[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2264 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.2264

                       One Hundred Eighth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
           the twentieth day of January, two thousand and four


                                 An Act


 
 To require a report on the conflict in Uganda, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Northern Uganda Crisis Response 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
        (1) The United States and the Republic of Uganda enjoy a strong 
    bilateral relationship and continue to work closely together in 
    fighting the human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune 
    deficiency syndrome (``HIV/AIDS'') pandemic and combating 
    international terrorism.
        (2) For more than 17 years, the Government of Uganda has been 
    engaged in a conflict with the Lord's Resistance Army that has 
    inflicted hardship and suffering on the people of northern and 
    eastern Uganda.
        (3) The members of the Lord's Resistance Army have used brutal 
    tactics during this conflict, including abducting and forcing 
    individuals into sexual servitude, and forcing a large number of 
    children, estimated to be between 16,000 and 26,000 children, in 
    Uganda to serve in such Army's military forces.
        (4) The Secretary of State has designated the Lord's Resistance 
    Army as a terrorist organization and placed the Lord's Resistance 
    Army on the Terrorist Exclusion list pursuant to section 212(a)(3) 
    of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)).
        (5) According to Human Rights Watch, since the mid-1990s the 
    only known sponsor of the Lord's Resistance Army has been the 
    Government of Sudan, though such Government denies providing 
    assistance to the Lord's Resistance Army.
        (6) More than 1,000,000 people have been displaced from their 
    homes in Uganda as a result of the conflict.
        (7) The conflict has resulted in a lack of security for the 
    people of Uganda, and as a result of such lack, each night more 
    than 18,000 children leave their homes and flee to the relative 
    safety of town centers, creating a massive ``night commuter'' 
    phenomenon that leaves already vulnerable children subject to 
    exploitation and abuse.
        (8) Individuals who have been displaced by the conflict in 
    Uganda often suffer from acute malnutrition and the mortality rate 
    for children in northern Uganda who have been displaced is very 
    high.
        (9) In the latter part of 2003, humanitarian and human rights 
    organizations operating in northern Uganda reported an increase in 
    violence directed at their efforts and at civilians, including a 
    sharp increase in child abductions.
        (10) The Government of Uganda's military efforts to resolve 
    this conflict, including the arming and training of local militia 
    forces, have not ensured the security of civilian populations in 
    the region to date.
        (11) The continued instability and lack of security in Uganda 
    has severely hindered the ability of any organization or 
    governmental entity to deliver regular humanitarian assistance and 
    services to individuals who have been displaced or otherwise 
    negatively affected by the conflict.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that the Government of the United 
States should--
        (1) work vigorously to support ongoing efforts to explore the 
    prospects for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in northern and 
    eastern Uganda;
        (2) work with the Government of Uganda and the international 
    community to make available sufficient resources to meet the 
    immediate relief and development needs of the towns and cities in 
    Uganda that are supporting large numbers of people who have been 
    displaced by the conflict;
        (3) urge the Government of Uganda and the international 
    community to assume greater responsibility for the protection of 
    civilians and economic development in regions in Uganda affected by 
    the conflict, and to place a high priority on providing security, 
    economic development, and humanitarian assistance to the people of 
    Uganda;
        (4) work with the international community, the Government of 
    Uganda, and civil society in northern and eastern Uganda to develop 
    a plan whereby those now displaced may return to their homes or to 
    other locations where they may become economically productive;
        (5) urge the leaders and members of the Lord's Resistance Army 
    to stop the abduction of children, and urge all armed forces in 
    Uganda to stop the use of child soldiers, and seek the release of 
    all individuals who have been abducted;
        (6) make available increased resources for assistance to 
    individuals who were abducted during the conflict, child soldiers, 
    and other children affected by the conflict;
        (7) work with the Government of Uganda, other countries, and 
    international organizations to ensure that sufficient resources and 
    technical support are devoted to the demobilization and 
    reintegration of rebel combatants and abductees forced by their 
    captors to serve in non-combatant support roles;
        (8) cooperate with the international community to support civil 
    society organizations and leaders in Uganda, including Acholi 
    religious leaders, who are working toward a just and lasting 
    resolution to the conflict;
        (9) urge the Government of Uganda to improve the 
    professionalism of Ugandan military personnel currently stationed 
    in northern and eastern Uganda, with an emphasis on respect for 
    human rights, accountability for abuses, and effective civilian 
    protection;
        (10) work with the international community to assist 
    institutions of civil society in Uganda to increase the capacity of 
    such institutions to monitor the human rights situation in northern 
    Uganda and to raise awareness of abuses of human rights that occur 
    in that area;
        (11) urge the Government of Uganda to permit international 
    human rights monitors to establish a presence in northern and 
    eastern Uganda;
        (12) monitor the creation of civilian militia forces in 
    northern and eastern Uganda and publicize any concerns regarding 
    the recruitment of children into such forces or the potential that 
    the establishment of such forces will invite increased targeting of 
    civilians in the conflict or exacerbate ethnic tension and 
    violence; and
        (13) make clear that the relationship between the Government of 
    Sudan and the Government of the United States cannot improve unless 
    no credible evidence indicates that authorities of the Government 
    of Sudan are complicit in efforts to provide weapons or other 
    support to the Lord's Resistance Army.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

    (a) Requirements.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to 
the appropriate congressional committees on the conflict in Uganda.
    (b) Content.--The report required by subsection (a) shall include a 
description of the following:
        (1) The individuals or entities that are providing financial 
    and material support for the Lord's Resistance Army, including a 
    description of any such support provided by the Government of Sudan 
    or by senior officials of such Government.
        (2) The activities of the Lord's Resistance Army that create 
    obstacles that prohibit the provision of humanitarian assistance or 
    the protection of the civilian population in Uganda.
        (3) The practices employed by the Ugandan People's Defense 
    Forces in northern and eastern Uganda to ensure that children and 
    civilians are protected, that civilian complaints are addressed, 
    and that any member of the armed forces that abuses a civilian is 
    held accountable for such abuse.
        (4) The actions carried out by the Government of the United 
    States, the Government of Uganda, or the international community to 
    protect civilians, especially women and children, who have been 
    displaced by the conflict in Uganda, including women and children 
    that leave their homes and flee to cities and towns at night in 
    search of security from sexual exploitation and gender-based 
    violence.
    (c) Form of Report.--The report under subsection (a) shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
    (d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee 
on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on International 
Relations of the House of Representatives.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.