Joe Pitts: “I rise to raise again the policies of the government of Sudan and its treatment of its people. Christians, Muslims, and…”

“I rise to raise again the policies of the government of Sudan and its treatment of its people. Christians, Muslims, and Animists who do not submit to the Khartoum regime's control are targeted for destruction. In addition to its daily war against the Sudan's people, which includes destroying villages, killing the men and selling women and children into slavery, the government issues draconian punishments for crimes. One recent report details an 18-year-old illiterate Christian, Abok Alva Akok, who was raped but was sentenced to death because she could not produce the four male witnesses required under Muslim Sharia law. International outcry caused her sentence to be overturned, but the court then sentenced her to a 'rebuke' of 75 lashes, carried out immediately. During the proceedings, she was denied legal representation. Mr. Speaker, the Khartoum regime not only denies justice to the Sudan's people, gives out harsh punishments, and permits active slave trade, but also is carrying out a brutal war to destroy the people of southern Sudan. Khartoum's brutal policies must be stopped.”