1.This Act may be cited as the
Sudan Cessation of Support for the
Lord’s Resistance Army Certification Act of 2011
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)On August 12,
1993, Sudan was designated by the Secretary of State pursuant to section 6(j)
of the Export Administration Act of 1979, section 620A of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and other
provisions of law, as a country that has repeatedly provided support for acts
of international terrorism, more commonly known as a state sponsor of
terrorism
.
(2)For over two
decades, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has terrorized northern Uganda and
central Africa, killing civilians and using brutal tactics such as mutilating,
abducting, and forcing individuals into sexual servitude and forcing as many as
65,000 children to fight as part of the rebel force.
(3)In recognition of
those atrocities, the Secretary of State has since 2001 included the Lord’s
Resistance Army on the Terrorist Exclusion List
pursuant to
section 212(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1182(a)(3)).
(4)Similarly, the
leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony, has been designated a specially
designated global terrorist
, pursuant to Executive Order 13224, and
found by the Secretary of State to pose a significant risk of
committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of United States
nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United
States
.
(5)The Government of
Sudan has a history of supporting the LRA as a proxy force against the Ugandan
Government, and in an effort to destabilize Southern Sudan, providing weapons,
supplies, intelligence, and safe haven to members of the group, making it the
only documented state-supporter of the LRA.
(6)According to the International Crisis
Group, the Sudanese Armed Forces provided material support to the LRA as late
as 2005.
(7)In its November
2010 report, the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of
the Congo asserted that high-level LRA members met with Sudanese Armed Forces
commanders in the Darfur region of Sudan and sought to re-establish
relations with the Sudanese authorities and to request assistance, including
safe passage and political asylum for Joseph Kony
.
(8)The finding of
paragraph (7) has been echoed by former LRA commanders and abductees.
(9)The Ugandan
military, which is leading the regional counter-LRA effort, is operational in
Southern Sudan through an agreement with the Governments of Sudan and Southern
Sudan, but it is not operational in South Darfur, making it a possible safe
haven for LRA fighters.
(10)Pursuant to the
Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009
(Public Law 111–172), which was signed into law May 24, 2010, it is the policy
of the United States to disarm and demobilize
the Lord’s
Resistance Army.
(11)The Obama
Administration has announced that the United States is willing to begin the
process to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism provided
that Sudan allows the referendum on Southern Sudan’s independence to proceed
peacefully and accepts the results.
(12)In an open
session convened by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on January 18, 2011,
Ambassador Princeton Lyman, Department of State Special Advisor for Sudan,
indicated that Sudan could be removed from the state sponsor of terrorism list
by July 2011, but stated that, any support of [the LRA] by proxies or
other such entities would preclude our following through on [removing Sudan
from the state sponsor of terrorism list]
.
3.Continuation of
restrictions against the Republic of Sudan
(a)Restrictions against
the Republic of Sudan that were imposed before, on, or after the date of the
enactment of this Act by reason of a determination of the Secretary of State
that the Republic of Sudan, for purposes of section 6(j) of the Export
Administration Act of 1979, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, section
620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, or other provision of law, is a
government that has repeatedly provided support for acts of international
terrorism, shall remain in effect, and may not be lifted pursuant to such
provisions of law, unless, in addition to meeting the applicable requirements
under such provisions of law to lift such restrictions, the President submits
to Congress a written certification described in subsection (b).
(b)A
certification referred to in subsection (a) is a certification that contains a
determination of the President that the Republic of Sudan is no longer engaged
in training, harboring, supplying, financing, or supporting in any way the
Lord’s Resistance Army, its leader Joseph Kony, or his top commanders.