[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2264 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
2d Session
S. 2264
To require a report on the conflict in Uganda, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 31, 2004
Mr. Feingold (for himself and Mr. Alexander) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
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.
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