically in order to 

transform the system in Khartoum, because these are the people 

who fought the war and that believe truly a commitment to the 

peace. 

But what we are seeing is that these people of SPLM Northern 

Sector, because of the thing happening in South Kordofan, are giving a push for the option of regime change and for the armed struggle, and that one is going to affect, eventually, the people of this 

area. 

Mr. Chairman, it is very important for us also to take into account what is happening and why it is happening now. And I am 

negotiating even with the national government, the Sudan Government, under the auspices of the African Union. And it is good to 

take account of what happened in Nuba Mountain in sequence. 

28

I want to remind the committee that the people of Nuba Mountain were given this right of popular consultation. That was their 

expectation. It took us a bit of a struggle for us to have legislation 

for the popular consultation. But you know, and as echoed by Congressman Payne, the election in Nuba Mountain was robbed by the 

NCP with the hope to dilute the popular consultation of the people 

of Nuba Mountain. 

But it is important also that even in the Blue Nile, they accepted 

the process of the popular consultation because the popular consultation is supposed to be done by the representatives of the people in the national legislature. But before that went before the popular consultation, if the Nuba people and Blue Nile are not satisfied, it should be discussed at the national level, at the national 

legislature. What happened, the NCP unilaterally dismissed the 

members of the South in the national legislature, so we would be 

left with an assembly that will not reflect and defend the people 

of Nuba Mountain, because the members of the SPLM in the national legislature are supposed to be there after the 9th of July, the 

end of the interim period, but they decided prematurely and before 

this time. 

It is important to know also that NCP unilaterally took a decision to disarm the SPLM in these two areas. And the commitment 

in the security arrangement was for us to have this good, integrated unit to continue up until the 9th of July, 2011, but they decided to attempt to disarm them before time, and that is what triggered the conflict we are seeing today, dishonoring what we had 

agreed upon. 

But it is very important also to know that during the negotiation 

in Addis Ababa, an agreement was reached between the SPLM and 

the NCP, the leadership of the NCP, for an arrangement so that 

the people had entered into dialogue. What happened after the 

signing agreement in the disarmament, the NCP rejected that 

agreement. And that agreement was talking of a dialogue between 

the SPLM and NCP about the forces, but even a dialogue about the 

whole reform in Sudan. And for the SPLM, they rejected that one. 

The result today is the atrocities you are seeing in Nuba Mountain. 

But in the same pattern, I want also to share with you what happened in Abyei. We agreed to having a referendum of the people 

of Abyei. And in that agreement, the protocol of CPA, we agreed 

there would be an Abyei Boundaries Commission formed. That 

commission was formed, and we agreed it should have a final and 

binding say for the boundaries of Abyei. What happened, the NCP 

rejected that one very early of the peace agreement. They pushed 

us to deliver that to go to the Permanent Court of Arbitration. We 

went to the Permanent Court of Arbitration for the sake of peace, 

and the court resolved to define the area of Abyei. They rejected 

it, and they said, now this area belongs to the Misseriyia Arabs. 

We agreed with the NCP that we should be able to—they themselves to appoint the chair of the Southern Sudan Referendum 

Commission. And we, the SPLM—I mean, by them before joining—

to nominate the chairperson of Abyei Referendum Commission. 

They refused. We accepted the chair for them, for the Southern 

Sudan Referendum Commission, and when we came to form the 

Abyei Referendum Commission, they refused. And they invaded. 

29

Because we failed to condemn the actions in Abyei, we asked the 

African Union in order to come up with a solution. We were looking 

for a decision through the African Union. During the time we were 

waiting, they invaded Abyei in May 2011. And we are seeing again 

a lot of atrocities being committed in Abyei. These are leadership 

dishonoring whatever they agreed with. 

And I think with that one in mind about what they have been 

doing, I say it is very important to look at the South also, because 

these people, the hope for them, whether in Nuba Mountain, 

Darfur, or Southern Kordofan or Blue Nile, be the new nation that 

is being formed now in Southern Sudan because these people will 

take refuge definitely in this country. And it is very important for 

the international community to know this country called Southern 

Sudan is a pride to all of us, the international community, a collective plan that we did together that is the result of what we are seeing in Southern Sudan. How much people will describe this country—I am seeing in that country a passion within the global value 

to build a new nation. 

And as mentioned by Congressman Payne, I think they are going 

to face a lot of difficulties. And that is why we are saying having 

a viable Southern Sudan is very important. In the middle of the 

domestic challenges facing you, I think it is very important that we 

should focus on Africa. But Southern Sudan is a good test for us 

to make it a viable state. And that is the only hope for the people 

of Nuba Mountain, the people of Blue Nile, and even the people of 

Abyei. 

I want to conclude with some key messages. We are working as—

a vision and how it is very important for the refocusing of assistance. 

Definitely I would especially would like to say that there is a 

leadership problem in Sudan. And this leadership in Sudan is a liability, not just to its own people, but it is a liability to the continent, it is a liability to the people of Southern Sudan. And I think 

it is very important for the world to focus attention on what is happening in Sudan, because if we don’t do it now, it is going to become a huge crisis in the region—in the North, but indeed it is 

going to affect this region and the continent at large. 

Extremists are becoming very obvious in the North, and their appetite for ethnic cleansing and war is becoming apparent in the 

North. What should we do? I think it is very important that the 

United Nations play an influential role in the region—it is a great 

mission—and it is very important to take the lead on how to address. It is true that it is an African problem, but consistently it 

has become very clear how much we have been played in order to 

bring the commitment for peace, stability and solidarity with the 

humility. And we accept that role. Sudan is possible if we can live 

and if we collectively work together. 

I think it is very important also that Southern Sudan, put it at 

the heart of your priorities. It is the only hope that we have to be 

able to show to the Sudanese people and to those who struggle for 

their own right that you are standing with them. 

I think it is very important also your role in the United Nations. 

In the Abyei area, you have a United Nations mission in that region to provide protection to the people, and I think that is a very 

30

big role. You played a very good role in the United Nations in particular also. Whether the United Nations can provide protection in 

that area is critical, but not only a mandate of protection, but it 

is critical also how to assist in the return and the settlement of the 

people. 

Mr. Chairman, also I know during the war it is difficult the issue 

of access. We should not expect the Sudan Government to give access to the people of Nuba Mountain. And the people would have 

to use a clandestine operation, so it is hard to see how the people 

of Nuba Mountain not having the organization can look for relief 

and development. It was through that process that we managed to 

give relief assistance to the people of Nuba Mountain, because they 

were restricted in the Operation Lifeline not to be accessed through 

Operation Lifeline Sudan. It is critical we look to the indigenous 

organizations that will be able to assist the people of Nuba Mountain, but I think it is important that also we should look for a safe 

corridor, and also for the IDPs camp in the South so that these people can be served easily from the South. 

Kush in Abyei area, as an organization that is working for peace 

and development, believe we can offer a lot in terms of helping the 

people and making the aid effective, using the indigenous organizations. 

And I would like also to echo again our appreciation, this is what 

Bishop said, about the role of the NGOs and other organizations. 

Avaaz program is one of the programs that managed to really focus 

attention to those satellite areas, and that will actually provide a 

lot of information that all of us should be very proud of. These are 

the efforts that we need to support. 

Again, what Congressman Wolf said, the role of the church is 

critical. It is not only about government, it is about the people. And 

the people of this great Nation can do a lot if they focus today on 

what they are seeing in Sudan. 

I want to conclude with what I believe we, in Kush, as a nongovernmental organization, can do also in the area. Our immediate 

efforts are based on the goal of stability and peace, but we have 

also a vision of the holistic development effort that will be needed 

one day as conflicts and crimes against humanity are put to rest. 

So we strongly encourage the United States to seek ways to support and build a strong network of nongovernmental organizations, 

like Kush and others working in the region, and these will provide 

a foundation to facilitate collaborative efforts in the South and the 

North, and to build a significant structure required to achieve a 

lasting peace and a democratic society that is respectable of the individual human rights and cultural and religious beliefs. 

I would like to thank you indeed for giving me this opportunity. 

Mr. SMITH. Dr. Deng, thank you very much for your very comprehensive testimony and your work. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Deng follows:]

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Mr. SMITH. Let me just note for the record that we had invited 

the U.S. Department of State, and Secretary Johnnie Carson, or 

any one of his deputies; and USAID, Sharon Cromer or any of their 

Deputies. And admittedly it was very short notice, 2 days ago we 

asked them. This is an emergency hearing, and I want the State 

Department and the USAID to know that this subcommittee will 

reconvene at any time in August—hopefully very soon—to hear 

specifically what is being done, contemplated, in response to this 

catastrophic, explosive situation that you have brought, our three 

distinguished witnesses, to the attention of the subcommittee. So 

let me make that very clear: We will reconvene at any time to hear 

that and to hopefully be part of a solution. 

And, Bishop Andudu, you made a veryimpassioned plea. You 

pointed out that the grave situation calls for the United States and 

the international community to translate more outrage into effective action. You talked about how your cathedral has been ransacked, your chaplain has been beaten. You make it clear that the 

Nuba people fear that they will be forgotten, that the world will 

stand idly by—these are your quotes—while mass killings continue 

without redress. And you talk about the house-to-house killings 

that are occurring as we meet here in committee. You also point 

out that the United States should deploy its own satellites to ensure that the reported mass graves are not tampered with. 

I would point out that this subcommittee has long and aggressively—everywhere in the world on every continent where this has 

occurred—emphasized not only stopping the atrocities and the 

genocide in the first place, but holding those who commit those 

atrocities to account, whether it be Charles Taylor, who, by early 

fall, is likely to be sentenced. Just recently, as we all know, 

Karadzic from Bosnia, a Bosnian Serb, was finally found. There is 

no statute of limitations on crimes against humanity and genocide. 

He was hunted down. And I was in Srebrenica a couple of times, 

including one for a mass burial of people who were slaughtered 

during an infamous couple of days in July. And the same thing 

happened in Rwanda, the same thing happened in DR Congo, and 

the same thing is happening obviously in Kordofan. So it is very 

important that we be very robust in collecting that evidence while 

we try to stop it. And I appreciate you bringing to the committee 

with exclamation points how important that is. 

Also, you made a number of very serious recommendations—and 

I would appreciate any elaboration by you or other witnesses on 

that—that the United States cannot begin—this is your words—′′to 

consider normalizing ties with Sudan, and should not delist Sudan 

as a sponsor of terrorism or approve this outlaw nation’s access to 

international financing and debt relief’’ while these terrible crimes 

against humanity are occurring. You also say the U.S. and the 

international community, including the African Union, must act. 

You also underscore that because of the bombing campaign, people have not been able to plant or to tend to their crops. And that 

means that by October, when the crops should have been ready to 

harvest, there will not be enough food to feed tens of thousands of 

displaced persons. And you call that a slow-motion genocide by design, and it is by design by the Khartoum government. 

46

You also make a very impassioned appeal that effective peacekeeping forces with a real mandate to actually keep the peace and 

not stand by while mass murder occurs house to house around the 

clock. 

So the question would be to the United States. In your view or 

any of the panelists’ view, has the United States done enough? Has 

the international community done enough? Have the peacekeepers, 

who are now obviously redeployed—what should be done, new deployment? What would be your recommendations there? 

And obviously you make a point, Bishop, that there needs to be 

bold action by the United Nations Security Council. Say this is the 

Security Council. What would you say to them needs to be done 

right now? 

Bishop ANDUDU. I think, first of all, the bombings, we need to 

stop these bombings for the civilians. And there is many ways 

might be the U.S. can be able to stop the bombings or the killing 

of the people. 

Number two, access of the humanitarian aid is really very crucial. We don’t have medicine in the Nuba Mountains now, we don’t 

have food. People are running in their cave, they have no food. And 

also, I know U.S. is trying, but we need some more efforts. Because 

U.S. Government is part of the people who brought the peace in 

Sudan, but Nuba Mountain is part of the Comprehensive Peace 

Agreement, but they are not finished. So we need really the government to go ahead and to still continue to achieve peace and 

freedom for the people of Nuba. 

And at the same time, let us know news coming from the ground. 

No media, but I think they can go and see for themselves because 

it is very difficult. The Government of Sudan is prohibiting anybody to go and to see and to report. They don’t want reporters. 

So my question I was asking, is the Government of Sudan greater than the United Nations, African Union, U.S. Government? Is 

this greater than preventing all things to be seen? And how many 

years people are dealing with this government, but it is still doing 

the same. Omar al-Bashir is wanted, and Haroun is wanted for the 

International Criminal Court, but they are still there in Sudan. 

These men are wanted, but they are still living together. Why are 

they allowing this regime to continue doing their same action? 

So these are my questions really, what U.S. is going to do, if they 

can intervene and they act. We have been talking, we have been 

telling this for many times. But also, now I am happy that Avaaz, 

this organization, is now signing a petition of half a million. I hope 

the government will be able to hear these voices for the world’s 

people who are also trying to help us. 

Mr. PHILLIPS. Yes, I would just echo what the Reverend said. 

And, of course, this regime in Khartoum has a long history of dishonoring agreements, as Dr. Luka Biong pointed out. And I think 

one of the basic problems coming from Washington, DC, is that we 

continue to try to deal with these people as honest brokers and not 

look at them as the murderous, genocidal regime that they are. 

Why does our Ambassador Princeton Lyman, when he is introduced and asked about war crimes taking place—in one of the 

interviews that I read that was recent, he said, well, we hear the 

allegations, but nobody is on the ground to see it. I met with one 

47

of his representatives this week, and I was basically told that the 

position of our Government was one of moral equivalency between 

the two sides. And this isn’t really honest, we are not being honest 

with ourselves. 

There is plenty of evidence. There are journalists. I was there 

with a team from Aljazeera English. They produced a fantastic documentary that has been run over and over again, and you can see 

it on YouTube, Callum Macrae, which really exposes what is happening there. There was a team from the New York Times, from 

Time Magazine, from the Independent—Julie Flint has written 

some excellent articles. There are people with cameras and VSATS 

and Internet. You can get more information now on this genocide 

than you could in the previous war. 

And the fact that the ICC recognized the leadership of the National Islamic Front or the National Congress Party as being responsible for genocide, and specifically recognized Ahmed Haroun, 

why doesn’t our Government recognize them in that way? 

With regard to the U.N. forces, there are all kinds of stories coming out of the U.N. forces who are from Egypt in Kadugli standing 

by watching the slaughter take place, and they are supposed to be 

peacekeeping forces, allowing the intelligence services of the SAF 

to come in and take people out of their compound. There was one 

incidence where six Nuba women sought shelter in an UNMIS compound, and they were raped by the UNMIS, by the Egyptian forces. 

So it seems as if even some of the forces of UNMIS—and I know 

it is not true for all of them—are complicit with Khartoum. There 

are internal documents from the U.N. that I am told the U.N. is 

actually being forced to release very soon, because even some members of the U.N. were victims of these atrocities when it happened. 

So this should be investigated. These people should be prosecuted in the U.N. and brought to justice. And our Government 

should get off the fence and distinguish between the victims and 

the perpetrators of genocide. 

Mr. SMITH. Very quickly, and then I will yield because I know 

Bishop Andudu has to leave shortly, and I want other members to 

be able to ask him questions. But let me just note how disturbing 

it was that Bashir visited Beijing in late June, and rather than ensuring that he was apprehended and sent to The Hague where he 

ought to be held to account, nothing of the sort happened. He was 

treated and feted as a great man. 

And secondly, Erdogan in Turkey refused to listen to EU requests when Bashir visited Ankara. Again, there should have been 

an arrest made and this man prosecuted for genocide. 

Mr. PHILLIPS. Mr. Chairman, last year Kenya inaugurated its 

new Constitution, and the U.S. Government had a lot to do with 

bringing that Constitution. And Mr. Bashir was the main story, his 

presence in Nairobi, Kenya. So he is showing up all over the place, 

and nobody seems to be concerned about his arrest warrant. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. 

Mr. Payne. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. 

And I couldn’t agree more that the International Criminal Court, 

which I think is a great institution. However, we know that it is 

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anism, and, of course, that is a very weak part of the International 

Criminal Court. At one time it was thought that Interpol, being an 

organization of police throughout Europe anyway, could perhaps 

serve as an enforcement arm. But the question is, how do you apprehend the criminal in our country? Without police, we would 

have no use for courts. 

But I do believe that we should continue to support the International Criminal Court and try to really work on ways to 

strengthen it. At least these criminals are being indicted; they 

know that this indictment stands over their head. They know 

where they can go, but they know that 90 percent of the places 

they cannot go. And I think that time will take care of Mr. Bashir. 

Dr. Deng, with the arrangement that was supposed to be made 

on the areas in dispute, I think that, unfortunately, as I indicated, 

the 1956 map, when independence came from Britain, creates the 

situation, because that map is still being used as the borders. And 

as we saw in Kashmir region between India and Pakistan, once 

again, the British left an unincorporated area, left it to be determined in the future. And as we know in Kashmir, there is still 

fighting going on between Pakistan and India over that area. 

And so I certainly have a real concern that, of course, South 

Kordofan and Blue Nile, under the map and the agreement—although they were supportive of SPLM and prefer to be a part of 

the South, the map has drawn them into the North. 

Now, could you tell me what—I have read it, but what type of 

an agreement was supposed to be enforced in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan to work on a way of having a government? There was 

supposed to be an integration of the military also with the SPLM 

into the forces in that area. Could you just explain what the special 

group that was supposed to handle this was supposed to do? 

Mr. DENG. Thank you, Congressman Payne, for the question. 

I think the whole issue of the North/South border is a very critical issue. And what we have agreed to when I was in negotiations 

is for the parties to agree, although we have defined the 1956 as 

the border between the North and the South, a committee was set 

up. And there was a commitment by the parties to ensure that but 

that committee did not move very well. And what happened, we 

said we should stick to the amicable dialogue of finding a peaceful 

settlement of the disputed border between the North and the 

South—not the Nuba Mountain and the Blue Nile. And if we fail 

to agree on those areas, we should resort to arbitration in a very 

peaceful way. It should not trigger a war. 

For the Nuba Mountain and Southern Blue Nile, it was after the 

incident happened an agreement was signed, mediated by the African Union High Implementation Panel under the auspice of President Mbeki. And the content of that agreement, first, that we 

should have a ceasefire. Second, we should go for the dialogue and 

discussing how to decide what should be the status of the SPLA 

forces in Nuba Mountain and Southern Blue Nile. 

The SBLM was pushing for the argument that there is no way 

you can just disarm these people, these are the people who fought 

a political war. And they accepted the agreement to ensure that the 

popular consultation is conducted. And in lieu of that, you cannot 

just disarm them, because you will create them as another struggle 

49

in the greater movement happening in these two areas. So the parties agree that they should sit and continue to dialogue what 

should be the status of the SPLA in Nuba Mountain and Southern 

Blue Nile 

Secondly, they discussed only the political landscape of Sudan 

after the secession. But having the SPLM Northern Sector as a political party, and to exercise and then to do its political activities. 

Because what happened is that the NCP said, after the secession 

of the South, the SPLM is going to be an illegal political party. It 

was agreed in Addis Ababa that SPLM Northern Sector will be a 

legal political party that can exercise its activities in the North, 

and by doing so so that you can have a credible political party that 

can engage in democratic reform in Sudan. 

The other one is that the whole debate about what is going to 

happen, the whole debate about the composition after the secession 

of the South. So at least the two parties—SPLM in the North and 

the NCP—to discuss how they are going to give another space an 

opportunity for reforming Sudan, because they are now getting into 

these permanent composition to be discussed by all the actors. 

It was agreed by Nafie himself, who is the Deputy of the President. And then when he went back, Bashir and other people, they 

reject it outright. They were not agreeing to the agreement that 

was signed and also witnessed by the African Union. And that is 

why, when we say that even for the role of the United Nations or 

the African Union, is for them to accept this very agreement that 

they signed, because this one is giving an opportunity for the parties to engage and to dialogue and to discuss a very fundamental 

issue about the viability and the stability of Sudan. 

Mr. PAYNE. Just let me ask a follow-up question. Your new organization, Kush, how do you see your organization being able to be 

of assistance? And do you think that at this time your newly 

formed group would be able to assist in attempting to come up with 

resolutions in these three disputed areas? 

Mr. DENG. At Kush, as I mentioned earlier, we want to forge a 

relationship between the people of the United States and Africa, 

and we work in Southern Sudan and Abyei. And in particular we 

work in Abyei, because Abyei is a flash point, because the invasion 

of Bashir into Abyei has tarnished any chance for building confidence between the North and the South. And that is an area that 

is not only on the North/South border, but it has a lot of challenges, challenges of oil, challenges of conflict, and challenges of 

displacement. 

And Kush is trying to see how best we can best advocate for a 

finer solution for the Abyei issue, helping the people to advocate. 

And the options available now are whether Abyei should return 

back to the South, because it was part of the Southern Sudan in 

1905 and was transferred to the North, or have a referendum to 

be held within a very conducive environment. 

And secondly is the role of the United Nations. Now we have 

United Nations peacekeeping forces on the ground. And what the 

agreement was saying, actually we should discuss the role of the 

United Nations in protection, because although this force is given 

Chapter 7 to protect the citizens, we know what happened in 

Congo. You may be given a very good mandate, but then if it is not 

50

a word defined properly, then it will be a problem. So let us engage 

with the United Nations of what does it mean, Chapter 7, because 

you might have heard even these forces now in Abyei, four of them 

got killed. And even those injured, they were not given a chance 

even to be evacuated for medical attention by the Sudan Armed 

Forces in Abyei. 

So what we are saying, whether the United Nations’ role in 

Abyei is only protection, to assist the return of the displaced people, the number that you mentioned, and Kush could help in returning these people with the choice of the people. And there is an 

element that we are seeing, this opportunity having an organization on the ground, because sometimes these international organizations also prove, in most cases, that they cannot deliver. This is 

a whole lot of ineffectiveness. It is critical. And whether we can 

look for a partner and indigenous organizations that will have the 

knowledge in the content and to assist the return. So these are 

ones that we are discussing. 

The final one is building the peace at the grassroots level. And 

because we believe the relation of Misseriyia and the Dinka is actually a created situation, the tension created by the NCP dragging 

in the Arab nomads against their will into this war, and they become a victim. What we are saying is, let us look at whether we 

can force a peace building among this community. 

These words are echoed very well even to the Nuba Mountain 

and the Southern Blue Nile. And that is why I am saying the role 

of the United Nations, especially the Security Council, is first to investigate these atrocities first. And if the magnitude of the investigation is really great, then it is upon the United Nations to see 

a possibility of having a protection of the people, and then whether 

we could use the United Nations forces in Abyei, the Sudan forces, 

to be extended even to cover the Nuba Mountain and Blue Nile 

with a mandate of protection. 

Also, I have a feeling that United Nations can help also in terms 

of assisting in the conduct of the popular consultation, because it 

is an achievement of the people of the Nuba Mountain, and also in 

the context of a referendum if we fail in Abyei, and if we fail to 

get a political solution of returning Abyei to the South. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. 

And, Mr. Phillips, I really appreciate your courage and what you 

have done, the work that you have done. And I couldn’t agree with 

you more. I was one that was trying to get a no-fly zone a decade 

ago to prevent when Darfur broke out, but we could not get—as a 

matter of fact, President Bush agreed at one point to almost support the no-fly zone, which would have prevented the bombings 

that continued in Darfur. But I am just wondering, in the short 

time that I have left, what are some recommendations that you 

would like to see us do if you had the authority to do yourself? 

Mr. PHILLIPS. Well, thank you very much, Congressman Payne. 

And I am so grateful for your leadership on this issue. 

First, I would point out that the intentions of—what Dr. Luka 

Biong said about how they illegalized the SPLA Party in the North 

and the way that relates to the integrity of the popular consultation just reveals that they never really had any intention of keeping any of the agreements regarding these three contested areas. 

51

The Southern Kordofan State is the place where for the last 12 

months they have been staging attacks by militias that they sponsor into South Sudan. As it is the longest border with South Sudan 

and borders four states. It is a very strategic area. It is one that 

the Republic of South Sudan, I know, is very concerned about. And 

it is one that the U.S. Government should be very concerned about 

as the caretaker of the CPA. And I think we haven’t done enough 

really to enforce the CPA. 

The attempt to disarm the SPLA and to legalize their party and 

so on way ahead of any mandated requirement by the CPA was a 

provocation. I was very discouraged when I met with the State Department and I was told that their position was that the SPLA had 

provoked Khartoum into attacking Abyei, that the SPLA wanted 

war as much as Khartoum. Even though we do know that there are 

war crimes and genocide taking place, we believe that—this was 

the position I was given at the State Department—they believe 

that both sides want war. So that really gave me a real sick feeling 

in the middle of my stomach. 

We know where the planes are that are bombing civilians, that 

are blowing little girls in half. They are in El Obeid. It wouldn’t 

take much to solve that problem, and it would cost a whole lot less 

than what we have done in a place like Libya. We ought to—

whether or not we are prepared to do that, at a minimum we 

should be, in our rhetoric and in our moral stance, we should be 

siding with the victims of it. We should be demanding that the 

U.N. declare a humanitarian emergency so that humanitarian access is allowed. 

When I made my trip in, it had been about 6 years since I had 

been in that situation, because I had enjoyed the interim relative 

peace like everybody else, and I wasn’t really prepared, but it is 

dangerous. And as has been mentioned, there is a serious humanitarian crisis that is approaching. There are 70,000 to 90,000 people 

that are probably going to die in the next month to 2 months because the roads are shut down to the north, and the flights are not 

coming in to the Nuba Mountains right now. 

And so the U.S. Government needs to have a loud voice and build 

a loud bonfire with the help of advocates and churches complaining 

about what is happening, and putting pressure on the U.N. to take 

action, putting pressure on the U.N. to start changing the way they 

communicate on this as well. 

So I think, at a minimum, we need to publicly differentiate between the victims and the perpetrators of genocide. And there are 

many solutions that can come—and the Southern Sudanese need to 

know that we don’t have a problem with them helping the Northern Sector of the SPLA and the SPLM because this is a threat to 

the integrity of their nation. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you. I couldn’t agree with you more. 

The Government of Sudan always tends to exacerbate a situation, as they did in Darfur with the little skirmish between some 

local people and the garrison there. And they ended up bombing for 

weeks thousands of huts to retaliate for the small incident that 

should not have occurred, but it did. And even with the incident 

of a shot that was fired allegedly by one soldier of SPLM, possibly; 

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whelming force. And Abyei has stated the SPLM attacked. It was 

inadvertently something that happened, a gunshot goes off, and 

they use that excuse then to continue to genocide. 

Mr. PHILLIPS. Nobody is surprised in Sudan by what Khartoum 

is doing. It is consistent behavior. And when I was with Commander Abdel Aziz, and he was interviewed by Aljazeera, and he 

was doing some other interviews, he made the point over and over 

again the problem is not with the Nuba people. The Nuba people 

are united. The problem is not in Southern Kordofan State. The 

problem is not among the people in Abyei, even the Misseriyia people that originated. The problem is not there. The problem is in 

Khartoum. And that is how our Government needs to look at it. 

They need to understand that this is not a tribal internal conflict 

in Southern Kordofan State or in Southern Blue Nile State or in 

Abyei. We have some obligations as a caretaker of the CPA, as part 

of the troika, to enforce it. 

Mr. SMITH. Ms. Buerkle. 

Ms. BUERKLE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Phillips, I would like to follow up on a couple of things you 

said both in your testimony and with the ranking member. 

You mentioned that 70,000 to 90,000 people would die within the 

next month. Can you elaborate on that? Is that from lack of food? 

Mr. PHILLIPS. Well, I traveled around four countries in Southern 

Kordofan State during the 12 days that I there was. It was a very 

different trip than the one I made in 1998 where you had to do everything by footing. A lot of roads have been built during the last 

6 years, so you can really move around. 

There are 19 counties in Southern Kordofan State, and most of 

the Nuba population—and Dr. Luka can correct me if I have my 

facts wrong—but I believe most of the Nuba population are in 

about five of those counties, and that is where the aerial bombing 

campaign is taking place. We heard bombing and planes flying over 

us three or four times every day. In some places they said, have 

a good night’s sleep; just realize the plane never gets here before 

7 o’clock in the morning, so you should get up a little bit before 

then so you can make your way to the dugout. In other places they 

said, well, here they are bombing at nighttime by GPS coordinates 

at 2, 3, 4 o’clock in the morning. That is why all those people are 

living on the hillside. 

There are about 425,000 people spread out over those five counties of Southern Kordofan State that are displaced from their 

homes. When I was in El Baram County, I learned that there were 

600 people in just 1 month that were wounded by the bombing, and 

there were more than 150 that had died by the bombing. I visited 

a lot of those people in the hospital. But I saw El Baram. It is completely wiped out. The town is completely wiped out. Every building is wiped out by a MiG attack, by Antonov attacks. Most of the 

killing happened in Kadugli, in these house-to-house searches. 

What is happening now, the SPLA controls most of Southern 

Kordofan State, and they have the support of the people. That is 

how they can control it. There is fighting going on for control of 

Kadugli, where there are 40,000 SAF inside of the city of Kadugli, 

but the rest of Southern Kordofan State is essentially in the control 

on the ground of the SPLA. So the bombing is what is displacing 

53

425,000 people. And out of those, about 25 percent of them are 

going to face a serious issue related to food because the roads have 

been cut off. There used to be commerce with the North. That has 

been cut off. The road to the South is affected by swamp this time 

of year. So there is no access on the ground, and there is very little 

access by air because no plane wants to get shot out of the sky by 

a MiG. And there is no umbrella. 

When we went to the Nuba Mountains in the 1990s, there was 

Operation Lifeline Sudan. And even though it was a red no-go 

area, the existence of the OLS gave a degree of insulation from attack. And they weren’t using MiGs in those days. So now it is a 

much more difficult situation, it is a much more dangerous situation for an NGO, or a charter company, or the NRDO, or the Diocese of El Obeid to bring a flight in there. 

Ms. BUERKLE. And so the organizations you just mentioned, 

those are the ones that were flying in the humanitarian flights? 

Mr. PHILLIPS. Right now the two groups that have continued to 

bring in flights on a very limited basis has been the Catholic 

Church Diocese of El-Obeid and the NRDO, which Dr. Luka mentioned, which is the relief arm, indigenous relief organization there 

in the Nuba Mountains. 

Ms. BUERKLE. And where do those planes fly into? Where are 

they able to serve? 

Mr. PHILLIPS. Well, it is very difficult, and they have to change 

locations all the time. They are running a real risk. The pilot, for 

example, that took me in was bombed, and he said, I am not going 

to come pick you up. So my 3-day trip turned into a 12-day trip. 

And the next plane that was supposed to come pick me up was diverted to go someplace else, and so we were stuck until we found 

somebody who was willing to take a risk. 

That is the reality right now. It is much worse from that point 

of view than during the existence of the OLS. So the U.N. needs 

to take some action and declare an emergency, at a minimum. 

Ms. BUERKLE. Thank you very much, Mr. Phillips. 

And I will yield back my time. 

Mr. SMITH. Chairman Wolf. 

Mr. WOLF. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to again thank you 

and Mr. Payne for the hearing. 

Is there anybody here from our Government at all, AID, State 

Department, anybody? Just raise your hand. Anybody here from 

the U.N.? Wow. Anybody here from the Sudan Government? The 

Embassy? 

This is a fundamentally evil government. They are evil. As Ronald Reagan said with regard to 1983, they are fundamentally evil. 

Evil. And until you remove Bashir, this will continue. This will continue. It will not change. How long will the West pretend? It will 

continue. 

China welcomed Bashir. They gave him the red carpet. I have a 

picture, red carpet. Whenever American businessmen go to China 

to meet with Hu Jintao, you are meeting with a guy who has blood 

on his hands. The largest Embassy in Khartoum is the Chinese 

Embassy. They are all over the place. 

President Bush offered them and said there would be antiaircraft 

material, and this administration never sent it. You take one of 

54

those Antonovs out of the sky, and it will change the dynamics, and 

yet these people are being chewed up and chewed up and chewed 

up. 

The U.N. has failed. The U.N. failed in Rwanda, the U.N. failed 

in Bosnia, the U.N. failed in Darfur. They stood by and allowed 

400,000 people to die. Read Samantha Power’s book. Kofi Annan 

watched what was taking place in Rwanda. President Clinton felt 

so bad about it before he left, he went to Rwanda to apologize because the State Department was watching. What is taking place 

here took place in Rwanda, and Secretary Christopher allowed it 

to take place, and nobody did anything. Read Samantha Power’s 

book. 

China is the problem. You have to remove Bashir. You have to 

remove Bashir. He has to be removed. Government change, regime 

change, there is no other way. It has been going on for 21 years. 

Two-point-one million people, mainly Christians, but some Muslims, killed in the North/South battle; 200,000 to 400,000 killed in 

Darfur. He just said the U.N.—and I heard, too—were turning people over to be taken away. That sounds like the Nazis to me. That 

sounds like something out of a bad movie. 

The U.N. has failed. These are war criminals. They are war 

criminals. That is it, it is over. They are war criminals. I don’t 

think anybody connected to this government ought to be permitted 

to visit the United States, period. We should close their Embassy 

down and force them out. If you are working—Libya? Libya is a 

problem because of Ghadafi. Syria is a problem because of Bashar, 

because of President Bashar al-Assad. This guy is much worse. And 

to meet with them, it is incredible. They should be expelled. They 

should be expelled from our country. 

And Britain, if this was happening in southern France or southern Germany, this place would be electrified. It would be wild. But 

it is happening in a country—and it is racial, too. I mean, do not 

deny that it is racial. It is racial, and it is religious. And the world 

is standing by and allowing this to take place. 

The U.N. has failed, and they are failing, and I just don’t want 

my country to fail. This administration better get some energy. 

Princeton Lyman should step up or step down. I like Princeton 

Lyman, but he should step up or step down. These people are going 

to be killed, and for this to take place—and no one from the Khartoum government should be permitted to go. If they want to get an 

operation, let them get it in Khartoum. If they want to educate 

their kids, let them educate them in Khartoum. No one connected 

to this government should be permitted to visit the West at all. 

And I will do anything—and I appreciate it again, God bless Mr. 

Smith and Mr. Payne and Ms. Buerkle for being here, too. 

These are evil people. It is an evil government. I mean, to sit in 

a hearing and talk about how maybe the U.N. could have done 

something—and I know it didn’t exist then—to kind of get Hitler 

out. I mean, he was an evil man. This guy is an evil man, it is an 

evil government. Regime changes. 

But it is time for our Government to do something about it. We 

are not talking about troops. We are talking about just give them 

the ability. Are there tanks that the Southern Sudanese Government has tried to bring in? Where are those tanks now? They are 

55

still in Kenya. They haven’t even allowed them to come in to defend themselves. 

I want to thank both of the witnesses. I appreciate this thing. We 

should send a message to the people of the South, the people of 

Kordofan, the people of the Nuba Mountains. You know, the Nuba 

Mountains in Kush, the Kingdom of Kush, is mentioned in the 

Bible. It goes all the way back to Biblical times. 

I just wonder how some people in this administration will feel 

when they leave and they know they missed the opportunity, how 

Ban Ki-Moon will feel knowing he is sitting here doing nothing, 

and how they will feel when someone writes the book about this. 

It is an evil government. The regime change should be taking 

place. Bashir should be arrested and taken to The Hague and tried. 

And again I want to thank Mr. Smith and Mr. Payne for really 

being the leaders on this, and Ms. Buerkle for getting out in front 

and speaking truth, and thank both of the witnesses for their time. 

Mr. PHILLIPS. I just thank you very much, Congressman Wolf. 

And I agree 100 percent. These are not statistics, these are real 

people. And the only reason why they are being exterminated is because they are African, they are indigenous Africans, Black Africans. The only reason why they are being exterminated is because 

they don’t subscribe to the same stripe or religion as Khartoum. 

And we can’t sit by and watch it happen. 

The President of the United States ran very strongly on this 

issue. He said that he supported a no-fly zone in Darfur. Mr. President, what are you going to do? You know what is happening. 

What are you going to do? 

Mr. DENG. First of all, I am very moved and honored seeing this 

committee painting a picture about what is happening in Sudan. 

And, Congressman Wolf, these are real words of hope to the people 

of these areas. But I also want to highlight why we are focusing 

on those issues. 

I think the fact of the matter is that on the ground now, I think 

it is important that what could we do collectively, and especially 

this country. We know the difficulties, but it is important that we 

should keep an eye on Southern Sudan because Southern Sudan is 

going to be a home, a refuge for the atrocities being committed 

along the border. And that is why we say it is a country that we 

should invest in it. And importantly consider the recommendations, 

but I think fundamental issues, especially the issue of water, education and agriculture, in the context of the famine that we are 

seeing in the region. 

But I would like also to echo Congressman Wolf, what we discussed at a certain point in time when we visited you in your office. 

And I think the capacity of the Government of Southern Sudan is 

important. And whether we can use the South Sudanese here in 

the United States, Americans, to go back home and then to assist 

in building this nation. It is a real problem that we feel that it is 

important that for the South Sudanese-Americans that could go 

and assist the government. They have some difficulties, especially 

on the issue of student loans and the like, but this is going to be 

an important support to the Government of Southern Sudan. 

I think important also, a whole lot of aid assistance should increase, because the way they are seeing along the border, we need 

56

to put more focus on humanitarian assistance. I think we are going 

to see more people displaced, more humanitarian needs in that 

area. We should scale it up, and then we should be able to assist. 

I think a whole lot of indigenous organizations—like Kush, and 

I think the world will believe it. Being in the government, I decided 

to come out and do something different. We can help the people on 

the ground. And I think this is what we are striving to, and we 

hope, together with you, that we can make a difference on the 

ground. 

Thank you very much. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much. 

I will go to Mr. Payne for any concluding remarks, but let me 

just point out that back in the mid-1990s, I chaired the first hearing ever on chattel slavery in Sudan. Most people who heard the 

hearing, and even some people who protested that I was actually 

holding a hearing, again taking Bashir to task for the empowerment of chattel slavery, thought it was a hearing in search of a 

problem that didn’t exist, and we all know that that is not the case. 

But fast forward to just as recently as yesterday. I called over 

to one of our consular people advocating on behalf of another Mr. 

Deng, who was enslaved, as was his mother. He was hung upside 

down, and pepper was rubbed into his eyes, causing a very significant, near-blindness condition. 

Ellen Ratner, a journalist, has taken up his cause and will pay 

for a doctor and airfare for him to get a very significant medical 

treatment that will, we believe, give him back his sight. I hope the 

Embassy or the consular section approves his visa. We have been 

trying for months—this is our side now that has not given him the 

visa yet. It was supposed to be today. I understand it has now been 

postponed until Monday. 

But it underscores the viciousness of Bashir and his like-minded 

cronies who have committed slavery, continue to do so, and even 

then the U.S. Department of State suggested that it was not as 

widespread as many of us had concrete information about. Almost 

like Mr. Phillips bringing forth fresh, incriminating information 

about how this is not both sides committing things, and somehow 

we are just going to be the arbiter, rather than realizing that there 

is an all-out assault on the Nuba people that has to be stopped as 

quickly as possible, and the U.N. Security Council and the U.S. and 

the African Union all need to be on the same page to do so. 

President Bashir was quoted in April that he was going to use 

force in Southern Kordofan. We know that this man is pathological. 

I met with him and I argued with him for well over an hour, almost 2 hours, about Darfur in the mid-2000s and was taken by 

his—he reminded me of Milosevic, who Mr. Wolf and I met with 

on previous occasions, and other dictators. There is something 

abysmally wrong psychologically with these individuals, and just 

because they have the veneer of being in charge of a state, people 

somehow convey a legitimacy that is absolutely undeserving. And 

we know throughout history dictators have committed huge and 

horrific atrocities. They are going on right now. 

This is an emergency hearing. I said it before. We invited the 

State Department and USAID. We stand ready to reconvene at the 

drop of a hat. Mr. Payne and I, wherever we are, will get back here 

57

to hear from our own administration what their plans are to combat this horrific situation. 

With that said, Mr. Payne. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you. 

Let me thank you again and Mr. Wolf for his many years of passionate support. And it is good to have a newcomer to bring into 

the team. Ms. Buerkle, I am pleased to have your interest here. 

I would just like to think back of some other persons—probably 

the only thing we agreed on between Congressman Tancredo and 

myself was Sudan. He went on his first codel with me to South 

Sudan, and we stayed in tents with Samaritan’s Purse. I told him 

that is what a typical codel was like. And he didn’t know since he 

was new, but he found out later that codels are a little bit different 

than the Payne codel staying in a tent. But he and Senator 

Brownback, who was so strongly supportive, and Senator Frist, 

those who have for many years—and we have now Senator Coons 

now from Delaware who has expressed a very strong interest. So 

we will continue to push. 

There is no respect from the government of Khartoum. Even 

when President Carter was visiting Sudan with Operation Lifeline 

Sudan, Bashir bombed the area just to let him know that ‘‘I am in 

control.’’ And so we have seen—Dr. Garang did say that Bashir and 

his government are really too deformed to be reformed was one of 

his statements, and I couldn’t agree more. It was July 30, 2005, 

when Dr. Garang’s life was taken. He was a very personal friend 

of mine. I did attend the funeral. He fought for 21 years for independence; 4 million people displaced, 2 million people died, and he 

was killed 21 days after the signing of the CPA, which I attended 

when it was signed. 

And so we have to remember the work that he did. He really 

wanted a new Sudan. He was really dreaming for a united Sudan. 

But the Bashir regime were afraid of—as a matter of fact, when 

he went to Khartoum after the CPA was signed, the outpouring of 

tens of thousands of people from the North—Muslims, people who 

were Islamic supporters came out to support him because they 

looked at him as a liberator and probably got the Bashir government a little concerned that a Southerner could possibly become 

the President in a fair election in Sudan. 

So we have to keep the pressure on. I would like to certainly 

commend Congressman Smith, as I mentioned earlier, for keeping 

this issue before us. We will continue to push for justice. We should 

have done that no-fly zone. And I agree with you, you take out a 

few of those, just let them know, you come in—keep your pilots out, 

we don’t want to kill anybody. We could have taken all those 

planes out and finished them. And so now we have a difficult situation. 

But I agree with you that we have to keep the pressure on. We 

have to support President Salva Kiir, who is struggling now to try 

to move his new nation forward. But I know with people that we 

have support of here, we will continue to be the voice of the people 

of Sudan. 

Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Any final comments from our distinguished witnesses? 

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I thank you very much. We will continue this. And I appreciate 

your wisdom, your counsel, and your recommendations today. 

The hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 12:07 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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