Speech #1090172368

I do not care which term you prefer. a systematic violation of human rights. violations of international law. ethnic cleansing. war crimes. crimes against humanity. or genocide. the undisputable bottom line is that the Sudanese Government is carrying out and supporting acts so reprehensible and so horrible that no one with the ability to try to stop it can. in good conscience. fail to do so. For the last 3 years. the Sudanese Government and its proxies. the Janjaweed militias. have been attacking villages in Darfur. destroying homes. crops and properties. and killing. raping and torturing innocent civilians in a concerted effort to destroy. or at least displace. the tribes most closely associated with the Darfur rebel groups. As a result of this violence and the resulting starvation. exposure and disease. 300.000 people have died. and 2 million more are refugees. A ceasefire agreement was reached in 2004. and the Sudanese Government agreed to monitoring by an African Union force of 7.000 troops. The deployment of this African mission in Sudan. inadequate though it was to oversee an area the size of Texas. forced the Sudanese Government and the Janjaweed militias to be a bit more surreptitious about their genocidal activities. which continued. but at a significantly slower pace.