Abei Burning

Congressman Donald Payne
Tenth District - New Jersey
For Immediate Release Contact: Kerry McKenney/Nkechi Mbanu
May 23, 2008 (202) 225-3436

Payne and Capuano Condemn Brutal Attacks in Abyei, Sudan
Over the past two weeks, the people of Abyei, one of the marginalized areas of Sudan, have been under attack by the brutal and criminal elements of the National Congress Party forces. An estimated 106,000 people have been displaced, according to Abyei region officials. Many of the displaced are children -- a number of them separated from their families -- as well as women, and the elderly. Unfortunately, these civilians are hungry and sick, and many of them are likely to die without quick and massive intervention to assist and end the violence.
Abyei town was burned to the ground on May 16, 2008, as witnessed and documented by a delegation consisting of two Americans and several Government of South Sudan officials. The deliberate, brutal, and systematic attacks against innocent civilians in Abyei and the surrounding communities has one principal objective: to permanently displace the civilian population.
The brutal terror campaign is being carried out by Brigade 31, a government force that has been in the Abyei area illegally for months. Sudanese President Omar el Bashir has previously pledged to First Vice President Salva Kiir that he had ordered Brigade 31 to withdraw. Unfortunately, instead of withdrawing, Brigade 31 and other government forces continue their terror campaign against innocent civilians.
At the core of the crisis in Abyei is the continuing obstructionist behavior of the Bashir government in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). President Bashir, for example, has not implement the Abyei Boundary Commission (ABC) recommendations three years after the ABC decision. The ABC was mandated to "define and demarcate" the area known as the nine Ngok Dinka Chiefdoms transferred in 1905 to Kordofan in North Sudan.
Following the signing of the CPA, Abyei area was supposed to be administered by an Executive Council. The members of the Executive Council were to be elected by the residents of Abyei and the Chief Administrator appointed by the Presidency. At the end of the Interim Period, the residents of Abyei are to choose between retaining a special administrative status in the north or to be part of South Sudan. The Bashir government has failed to put in place an administration in Abyei and continues to reject the recommendation of the ABC.
As stated in the U.S. position paper given to the Bashir government in Khartoum by Special Envoy Richard Williamson, negotiations to improve bilateral relations "will end if new violence is initiated in or by Sudan." The position paper further states that "bilateral relations will not improve if violence is escalated in Abyei or Chad." The Bush Administration must end normalization talks with the Bashir regime in light of what has taken place in Abyei.
The Bashir government must be forced to implement the Abyei Protocol and all provisions of the CPA. We strongly condemn any move toward normalization of relations until the provisions of the CPA are implemented, peace is restored in Abyei and Darfur, and the outcome of the Southern and Abyei referendums are respected.
###