[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2264 Referred in House (RFH)]

  2d Session
                                S. 2264


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 10, 2004

          Referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.

            Passed the Senate May 7, 2004.

            Attest:

                                             EMILY J. REYNOLDS,

                                                             Secretary.