1 105TH CONGRESS S. PRT. 2d Session COMMITTEE PRINT 105±45 "! SUDAN TODAY: PROSPECTS FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRACY A STAFF REPORT TO THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE FEBRUARY 1998 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 45±883 CC WASHINGTON : 1998 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS JESSE HELMS, North Carolina, Chairman RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana JOSEPH R. BIDEN, Jr., Delaware PAUL COVERDELL, Georgia PAUL S. SARBANES, Maryland CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming CHARLES S. ROBB, Virginia ROD GRAMS, Minnesota RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin JOHN ASHCROFT, Missouri DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California BILL FRIST, Tennessee PAUL D. WELLSTONE, Minnesota SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas JAMES W. NANCE, Staff Director EDWIN K. HALL, Minority Staff Director (II) 2 CONTENTS Page Letter of Transmittal ............................................................................................... iv Key Findings and Recommendations ..................................................................... 1 I. Introduction and Background ......................................................................... 3 Support for Terrorists ...................................................................................... 4 Persecution of Christians ................................................................................. 6 II. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Resistance Against the National Islamic Front ........................................................................................ 6 The Sudan Alliance Force ................................................................................ 6 The Beja Congress ............................................................................................ 8 The Sudan Federal Democratic Union ........................................................... 9 Other NDA Members ....................................................................................... 9 NDA Operations Inside Sudan ........................................................................ 10 III. U.S. Policy Toward Sudan ................................................................................ 14 IV. Assessment of Humanitarian Conditions in Eastern Sudan ......................... 15 V. Long Term Development .................................................................................... 17 APPENDIX A. Letter from Senator Jesse Helms to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ................................................................................................................. 23 B. Secretary of State Albright's Response to Senator Helms' Letter of January 13, 1998 ................................................................................................................. 24 C. Agency for International Development Activity Data SheetÐRegional Eco- nomic Development Services Office for East and Southern Africa (REDSO/ ESA) Effective Delivery of USAID's Humanitarian Assistance ....................... 25 D. Assessment Mission and Proposal for Support to Togan ................................ 31 E. Assessment of the Humanitarian Conditions in Eastern Sudan .................... 41 F. S. 873ÐProhibition on Financial Transactions With Countries Supporting Terrorism Act of 1997 .......................................................................................... 48 G. November 4, 1997, Executive Order Blocking Sudanese Government Prop- erty and Prohibiting Transactions with Sudan ................................................. 50 H. November 4, 1997, Message to Congress Regarding Executive Order Block- ing Sudanese Government Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Sudan .................................................................................................................... 52 I. November 4, 1997, Remarks by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on New Economic Sanctions Against Sudan ...................................................... 53 J. The Asmara Declaration ..................................................................................... 54 (III) 3 iv LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL February 9, 1998. The Hon. JESSE HELMS, Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Beginning December 2, 1997, we traveled to Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan to assess political and military op- position to Sudan's extremist Islamic regime, to examine the hu- manitarian conditions of civilians in eastern Sudan, and to under- stand regional perspectives of the Sudan question. This investigation was timely in light of the Clinton Administra- tion's November 4, 1997, sanctions blocking assets of, and prohibit- ing financial transactions with, Sudan. As you know, the Adminis- tration imposed these sanctions as a result, in part, of Congres- sional pressure from such initiatives as the Ashcroft-Helms bill (S. 873) prohibiting financial transactions with countries supporting terrorism, and similar provisions contained in the Senate passed ``Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1997'' (S. 903). According to U.S. State Department officials, our visit inside ter- ritory held by the opposition Sudan Alliance Forces in eastern Sudan was the first by any U.S. officials. We traveled to Eritrea and Sudan from December 3±9, 1997, then proceeded to Ethiopia until December 12 for additional meetings with Ethiopian and U.S. officials on the situation in the Sudan. While in Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia, we met with Sudanese op- position leaders (including John Garang, leader of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, Sadiq al-Mahdi, former President of Sudan and head of the Umma Party, and General Abdel Aziz Khaled, leader of the Sudan Alliance Forces), Eritrean and Ethio- pian military and security representatives, and U.S. Embassy and AID officials. During the excursion into opposition held territory in eastern Sudan, we were accompanied by AID official, Gayle Smith. U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, David Shinn, U.S. Charge D'Affairs to Eritrea, Don Yamamoto, and Gayle Smith of AID, along with their staffs, provided outstanding support, without which we could not have accomplished our objectives. We wish to thank them for their cooperation and assistance. Sincerely, CHRISTOPHER WALKER MICHAEL WESTPHAL G. GARRETT GRIGSBY KEY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS • The radical National Islamic Front (NIF) regime ruling Sudan threatens the United States and regional security by its ag- gressive support for international terrorist organizations in many of its neighboring countries. The NIF foments regional unrest in Uganda, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia through sur- rogate terrorists groups. Also, the NIF regime offers refuge and training for Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organizations Hamas, Abu Nidal, Hezbollah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Islamic Group, and Jihad of Egypt; each of which targets Americans. • Religious intolerance and Christian persecution are the hall- mark of the NIF regime. Forced Islamization of non-Muslims, primarily Christians, is a widely recognized NIF government policy. Severe human rights abusesÐincluding slaveryÐare perpetuated by the NIF regime. Despite international pressure, the NIF regime has shown no interest in modifying this rep- rehensible behavior. • U.S. policy toward Sudan should continue to be to isolate the NIF regime, with the goal of replacing it with a secular, demo- cratic government brought to power through popular elections. To help achieve this goal, the U.S. should continue its military support for neighboring governments in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Uganda. The U.S. should also support legitimate, democratic opposition groups attempting to overthrow the Government of Sudan. • Comprehensive U.S. economic sanctions against the NIF re- gimeÐannounced by President Clinton on November 4Ðwhile important symbolically, will not force the NIF to fall. Total Su- danese investment in the U.S. blocked by the sanctions is only $5,500,000; total trade amounts to only $70,000,000 annually. Khartoum can continue to rely heavily on financial support from fellow terrorist states, Iran and Libya. Only when vital economic links within Sudan are no longer controlled by the NIF and only when internal opposition to the NIF is wide- spread will the NIF face significant political and economic cri- sis. • The United States Government has provided approximately $20,000,000 in nonlethal military assistance to Ethiopia, Eri- trea and Uganda since fiscal year 1996, to enhance their abil- ity to defend their borders. Unfortunately, the delivery of much of the assistance was delayed because of bureaucratic tangles and diplomatic misunderstandings between the U.S. and the recipient nations. The Clinton Administration should better en- sure that such assistance is delivered promptly in the future. (1) 2 • Popular opposition to the NIF regime is expanding beyond southern Sudan. The recently formed National Democratic Alli- ance, or NDA, which consists of diverse political and military opposition groups, appears to be the most viable opposition to the NIF in a generation. The NDA, through its Asmara Dec- laration, has committed itself to a democratic and secular Sudan. The formation of the NDA could be a turning point for Sudanese opposition parties because the coalition brings to- gether political and armed groups, southerners and northern- ers, and Muslims and Christians for the first time.