[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 726 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                      October 29, 2007.
Whereas, during war, rape and sexual violence are often used systematically as a 
        weapon of intimidation, humiliation, terror and ethnic cleansing;
Whereas it is estimated that between 250,000 and 500,000 women and girls were 
        raped during the genocide in Rwanda;
Whereas, on September 2, 1998, the United National International Criminal 
        Tribunal for Rwanda found Jean Paul Akayesu guilty of rape and held that 
        rape and sexual assault constitute crimes against humanity;
Whereas, on October 31, 2000, the United Nations Security Council adopted 
        Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), calling on all parties to an 
        armed conflict to take, ``special measures to protect women and girls 
        from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual 
        abuse'';
Whereas the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which entered into 
        force on July 1, 2002, states that rape and ``any other form of sexual 
        violence of comparable gravity'' may constitute both ``crimes against 
        humanity'' and ``war crimes'';
Whereas since 2003, mass rape committed by members of the Sudanese armed forces 
        and affiliated militias with the support of the Government of Sudan has 
        been a central component of the Government of Sudan's violence and 
        ethnic cleansing in Darfur;
Whereas women and girls leaving Internally Displaced Persons camps in Darfur and 
        refugee camps in eastern Chad, to seek firewood, water or outside 
        sources of income are often attacked and subjected to rape and sexual 
        violence perpetrated by members of the Sudanese armed forces and 
        associated Janjaweed militia and other armed combatants;
Whereas, on July 19, 2004, Amnesty International reported that it collected the 
        names of 250 women who had been raped in Darfur and information on 250 
        additional rapes;
Whereas, on January 25, 2005, the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, 
        in a report to the United Nations Secretary General, reported numerous 
        cases of mass rape throughout Darfur including an incident in which a 
        large number of Janjaweed attacked a boarding school, and raped as many 
        as 110 girls;
Whereas, on October 14, 2005, the Secretary General of the United Nations 
        reported ``Many girls have given birth as a result of rape. Although 
        local communities are trying to accept the offspring, the children face 
        a great deal of stigmatization.'';
Whereas, on March 9, 2007, members of the United Nations High-Level Mission on 
        the situation of human rights in Darfur reported that ``rape and sexual 
        assualt have been widespread and systematic, terrorizing women and 
        breaking down families and communities'' and that ``women are also 
        attacked in and around refugee camps in eastern Chad'';
Whereas, on April 27, 2007, the International Criminal Court, acting under the 
        authority provided in Security Council Resolution 1593 (2005), issued 
        arrest warrants for Sudan's Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmad Muhammad 
        Harun and Janjaweed Colonel Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Raham seeking their 
        arrest for 51 counts including 6 counts involving rape;
Whereas under Sudanese law victims of rape have virtually no legal recourse and 
        may in fact be charged with the crime of zina, or sexual intercourse 
        outside of marriage, punishable by one hundred lashes if the victim is 
        unmarried and death by stoning if she is married;
Whereas, on July 31, 2007, the United Nations Security Council adopted Security 
        Council Resolution 1769 authorizing the deployment of a United Nations-
        African Union peacekeeping force (UNAMID) to Darfur and expressing 
        strong concern about ``on-going attacks on the civilian population and 
        humanitarian workers and continued and widespread sexual violence'' 
        while ``emphasising the need to bring to justice the perpetrators of 
        such crimes''; and
Whereas, on August 20, 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
        Rights, reported on attacks, abductions and systematic rapes of women in 
        Darfur and the resulting ``grave health risks from the consequent 
        physical injuries and psychological trauma'', and declared that these 
        acts may ``constitute war crimes'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) calls upon the President of the United States to develop within 
        the United States Department of State and the United States Agency for 
        International Development a Women and Girls of Darfur Initiative to 
        improve assistance to victims and potential victims of rape and sexual 
        violence in Darfur, Sudan, eastern Chad and the Central African Republic 
        by--
                    (A) offering specialized grants to non-governmental 
                organizations, operating within IDP and refugee camps in Sudan, 
                Chad and the Central African Republic that can provide all 
                essential quality health care services and medical supplies, 
                psychological and social counseling, and legal advice to Darfuri 
                victims of rape and sexual violence;
                    (B) providing treatment for the prevention of sexually 
                transmitted diseases, including antiretroviral drugs to prevent 
                HIV infections, and specialized care for rape victims already 
                infected with HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases;
                    (C) meeting the psychological, social and educational needs 
                of victimized women, girls, children born as a result of rape, 
                their family and the community in order to limit the 
                stigmatization associated with rape; and
                    (D) providing financial, technical and other forms of 
                assistance to support women's peace initiatives;
            (2) calls upon the Secretary General of the United Nations, the 
        permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the African 
        Union, the European Union, the Arab League and other nations to 
        immediately take steps to--
                    (A) ensure that a fully funded and fully equipped UNAMID is 
                deployed to Darfur, Sudan;
                    (B) mandate that UNAMID employ all necessary measures to 
                protect women and girls from acts of rape and sexual violence 
                both outside and within Darfuri refugee and IDP camps;
                    (C) provide sufficient resources and training to UNAMID 
                troops and police to ensure a capability to properly respond to 
                acts of rape and sexual violence;
                    (D) provide for firewood patrols and other safeguarding 
                measures to protect women and girls leaving refugee and IDP 
                camps; and
                    (E) include an adequate number of female troops and police 
                in UNAMID to properly manage incidents of rape and sexual 
                violence; and
            (3) calls on the United Nations Security Council to immediately--
                    (A) find the Government of Sudan in noncompliance with 
                Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000);
                    (B) call on the Government of Sudan to provide full legal 
                protections to victims of rape and sexual violence and to bring 
                to justice individuals responsible for such crimes; and
                    (C) adopt under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter a 
                Security Council Resolution calling on the Government of Sudan 
                to respect all related Security Council Resolutions, including 
                Security Council Resolution 1593 (2005), enforce the arrest 
                warrants for Ahmad Muhammad Harun and Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-
                Raham, and further recognize the systematic rape of women and 
                girls in Darfur as crimes against humanity and war crimes.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.