27 July 1999
U.S. Senate to Consider Bill to Push Peace Process in Sudan
(Senator Frist introduces "Sudan Peace Act") (680) By Jim Fisher-Thompson USIA Staff Writer Washington -- A bill aimed at ending the 16-year civil war in Sudan and reforming the delivery of humanitarian aid was introduced in the Senate July 27 by Senator Bill Frist, a heart surgeon who has done voluntary medical work in the embattled nation. Frist, who is chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, said at a news conference that "while we have been very generous as a nation" in places like Kosovo, "we've done little to address the root causes of the war [in Sudan] and change the status quo." Noting that Sudan's civil war has "claimed the lives of nearly two million and displaced another four million, which is more fatalities than the wars in Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Chechnya combined," Frist said the proposed "Sudan Peace Act" would "strengthen political and humanitarian tools and reinforce sanctions and international pressures on Sudan until its government makes verifiable progress toward a credible peace agreement based on the Declaration of Principles signed by the combatants in 1994." Frist, who last did voluntary medical work in Sudan in January 1998, said he was "excited about the bill because it will go a long way towards pushing us toward a peace process," and U.S. relief efforts will no longer be used by the Khartoum government "as an instrument of war." His main complaint with Sudan's government is that over the years it has "used food donations as a weapon of mass destruction by vetoing United Nations relief flight plans in areas of rebel activity." He added that just that morning the Khartoum government had canceled a humanitarian flight into Sudan. Frist said an important part of the bill is a provision that calls on President Clinton, the United Nations, and the European Union to discuss changes in the way Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) delivers humanitarian aid to the nation. Specifically, the bill presses for an end to the veto power of Sudan over relief flight plans by OLS aircraft carrying needed food and medicines. The part of the bill that addresses conflict resolution, Frist told journalists, would "use all pressure points ... to make sure that all parties are brought to the table, aimed at developing a true, comprehensive, negotiated solution" to the civil war. Senator Joe Lieberman, a co-sponsor of the legislation, said that "Sudan's tragedy is fast becoming our test. We just went to war to stop a similarly repulsive campaign of repression in Kosovo, and our non-intervention in the Sudan has led some to question the consistency with which we apply our core democratic values and act on our humanitarian impulses." Lieberman said the United States has "an obligation to do what we reasonably can to free the Sudanese people from this onslaught of oppression. The legislation we are introducing today is an effort to fulfill that obligation -- to bring the weight of our conscience to bear and push the combatants in Sudan to reach a comprehensive, negotiated, and principled peace." Another supporter of the bill, Senator Sam Brownback, stressed that "this insane suffering must be stopped." He cautioned that time is running out on reaching a negotiated settlement of the conflict because both sides will soon be able to rearm themselves. Brownback said he was especially disturbed by the issue of slavery in Sudan. The same day the Sudan bill was unveiled, the Clinton administration announced that it would exempt sales of food, medicine, and medical equipment to Sudan, as well as to Libya and Iran, from sanctions it has imposed because of their governments' support of terrorism. Asked how this change in policy would affect his bill, Frist said he had not had a chance to look at the change, but he added, "I think that any relaxation of the sanctions that takes pressure off the peace process is something that would be out of the spirit of this bill."
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