[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 137 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. CON. RES. 137

Calling for the suspension of Sudan's membership on the United Nations 
                      Commission on Human Rights.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 15, 2004

  Mr. Frist (for himself, Mr. Daschle, Mr. DeWine, and Mr. Nelson of 
  Nebraska) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
                        considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Calling for the suspension of Sudan's membership on the United Nations 
                      Commission on Human Rights.

Whereas, in Darfur, Sudan, more than 30,000 innocent civilians have been 
        murdered, more than 400 villages have been destroyed, more than 130,000 
        men, women, and children have been forced from their villages into 
        neighboring countries, and more than 1,000,000 people have been 
        internally displaced;
Whereas the United States Government has been, and remains as of September 2004, 
        the largest contributor of assistance to the people of Darfur, having 
        provided over $200,000,000 in assistance, which constitutes more than 70 
        percent of the total assistance provided to that region;
Whereas the United States has pledged $299,000,000 in humanitarian aid to Darfur 
        through fiscal year 2005, as well as $11,800,000 in support of the 
        African Union mission in that region, and is likely to provide support 
        in excess of those pledges;
Whereas United States citizens and private organizations, as well as the United 
        States Government, have admirably worked, at great risk and through 
        great effort, to ease suffering in Darfur, Sudan, and in eastern Chad;
Whereas, based on credible reports, Congress determined in late July 2004 that 
        acts of genocide were occurring in Darfur, Sudan, and that the 
        Government of Sudan bears direct responsibility for many of those acts 
        of genocide;
Whereas, expressing its grave concern at the ongoing humanitarian crisis and 
        widespread human rights violations in Darfur, including continued 
        attacks on civilians that place thousands of lives at risk, the United 
        Nations Security Council on July 30, 2004, unanimously adopted Security 
        Council Resolution 1556, which called upon the Government of Sudan to 
        fulfill immediately its obligations to facilitate humanitarian relief 
        efforts, to take steps to disarm immediately the Janjaweed militias 
        responsible for attacks on civilians and bring the perpetrators of such 
        attacks to justice, and to cooperate with independent United Nations-
        sponsored investigations of human rights violations;
Whereas the Government of Sudan has failed to take credible steps to comply with 
        the demands of the international community as expressed through the 
        United Nations Security Council;
Whereas, according to press reports, reports from nongovernmental organizations, 
        first-hand accounts from refugees, and other sources, the Janjaweed 
        attacks on the civilians of Darfur continue unabated as of September 
        2004;
Whereas there are credible reports from some of these same sources that the 
        Government of Sudan is providing assistance to the Janjaweed militias 
        and, in some cases, that Government of Sudan forces have participated 
        directly in attacks on civilians;
Whereas the United States Government, after conducting more than 1,000 
        interviews with survivors and refugees, has determined that genocide has 
        occurred in Darfur, that it may still be occurring, and that both the 
        Janjaweed and the Government of Sudan bear responsibility for these 
        acts;
Whereas the Secretary of State has determined that the attacks by the Government 
        of Sudan and the Janjaweed on the non-Arab people of Darfur and their 
        villages are based on race, not religion;
Whereas the United States has recently introduced a new resolution in the United 
        Nations Security Council that calls for the Government of Sudan to 
        cooperate fully with an expanded African Union force and for a cessation 
        of Sudanese military flights over Darfur;
Whereas the introduced resolution also provides for international overflights of 
        the Darfur region to monitor the situation on the ground and requires 
        the United Nations Security Council to review the record of compliance 
        of the Government of Sudan to determine whether the United Nations 
        should impose sanctions on Sudan, including sanctions affecting the 
        petroleum sector in that country;
Whereas the resolution also urges the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese 
        People's Liberation Movement to conclude negotiations on a comprehensive 
        peace accord and, most important, calls for a United Nations 
        investigation into all violations of international humanitarian law and 
        human rights law that have occurred in Darfur in order to ensure 
        accountability;
Whereas the United Nations Security Council, in United Nations Security Council 
        Resolution 1556, emphasized that the Government of Sudan bears primary 
        responsibility for respecting human rights and protecting the people of 
        Sudan;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1556 calls upon the 
        Government of Sudan to cooperate with the United Nations;
Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Commission, established in 1946 and 
        given the responsibility of drafting the Universal Declaration of Human 
        Rights, is responsible for promoting respect for and observance of human 
        rights and fundamental freedoms for all;
Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that all human beings 
        are born free and equal in dignity and rights, that everyone is entitled 
        to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration regardless 
        of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, or 
        national or social origin, property, birth, or other status, that 
        everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person, that no 
        one shall be held in slavery or servitude, and that no one shall be 
        subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or 
        punishment;
Whereas the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, done at 
        Paris on December 9, 1948 (hereafter in this resolution referred to as 
        the ``Genocide Convention''), delineates the criteria that constitute 
        genocide and requires parties to prevent and punish genocide;
Whereas Sudan is a state party to the Genocide Convention and remains a member 
        of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights;
Whereas the Secretary of State determined that, according to United States law, 
        the Government of Sudan is a state sponsor of terrorism and has been 
        since 1993 and therefore remains ineligible for U.S. foreign assistance;
Whereas, due to the human rights situation in Darfur, it would be consistent 
        with United States obligations under the Genocide Convention for the 
        Secretary of State and the United States Permanent Representative to the 
        United Nations to seek the immediate suspension of Sudan from the United 
        Nations Commission on Human Rights and, in the event a formal 
        investigation results in a determination by the United Nations that 
        genocide has occurred in Darfur, the ultimate removal of Sudan from such 
        Commission; and
Whereas it is a mockery of human rights as a universal principle, a challenge to 
        the United Nations as an institution, and an affront to all responsible 
        countries that embrace and promote human rights that a government under 
        investigation by the United Nations for committing genocide against, and 
        violating the human rights of, its own citizens sits in judgment of 
        others as a member in good standing of the United Nations Commission on 
        Human Rights: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) recognizes and approves of the findings of the 
        Secretary of State that genocide has occurred and may still be 
        occurring in Darfur, Sudan, and that the Government of Sudan 
        bears responsibility for such acts;
            (2) supports the Secretary of State's call for a full and 
        unfettered investigation by the United Nations into all 
        violations of international humanitarian law and human rights 
        law that have occurred in Darfur, with a view to ensuring 
        accountability;
            (3) supports the resolution introduced by the United States 
        Government in the United Nations Security Council on September 
        9, 2004, with regard to the situation in Darfur;
            (4) calls upon the Secretary of State and the United States 
        Permanent Representative to the United Nations to take 
        immediate steps to pursue the establishment of a formal United 
        Nations investigation, under Article VIII of the Genocide 
        Convention, to determine whether the actions of the Government 
        of Sudan in Darfur constitute acts of genocide;
            (5) calls upon the Secretary of State and the United States 
        Permanent Representative to the United Nations to take 
        immediate steps to pursue the immediate suspension of Sudan 
        from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights;
            (6) calls upon the Secretary of State and the United States 
        Permanent Representative to the United Nations to take further 
        steps to ensure that the suspension of Sudan from the United 
        Nations Commission on Human Rights remains in effect unless and 
        until the Government of Sudan meets all of its obligations, as 
        determined by the United Nations Security Council, under United 
        Nations Security Council Resolution 1556 of July 30, 2004, and 
        any subsequent United Nations Security Council resolutions 
        regarding this matter;
            (7) calls upon the Secretary of State and the United States 
        Permanent Representative to the United Nations to take steps to 
        ensure that, in the event that the formal investigation of acts 
        of genocide in Sudan results in a determination by the United 
        Nations that genocide has occurred or is occurring in Darfur, 
        the United States Government takes appropriate actions to 
        ensure that Sudan is removed from the United Nations Commission 
        on Human Rights;
            (8) calls upon the member states of the United Nations 
        Commission on Human Rights to convene an immediate special 
        session to consider the urgent and acute human rights situation 
        in Sudan for the purpose of considering whether Sudan should be 
        suspended from membership in such Commission; and
            (9) expects the Secretary of State to report to Congress on 
        progress made toward taking the actions and accomplishing the 
        objectives outlined in this resolution not later than 60 days 
        after the date on which Congress agrees to the resolution.
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