110 HCON 80 : Calling on the Government of Uganda and the U.S. House of Representatives 2007-06-19 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

III 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 80 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 19, 2007 Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Calling on the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to recommit to a political solution to the conflict in northern Uganda by engaging in good-faith negotiations, and urging immediate and substantial support for the ongoing peace process from the United States and the international community.

Whereas for over two decades, the Government of Uganda has been engaged in an armed conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) that has resulted in up to 200,000 deaths from violence and disease and the displacement of more than 1,600,000 civilians from eastern and northern Uganda; Whereas former United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland called the crisis in northern Uganda the biggest forgotten, neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today; Whereas Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA, and several of his associates have been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including rape, murder, enslavement, sexual enslavement, and the forced recruitment of an estimated 66,000 children; Whereas the LRA is a severe and repeat violator of human rights and has continued to attack civilians and humanitarian aid workers despite a succession of ceasefire agreements; Whereas the Secretary of State has labeled the LRA vicious and cult-like and designates it as a terrorist organization under the Immigration and Nationality Act; Whereas the 2006 Department of State report on the human rights record of the Government of Uganda found that security forces committed unlawful killings. . . and were responsible for deaths as a result of torture along with other serious problems, including repression of political opposition, official impunity, and violence against women and children; Whereas in the 2004 Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act (Public Law 108–283; 118 Stat. 912), Congress declared its support for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in northern and eastern Uganda and called for the United States and the international community to assist in rehabilitation, reconstruction, and demobilization efforts; Whereas the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, which was mediated by the Government of Southern Sudan and signed by representatives of the Government of Uganda and the LRA on August 20, 2006, and extended on November 1, 2006, requires both parties to cease all hostile military and media offensives and asks the Sudan People’s Liberation Army to facilitate the safe assembly of LRA fighters in designated areas for the duration of the peace talks; Whereas the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement expired on February 28, 2007, without ever having been fully implemented, and though the parties resumed peace talks on April 26, 2007, and signed a preliminary agreement on May 2, 2007, they have not yet arrived at a sustainable negotiated settlement and observers remain concerned that hostilities between rebel and government forces could resume; Whereas a return to civil war would yield disastrous results for the people of northern Uganda and for regional stability, while peace in Uganda will bolster the fragile Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan and de-escalate tensions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Whereas continuing violence and instability obstruct the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of northern Uganda and impede national and regional trade, development and democratization efforts, and counter-terrorism initiatives: Now, therefore, be it

That Congress— (1)disapproves of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leadership’s inconsistent commitment to resolving the conflict in Uganda peacefully; (2)urges the LRA and the Government of Uganda to engage in good-faith negotiations to pursue a political solution to this conflict; (3)encourages all parties in the region to immediately cease human rights violations and address, within the context of a broader national reconciliation process in Uganda, issues of accountability and impunity for those crimes against humanity already committed; (4)urges leaders on both sides of the conflict in Uganda to renounce any intentions and halt any preparations to resume violence and to ensure that this message is clearly conveyed to armed elements under their control; and (5)calls on the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, and the heads of other similar governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations within the international community to continue to augment efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in northern Uganda and to support a peaceful resolution to this crisis by publicly and forcefully reiterating the preceding demands.

Passed the House of Representatives June 18, 2007. Lorraine C. Miller, Clerk.