[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1227 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                    September 23, 2008.
Whereas the situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has been 
        recognized as the worst crisis of violence against women in the world, 
        according to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against 
        Women;
Whereas the Democratic Republic of the Congo has experienced the world's 
        deadliest crisis since World War II, with an estimated 5.4 million 
        deaths since 1998;
Whereas hundreds of thousands of women and girls have experienced an 
        exceptionally violent type of rape in the Democratic Republic of the 
        Congo, and the full extent of incidence of sexual violence is unknown as 
        most survivors experience repeated rapes, live in inaccessible areas, 
        are afraid to report the attacks, or did not survive them;
Whereas sexual violence is used as a method of warfare by all parties to the 
        conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a means to terrorize 
        and destabilize entire communities;
Whereas in 2007, Malteser International estimated that 70 percent of all rapes 
        in South Kivu were committed by nonstate armed groups, including foreign 
        militia from Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda, 16 percent by Democratic 
        Republic of the Congo military forces, and 14 percent by civilians;
Whereas control over the Democratic Republic of the Congo's natural resources is 
        central to the ongoing conflict;
Whereas in 2002, the United Nations Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation 
        of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic 
        Republic of the Congo alleged nine United States business enterprises to 
        be in violation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises;
Whereas, on July 30, 2007, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence 
        Against Women reported, ``Women are brutally gang raped, often in front 
        of their families and communities. In numerous cases, male relatives are 
        forced at gun point to rape their own daughters, mothers or sisters. 
        Frequently women are shot or stabbed in their genital organs, after they 
        are raped. Women, who survived months of enslavement, [said] that their 
        tormentors had forced them to eat excrements or the human flesh of 
        murdered relatives'';
Whereas rape with the use of knives, gun barrels, beer bottles, cassava roots, 
        or sticks can result in a tear or fistula between a woman's vagina and 
        bladder or rectum, or both, causing the development of traumatic 
        gynecologic fistula;
Whereas some women and young girls reportly have had their lips or tongues cut 
        off by their attackers so that they won't report the crime to 
        authorities;
Whereas the Panzi Hospital, a specialized institution in South Kivu, receives 
        about 3,500 cases annually of women who suffer from traumatic fistula 
        and other severe genital injuries resulting from these sexual 
        atrocities;
Whereas at Heal Africa Hospital in Goma, doctors reported treating 4,800 rape 
        victims and, in 2005, doctors performed 242 fistula-repair operations;
Whereas current activities to treat survivors meet only a portion of the need;
Whereas the scope of the sexual violence affects women and girls of all ages, 
        from 10 months to 80 years old;
Whereas a culture of impunity continues in eastern Congo and rape has become a 
        societal norm;
Whereas in July 2006, the Congolese Parliament passed the Law on the Suppression 
        of Sexual Violence, which attempted to strengthen penalties and criminal 
        procedures, but in reality, little action has been taken by the 
        authorities to implement the law and perpetrators continue to enjoy 
        impunity; and
Whereas the United States Government has codified its commitment to the 
        Democratic Republic of the Congo through the Democratic Republic of the 
        Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006 (Public Law 
        109-456): Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) strongly condemns the use of all forms of sexual violence, 
        including rape, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
            (2) condemns the actions of all armed groups in the Democratic 
        Republic of the Congo, including militias and rebel groups, such as the 
        Forces Democratiques de Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR), Mai-Mai Militia, 
        and the Front for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri, that have created a 
        culture of impunity for rape and sexual violence;
            (3) calls on the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 
        to develop a strategy to address and end the large-scale sexual violence 
        in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by--
                    (A) protecting its civilians from violence and enforcing and 
                respecting the rule of law in accordance with international 
                norms and standards;
                    (B) holding all armed groups accountable for their actions 
                by implementing judicial reforms to investigate, arrest, and try 
                suspected criminals;
                    (C) prosecuting and punishing members of the Congolese Armed 
                Forces who have committed crimes of sexual violence and other 
                atrocities; and
                    (D) establishing a verification mechanism to ensure that 
                officers who have engaged in or have been complicit in the 
                commission of sexual violence, including rape, do not receive 
                important posts in the Congolese Armed Forces, the national 
                police, and other security services;
            (4) urges an increased effort by the United States through the 
        Department of State and other donor countries to provide greater 
        assistance to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for police and 
        military human rights education and training, and training for those in 
        the judiciary in order to improve their ability to investigate, 
        prosecute, and sentence rapists;
            (5) strongly urges the United States Agency for International 
        Development to increase its assistance to victims of rape and sexual 
        violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
            (6) urges the Secretary of State to appoint a special envoy to the 
        Democratic Republic of the Congo to sustain United States engagement in 
        a peace process and stabilization programs, and to continue its 
        leadership towards the implementation of the Nairobi communique;
            (7) encourages the Secretary of State to continue to work with the 
        heads of the other agencies implementing programs in the Democratic 
        Republic of the Congo to develop a plan for systematically assessing the 
        United States Government's overall progress in achieving the policy 
        objectives of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and 
        Democracy Promotion Act of 2006;
            (8) encourages the international community to ensure greater 
        coordination in its response to sexual violence and to provide further 
        humanitarian and psychosocial assistance to survivors of sexual and 
        gender-based violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo;
            (9) reaffirms its support for democracy, the rule of law, and human 
        rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and calls upon regional 
        African leaders to support the preservation of a democratic political 
        system in the country;
            (10) encourages full protection of women and girls and the promotion 
        of their rights by emphasizing the responsibilities of all countries to 
        put an end to impunity and to prosecute those responsible for genocide 
        crimes, including those related to sexual and other forms of violence 
        against women and girls;
            (11) calls on the Secretary General of the United Nations and the 
        permanent members of the Security Council to immediately take steps to--
                    (A) ensure that the United Nations Mission in the Democratic 
                Republic of the Congo (MONUC) is fully funded and strategically 
                deployed in areas where sexual violence is most prevalent;
                    (B) include an adequate number of female troops and police 
                in MONUC to properly manage incidents of rape and sexual 
                violence;
                    (C) provide more in-depth and continuing gender-sensitive 
                training to its peacekeepers; and
                    (D) hold all military and civilian personnel associated with 
                MONUC who have committed acts of rape or sexual exploitation 
                accountable for their crimes and ensure that they are 
                permanently barred from serving in any future peacekeeping 
                operation;
            (12) encourages a transparent process for the government of the 
        Democratic Republic of the Congo's review of mining contracts; and
            (13) strongly encourages United States companies investing and 
        operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to exert oversight 
        concerning where their products are coming from and who is benefitting 
        from the trade of such products.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.