[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 194 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                 In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

                                                         July 16, 2003.
Whereas the efforts of the government of Khartoum to subjugate the peoples of 
        the southern Sudan have led to the death of more than 2,000,000 persons 
        and the displacement of another 4,000,000 persons;
Whereas the Department of State's ``Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
        for 2001'' estimates that between 5,000 and 15,000 Dinka women and 
        children have been abducted during the past 15 years, and that between 
        10,000 and 12,000 persons remain in captivity;
Whereas credible observers report that some of the abductees were sold into 
        slavery and others were used as forced labor or drafted into the 
        military, including children;
Whereas the Department of State's ``Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
        for 2002'' notes that persons held in government controlled ``Peace'' 
        camps for internally displaced persons were reportedly subjected to 
        forced labor;
Whereas the Special Rapporteur for Sudan to the General Assembly of the United 
        Nations concluded, on November 4, 2002, that the dire human rights 
        situation in Sudan had not significantly changed;
Whereas the United States Civilian Protection Monitoring Team (CPMT) reported in 
        February 2003 that militia allied with the Government of Sudan and 
        supported directly by Government of Sudan troops continued to abduct 
        civilians in the western Upper Nile region of Sudan;
Whereas subsequent to the February 2003 report of the Civilian Protection 
        Monitoring Team, the Government of Sudan restricted the movements of the 
        CPMT and prevented it from carrying out its mandate;
Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant 
        on Civil and Political Rights declares ``[n]o one shall be held in 
        slavery or servitude: slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in 
        all their forms'';
Whereas numerous human rights organizations, including Christian Solidarity 
        International, the Center for Religious Freedom of Freedom House, and 
        the American Anti-Slavery Group have demanded an end to slavery in all 
        its forms and, in particular, to the abuses practiced by the Government 
        of Sudan;
Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People adopted, 
        in May 1995, a Resolution to Combat Modern Day Slavery stating that 
        slavery in Sudan was an ``irrefutable fact, corroborated by numerous 
        sources,'' and pledging that ``we will not rest until these slaves are 
        freed'';
Whereas the House of Representatives has repeatedly decried human rights abuses 
        in Sudan and called for the abolition of the slave trade and of chattel 
        slavery in Sudan;
Whereas the House of Representatives committed itself to practical measures to 
        suppress the slave trade and chattel slavery in the Sudan by the 
        passage, by a vote of 359-8, in the 107th Congress of H.R. 5531, the 
        ``Sudan Peace Act'', and the Senate passed a similar measure, S. 180, 
        unanimously;
Whereas the United Nations Commission on Human Rights conducted its 59th session 
        in Geneva from March 17 through April 25, 2003;
Whereas the head of the United States delegation to the United Nations 
        Commission on Human Rights, Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, declared in 
        her opening address that ``[t]he Commission has the solemn duty to speak 
        for those who are denied the right to speak for themselves'';
Whereas Human Rights Watch and many other concerned persons and organizations 
        have called upon the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to renew 
        the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on human rights for Sudan, and to 
        condemn gross abuses of human rights and violations of international 
        humanitarian law by the Sudanese Government and rebel Sudan People's 
        Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) forces; and
Whereas the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, by a vote of 26 to 24 
        with 3 abstentions, refused to classify Sudan as an ``Item 9'' country, 
        one in which grave human rights problems justify the appointment of a 
        Special Rapporteur to investigate abuses and to report on them: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
            (1) slavery, under any circumstances, is an unconscionable practice;
            (2) the subjection inherent in slavery inevitably leads to other 
        abuses, including torture and rape;
            (3) human rights abuses and slavery in Sudan remain a matter of the 
        most profound concern;
            (4) the United States must condemn attempts to ignore or condone 
        these outrages;
            (5) the United States must make clear to all members of the United 
        Nations Commission on Human Rights that the refusal to condemn slavery 
        in Sudan undermines any moral authority that the Commission might seek 
        to exert in other areas;
            (6) the United States must work to re-classify Sudan as an ``Item 
        9'' country, requiring a Special Rapporteur at the next session of the 
        United Nations Commission on Human Rights; and
            (7) the United States should encourage the United Nations to 
        consider reinstating sanctions against Sudan and should urge the 
        European Union, the African Union, and all others who express concern 
        for human freedom and dignity to be engaged in activities that will 
        convince Sudan to abolish slavery and respect human rights.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.