'We Need To Take Urgent Action Now' To Address 'The Most Tragic Circumstances' In Sudan: Ben Cardin

4 months ago

During remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) demanded action to address ongoing violence and destruction in Sudan.

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Transcript

00:00Mr. President, I come here to the floor today to once again call attention to the ongoing

00:06conflict in Sudan. Our presiding officer knows about this conflict very well. It's one of the

00:13most tragic circumstances that we have anywhere in the world. The humanitarian crisis is beyond

00:21description. The ethnic cleansing and tragedies of two factions at war has made this a living

00:34hell for so many people in that region. And after more than a year of brutal violence,

00:38the two sides may come together soon to talk. We certainly hope that's the case.

00:44This is a critical first step to ending the fighting that erupted last year in a country

00:48that has seen decades of war. I want to acknowledge the Biden-Harris administration

00:53and Special Envoy Tom Perriello for their works in Sudan. It was not easy to get here,

01:00and I hope the effort to launch a dialogue this month is successful.

01:05But despite the best efforts of this administration, the violence and humanitarian

01:11crisis continues, and the international community is falling willfully short.

01:19While we wait for talks to begin, civilians on the ground are being killed, abused,

01:25and forced out of their homes. Nearly 11 million people have been displaced.

01:31Half the population, close to 26 million, face crisis levels of starvation.

01:38750,000 people are on the brink of starvation. And according to one published report,

01:452.5 million more people will die because of the conditions related to the conflict

01:50and the use of food as a weapon of war.

01:55Credible rights organizations claim that genocide has once again occurred in Darfur.

02:00I remember Darfur, and we said, never again. Now it's happening again in Darfur.

02:04But there are no clear U.S. or U.N. plans to ensure humanitarian

02:08access across borders or across military lines.

02:13Mr. President, as the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,

02:17I come to the floor to say we need to take urgent action now.

02:22We need to work with our partners and allies to pressure the parties

02:25to agree to an immediate ceasefire and for both sides to make it stick this time.

02:31To its credit, the Biden-Harris administration has imposed sanctions

02:35on a variety of actors, including at the senior levels of both warring parties.

02:42But our partners and allies have not followed suit.

02:46In fact, just this week, the Century released an analysis of the multilateral sanction regime

02:52and found that the European Union in particular has lagged behind in its implementation.

02:57It's time, it's past time, to do more.

03:01It's time for our allies to prioritize these measures,

03:04so we are speaking with one voice to the warring parties.

03:09We need also to work urgently with our African and European partners to devise concrete measures

03:16the international community can take to protect the civilians

03:19from a repeat of last year's mass atrocities.

03:23And we need to focus on the next phase.

03:25Creating a protecting space for the Sudanese civilians

03:28to establish a path towards a peaceful democratic transition

03:33and accountability for those responsible for the atrocities and contravention

03:39of international humanitarian law, including unspeakable acts of sexual violence

03:45and systematic use of starvation as a weapon of war.

03:48We should not let them get away with their corrupt schemes

03:52that pillage the Sudanese people's resources.

03:57We should not let them extinguish Sudan's transition to democracy.

04:02That means taking steps against those actors who supply or facilitate arms and military materiel

04:08to any side in Sudan.

04:11It means enforcing the existing United Nations arms embargo

04:14and pushing for its extension to cover all of Sudan

04:18so that neither side is left behind.

04:20It means working collectively through the United Nations and other multilateral institutions

04:32to support these efforts.

04:34And it means that the international community and the United Nations

04:38must pursue any and all means to deliver humanitarian assistance

04:42into the hands of the Sudanese people

04:45and ensure robust funding for humanitarian response as the situation demands.

04:51Sierra Leone is taking up the presidency of the Security Council.

04:55It's imperative that we work together

04:57on action plans to protect civilians, on support for coordinated peace negotiations,

05:02on initiatives to end the impasse on humanitarian access, and on accountability.

05:08Mr. President, I've said this before, but every life is precious.

05:13The Sudanese people want to live in peace and security and prosperity.

05:17And so I urge all those who fight for justice

05:20for those who fight against atrocities, for those who fight against famine,

05:27let us come together with the Sudanese people.

05:29And after decades of war, let us end this conflict once and for all.

'We Need To Take Urgent Action Now' To Address 'The Most Tragic Circumstances' In Sudan: Ben Cardin

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