[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 234 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 234

Regarding the human rights situation in Sudan and Mauritania, including 
     the practice of chattel slavery and all other forms of booty.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 4, 1998

  Mr. Payne submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
          referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Regarding the human rights situation in Sudan and Mauritania, including 
     the practice of chattel slavery and all other forms of booty.

Whereas the Government of Sudan and the Government of Mauritania have 
        perpetrated a prolonged campaign of human rights abuses and 
        discrimination;
Whereas the 1997 Country Reports on Human Rights of the Department of State has 
        documented numerous such abuses by both governments;
Whereas since Sudan's independence in 1956, the Khartoum Government dominated by 
        northern Arabs has been fighting against the Christian and animist 
        South;
Whereas the Government of Sudan is not able to pay their militias and has 
        encouraged the militias to take slaves as compensation;
Whereas the Christian Solidarity International estimates that tens of thousands 
        of black slaves are owned by Arabs in northern Sudan;
Whereas the Sudanese Government's Popular Defense Force (PDF) enslaved 18 women 
        and children during a slave raid on four villages--Tiomthet, Mabior 
        Nyang, Ajok and Achorou--in northeastern Bahr El Ghazal on November 30, 
        1997;
Whereas the slave raid is the most recent of a long series of such raids 
        undertaken as part of the ruling National Islam Front (NIF) regime's 
        self-declared jihad (holy war) against the predominantly Christian and 
        Christian and animist South;
Whereas the Government of Mauritania detained two human rights activists and a 
        lawyer following the broadcast on French television of a documentary on 
        slavery;
Whereas the Government of Mauritania has carried out illegal searches that has 
        culminated in the arrest of Boubacar Ould Messaoud, Maitre Brahim Ould 
        Ebety, and Cheick Saad Bouh Kamara on January 17, 1998, for broadcasting 
        a documentary on slavery;
Whereas the Government of Mauritania ratified the United Nations Convention to 
        Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery, and has officially abolished 
        slavery in 1905, 1960 and 1980, however, despite being a party to these 
        agreements, slavery still exists in Mauritania; and
Whereas Sudan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
        Rights, the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, the Slavery 
        Convention, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, however, 
        despite being a party to these agreements, slavery still exists in 
        Sudan: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) calls upon the Government of Sudan and the Government 
        of Mauritania to honor their obligations under the Universal 
        Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Abolition 
        of Slavery to prosecute slave owners to the fullest extent 
        under the anti-slavery laws of each such country and to educate 
        individuals being held as slaves concerning their legal rights;
            (2) calls upon both governments to surrender and release 
        all slaves and return them to their homes;
            (3) urges in the strongest terms that both governments 
        investigate abuses of slavery;
            (4) urges the United Nations Security Council to condemn 
        these acts of slavery by both governments;
            (5) deplores the fighting of the National Islam Front (NIF) 
        which has caused untold suffering for the people of Sudan;
            (6) advocates the strengthening of the border between 
        northern and southern Sudan;
            (7) encourages human rights organizations to facilitate a 
        safe passage for slavery victims to and from conflict zones;
            (8) commends the Clinton Administration for sanctioning 
        Sudan and monitoring the acts of Mauritania with respect to 
        slavery; and
            (9) urges in the strongest possible terms that the 
        Secretary of the Treasury should not waive any of the current 
        sanctions that are in place against Sudan.
                                 <all>