An emergency Congressional hearing on the devastation in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan turned lively this morning after an impassioned Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) took the opportunity to to speak candidly about his feelings about the Sudanese government's ruling National Congress Party and its leader, Omar al-Bashir. "This government is fundamentally evil," said Congressman Wolf. C-SPAN was there to capture his impassioned condemnation of the Bashir regime for executing endless wars on its own people:
Organized in less than 48 hours after a plea for help from Persecution Project Founder Brad Philips, Chairman Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ) called the hearing. Rep. Wolf and Rep. Ann Buerkle (D-NY) attended.
Bishop Andudu from Kadugli, the capital of besieged Southern Kordofan, provided moving testimony from the ground, describing house-to-house executions, mass graves, and a severe lack of food and water due to the inability of aid groups to move freely. During his testimony, the bishop presented a petition, organized by Avaaz, of nearly half a million signatures asking the international community to end ethnic cleansing in the Nuba Mountains.
Bishop Andudu specifically called on the United States to designate and sanction those individuals and groups most responsible for the mass atrocities; halt any plans to normalize ties with Sudan;
support an international effort to lift Sudan’s restrictions on humanitarian access to deliver much-needed food and medical aid to civilians in the region; and quickly establish an international, cross-border emergency relief operation to prevent famine conditions from killing large numbers of the Nuba people.
"The U.S. and others committed to the ‘responsibility to protect’ must stop the indiscriminate bombing of civilians," he said. "I hope the people in this room will do everything in their power to listen the cries of people all over the world calling for action on this issue."