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Chairman Donald M. Payne
Hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
South Sudan: The Comprehensive Peace Agreement on Life Support
Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Welcome to the first hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health in the 110th Congress. I am honored to open this hearing as Chairman and would like to thank Chairman Lantos of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs for granting us this hearing under special circumstances. I would also like to thank our Ranking Member, Christopher Smith of New Jersey, for agreeing to go forward with this hearing on such short notice.

At this time, I would like to take a moment to welcome our new Members to the Subcommittee as well as those who served with us previously. The Democratic Members are: Diane Watson of California, Lynn Woolsey of California, Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas, Adam Smith of Washington, and Brad Miller of North Carolina. The Republican Members are: Ranking Member Christopher Smith of New Jersey, who served as the Chairman of the subcommittee under its former incarnation - Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations - during the last Congress. We thank him for his service and strong commitment to human rights around the world as a leader on these issues. We also have Tom Trancredo of Colorado, John Boozman of Arkansas, John Fortenberry of Nebraska, and Michael McCaul of Texas. We welcome the new Members and greet our returning Members to the Subcommittee.

The hearing was called under special circumstances. Last week the Government of South Sudan opened its first Mission to the United States. This was an historic day. I attended the opening, along with former Special Representative to Sudan, the Honorable Roger Winter (our first witness today), and Presidential Envoy Andrew Natsios to recognize the achievements that the Government of South Sudan, and more importantly, the people of South Sudan have made.

I want to recognize our Government of South Sudan witnesses, Minister Luka Biong Deng who is the Minister for Presidential Affairs, and Minister Barnaba Benjamin who is the Minister for Regional Cooperation. We thank you for coming to testify and for your service to your people. We look forward to your testimony on the status of implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The people of South Sudan suffered for decades under brutal oppression and war. The war of the National Islamic Front Government - now the National Congress Party - against the Southern People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) lasted for 21 years. During that time, a horrifying 2 million people were killed and more than 4 million people were displaced. It was the first Darfur.

Innocent civilians were terrorized, killed, and maimed by aerial bombardment carried out by the Government of Sudan. When oil was discovered in Southern Sudan and the government began exporting in 2000, the government used this new-found wealth to buy more antonovs, more helicopter gunships, and more weapons of near mass destruction to use against the people of the South.

Under the strong leadership of the late Dr. John Garang -- and with the support of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) under the leadership of General Lazaro Simbeiywo, as well as the support of the international community, particularly the U.S, the UK, and Norway, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on Sudan was signed two years ago.

On January 9, 2005, the government of Sudan and the SPLM, after two and half years of negotiations, signed the Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement at a ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya.

Even then, former Secretary of State Colin Powell called for the end to the suffering in Darfur. The signing of this agreement effectively ended the 21-year old civil war and triggered a six-year Interim Period. At the end of the Interim Period, southerners are to hold a referendum to decide their political future.

Tragically, just 21 days after being sworn in, on July 30, 2005, First Vice President and Chairman of the SPLM, Dr. John Garang, was killed in a plane crash in southern Sudan. The death of this great leader of the people of not only South Sudan but of all people of Sudan - Muslim, Christian, and animist - saddened the nation and the region and threatened to derail the CPA.

However, Salva Kiir was soon named as Dr. John Garang's replacement and was sworn in as First Vice President of Sudan and President of South Sudan and the Government o South Sudan was formed.

Yet two years later, the CPA is in serious danger.

The Assessment and Evaluation Commission, which was mandated under CPA to monitor implementation of the peace agreement, has created four Working Groups to monitor implementation of the CPA, although the parties to the agreement have not been actively engaged in the process. The parties have made no major progress in the implementation of the wealth and power sharing provisions of the CPA, while work on the north-south border is behind schedule. Failure to resolve the border issue is likely to complicate the redeployment of forces and sharing of oil revenues, since a number of the oil fields are located along the 1956 north-south border.

South Sudan President Kiir has spoken out against the lack of implementation. The people of South Sudan are concerned the promises made to them two years ago will not be fulfilled.

In the west, the people of Darfur continue to suffer under the brutal scourge of genocide which the National Congress Party, formerly the National Islamic Front, led by Omer al Bashir, is perpetrating. It has been almost 4 years. More than 400,000 have died, 2.5 million have been forced to flee their homes, and over 200,000 have gone into Chad where the violence is spilling over. The NIF's hired hands, the Janjaweed have done cross-border attacks into Chad and even more innocent people are being affected.

Dr. John Garang had a vision for a New Sudan. In this New Sudan people would have a right to live freely without the threat of murder and destruction by their own government. In order to make his vision become reality, we must strengthen the Government of South Sudan so they can represent and defend their people and all Sudanese. We must do this in order to end the genocide in Darfur. We must do this for all people of Sudan.