[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 332 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 332

    Observing the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 6, 2004

Mr. Feingold submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Observing the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.

Whereas 10 years ago, during a 3-month period in 1994, 800,000 Rwandans were 
        killed in an organized campaign of genocide that targeted ethnic Tutsis 
        and political moderates;
Whereas the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda was dramatically scaled 
        back as the genocide occurred;
Whereas by mid-July 1994, 2,000,000 Rwandans became refugees and another 
        1,000,000 were internally displaced due to the genocide and civil war;
Whereas in 1994, the United Nations Security Council established the 
        International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to hold accountable those 
        responsible for the atrocities;
Whereas in March 1998, President William Jefferson Clinton acknowledged that 
        ``we in the United States and the world community did not do as much as 
        we could have and should have done to try to limit what occurred in 
        Rwanda in 1994'';
Whereas in 1999, the Independent Inquiry into the Actions of the United Nations 
        during the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda found that ``the failure by the 
        United Nations to prevent, and subsequently, to stop the genocide in 
        Rwanda was a failure by the United Nations system as a whole'';
Whereas the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath played a significant part in the 
        destabilization of the entire Great Lakes region over the last decade; 
        and
Whereas today, the vast majority of Rwandan refugees have returned to their 
        country, and the Government of Rwanda is working to address the backlog 
        of genocide-related cases awaiting trial through the formal justice 
        sector and through community-based gacaca courts: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) solemnly observes the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan 
        genocide of 1994;
            (2) recognizes and is saddened by the failure of the 
        international community, including the United States, to 
        prevent the genocide;
            (3) reaffirms its commitment to the Convention on the 
        Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, done at 
        Paris on December 9, 1948;
            (4) supports ongoing efforts to educate the people of the 
        United States and of the world about the Rwandan genocide;
            (5) commits to continuing efforts to strengthen 
        institutions working to bring to justice those responsible for 
        the genocide; and
            (6) urges the President and the international community to 
        seize on the occasion of this anniversary to focus attention on 
        the future of Rwanda, and to support the people of Rwanda so 
        that they may--
                    (A) be free from the fear of ethnic violence, mob 
                violence, or state-sponsored violence;
                    (B) enjoy full civil and political rights and feel 
                free to voice legitimate disagreements honestly and 
                publicly without fear of violence or intimidation;
                    (C) have confidence in the independence of the 
                judiciary and the rule of law in Rwanda; and
                    (D) experience sustained economic growth and 
                development that improves the standard of living in 
                Rwanda.
                                 <all>