[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2989 Introduced in House (IH)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2989
To encourage the warring parties of South Sudan to resolve their
conflict peacefully, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 8, 2015
Mr. Rooney of Florida (for himself, Mr. Capuano, Mr. McCaul, Ms. Lee,
and Mr. Fortenberry) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee
on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To encourage the warring parties of South Sudan to resolve their
conflict peacefully, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``South Sudan Peace Promotion and
Accountability Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; STATEMENT OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) In December 2013, tensions between political leaders
sparked a new civil conflict in South Sudan that has killed
tens of thousands, displaced an estimated two million people,
including over 500,000 refugees, and left 4.6 million people--
40 percent of the population--facing the threat of extreme
hunger and in need of immediate humanitarian assistance.
(2) Since the United States helped broker the 2005
Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ultimately set the
framework for the 2011 South Sudan referendum in which the
people of South Sudan chose independence, the United States has
remained the leading donor to South Sudan.
(3) The warring parties have repeatedly impeded and
interfered with the delivery of humanitarian assistance and
threatened aid workers, showing little regard for the dire
conditions facing the people of South Sudan.
(4) The warring parties have often defied international
humanitarian and human rights law, committing acts of sexual
violence, recruiting and using children as soldiers, and
targeting and killing civilians based on their ethnicity or
perceived allegiances, among other atrocities.
(5) While representatives of the warring parties agreed in
the January 21, 2015, Arusha Communique that they bear full
responsibility for South Sudan's crisis and that those
individuals responsible for atrocities should be held
accountable, no party to the conflict has taken credible steps
to hold any senior civilian or military leader to account, and
instead continue to commit atrocities with impunity.
(6) Eight commitments and recommitments to cease
hostilities have been broken, and the most recent round of
peace talks held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, under the auspices
of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) from
January 2014 through March 5, 2015, failed to bring meaningful
progress to end the war.
(7) The African Union (AU) has joined the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development (IGAD) in pursuing other options to
bring peace in South Sudan, including discussion of targeted
sanctions on individuals in South Sudan who continue to
undermine the peace process.
(8) Regional actors and other external entities continue to
undermine the peace process through various means, including
through the transfer of arms and other support to the warring
parties, and through the presence of foreign forces
participating in the conflict.
(9) The proliferation of small arms in South Sudan
continues to fuel the killing of innocent civilians and is
instrumental in undermining the peace process.
(10) Attempts to establish peace and stability in South
Sudan have not resulted in a comprehensive peace agreement,
including mediation supported by IGAD and initiatives to
address divisions within the Sudan People's Liberation Movement
(SPLM) by Tanzania and South Africa.
(11) On March 3, 2015, the United Nations Security Council
(UNSC) adopted Security Council Resolution 2206 which condemned
the flagrant violations of the various cessation of hostilities
agreements, underscored its willingness to impose targeted
sanctions against those responsible for actions or policies
that threatened South Sudan's peace, security, or stability,
requested that the United Nations Secretary General form a
panel of experts to identify responsible individuals or
entities, and indicated a willingness to consider an arms
embargo in the future.
(12) On April 3, 2014, President Obama signed Executive
Order 13664, which allows for additional targeted sanctions and
a visa ban against those individuals whose actions threaten the
peace, security or stability of South Sudan, obstruct the peace
talks and processes, undermine democratic institutions, or
commit human rights abuses. The Administration has already
designated four individuals under this order, two from the
Government of South Sudan and two from the opposition. Canada
and the European Union have implemented similar regimes.
(13) On May 29, 2015, the Government of South Sudan
expelled the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, Toby
Lanzer, who was tasked with overseeing the vast humanitarian
operation in South Sudan.
(14) The date July 9, 2015, should signify and celebrate
South Sudan's independence and peaceful recovery from decades
of war, yet the violence against children in South Sudan has
reached a new level of brutality. Children are being
aggressively recruited into armed groups on both sides of the
conflict and forced to participate in a conflict not of their
making. The psychological and physical effects on these
children must be recognized and addressed and this violence
against the innocent must stop immediately.
(b) Statement of Congress.--Congress--
(1) recognizes that there has been a dramatic failure of
leadership in South Sudan that has left South Sudanese
civilians in a protracted and unacceptable state of suffering,
and that the United States stands in solidarity with the people
of South Sudan as they call for peace;
(2) urges all parties involved in the conflict to
immediately cease all violence and work towards a negotiated,
publicly transparent settlement developed through diplomacy and
reconciliation, and urges that this process be inclusive to
South Sudanese civil society, including women and traditional
leaders, to bring about peace and stability in South Sudan;
(3) stresses the need to adequately communicate to the
South Sudanese people the proposed process for the
establishment of a transitional government to carry South Sudan
through the development of a fully inclusive national dialogue,
constitutional and internal government reform, national peace
and reconciliation efforts, and eventually an inclusive,
credible process towards national elections;
(4) stresses the need for the Administration to continue to
promote freedoms of association and expression in South Sudan,
and to support the growth of effective, resilient, and
empowered civil society organizations, particularly those
organizations that are transparent, representative, and promote
the active inclusion and participation of women and girls;
(5) expresses concern over the March 23, 2015, decision of
the Parliament of South Sudan to extend by three years the
terms of President Kiir and other elected officials, and urges
the Government of South Sudan to ensure that this does not
curtail the urgent need for a negotiated peace agreement with
the opposition and a transitional government of national unity
as had been committed to by both parties in IGAD negotiations
on May 9, 2014;
(6) welcomes the efforts by the Administration to push for
the public release of the full report by the AU Commission of
Inquiry (CoI) in South Sudan, and emphasizes the positive
impact the release of this report, and resulting prosecutions
of those individuals determined responsible for conflict or
human rights crimes, would have for accountability, justice,
and closure for the people of South Sudan;
(7) calls on the United States Permanent Representative to
the United Nations to promote human rights monitoring carried
out by United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and
advocate for publicly releasing reports on the human rights
situation in South Sudan on a regular basis;
(8) approves of the ongoing efforts by the Administration
to use the necessary tools, as outlined in Security Council
Resolution 2206, to increase pressure on the warring parties to
come to the negotiating table following the failure of the
parties to meet the March 5, 2015, IGAD deadline in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia;
(9) supports the ongoing efforts by the United States
Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use the
voice, vote, and influence of the United States at the United
Nations to work with regional countries and like-minded
countries to fully implement Security Council Resolution 2206;
(10) applauds the United Nations Security Council and the
Department of the Treasury for imposing sanctions on
individuals on both sides of the conflict in South Sudan and
supports the efforts of the Department of the Treasury and the
Department of State to identify candidates for designation
under Executive Order 13664;
(11) urges the Department of the Treasury to prioritize
investigative actions that uncover the illicit financial flows
fueling the ongoing violence and contributing to the extended
humanitarian suffering of the people caught in the conflict;
(12) supports the establishment of a credible, independent
hybrid judicial court or investigation by the International
Criminal Court or other credible judicial court and for all
parties in South Sudan to deliberate in a peaceful manner for
transitional justice and a truth and reconciliation commission;
(13) urges the Administration to continue to offer and
further expand support for resilience and development
programming in parts of South Sudan less affected by conflict
or otherwise suited for such programming in order to preserve
and expand where possible the fragile gains in health,
education, agricultural productivity, and economic development;
(14) applauds the work of the United Nations peacekeeping
mission, which by sheltering over 100,000 people within its
compounds has saved thousands of live, as well as the
continuous humanitarian and human rights work in the region
from many national and international nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations, faith-based
groups, and international organizations, and calls on all
parties to the conflict to respect and support the unfettered
access of humanitarian organizations to provide aid to all
civilian populations during humanitarian crises;
(15) condemns the expulsion of Toby Lanzer, the United
Nations Humanitarian Coordinator by the Government of South
Sudan at a time when the humanitarian crisis continues to grow;
(16) urges all parties to respect the neutrality of UNMISS
sites and expresses the need for the Administration to work
with the Government of South Sudan on its compliance with its
Status of Forces Agreement with UNMISS to ensure it is
respecting, supporting and protecting the work of UNMISS
personnel as they endeavor to protect internally displaced
people sheltering at UNMISS bases and those individuals outside
these bases who are displaced by the ongoing fighting; and
(17) expresses the need for the Administration to
capitalize on opportunities to engage in dialogue at the
highest levels with like-minded members of the international
community to further promote positive engagement in South Sudan
to bring about a reform process that addresses the root causes
of this conflict.
SEC. 3. CODIFICATION OF SANCTIONS.
(a) Restriction.--The sanctions imposed on individuals identified
in the Federal Register as of the date of the enactment of this Act
related to South Sudan, and all other such individuals so identified
after such date, specified in Executive Order No. 13664 of April 3,
2014 (Blocking Property of Certain Persons With Respect to South
Sudan), as in effect on the day before such date of enactment, shall
remain in effect until the President has certified to the appropriate
congressional committees that such sanctions are no longer necessary.
(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed
to limit the authority of the President to impose additional sanctions
pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.
1701 et seq.), relevant executive orders, regulations, or other
provisions of law.
SEC. 4. REPORTING AND STRATEGY.
(a) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report
regarding the United States engagement with South Sudan.
(2) Contents.--The report required under paragraph (1) may
contain a classified annex and shall include the following:
(A) An update on the peace process and a
description of the Administration's direct support for
diplomatic engagement, including the United States
efforts to mitigate challenges that arise within the
negotiations, a description of those challenges, and
the overall diplomatic strategy to end the conflict.
(B) An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses
of the existing peace process and related regional
activities impacting the process, and a plan to
strengthen that process or to develop complementary or
alternative diplomatic efforts to achieve peace and
foster stability in South Sudan.
(C) An assessment of the impact of existing
targeted sanctions on South Sudan, including those
sanctions imposed under Executive Order No. 13664 and
subsequent actions by the Administration and
international community to expand targeted sanctions,
and the efforts made to date, including an assessment
of the proposed impact of and challenges associated
with, building an international consensus to enforce an
arms embargo.
(D) The Administration's current policy regarding
the export, sale, distribution, transfer, lending, or
gift of defense articles or defense services (as such
terms are defined in section 47 of the Arms Export
Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2794)) to the Government of the
Republic of South Sudan and those armed forces in
opposition to the Government of the Republic of South
Sudan.
(E) A detailed description of the known sources of
arms and related material dispatched to the warring
parties since the onset of the conflict.
(F) A description of the efforts taken by the
Administration to support, develop, maintain, or expand
foreign assistance programming in parts of South Sudan
less affected by conflict or otherwise suited for such
programming.
(G) An assessment of South Sudan's domestic
capacity to support a hybrid judicial court and the
options for the establishment of such a court.
(b) Strategy.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
transmission of the report required under subsection (a), the
President shall transmit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate a strategy to guide future United
States engagement with South Sudan.
(2) Content of strategy.--The strategy required under
paragraph (1) may contain a classified annex and shall include
the following:
(A) A plan to help strengthen efforts by the United
Nations peacekeeping mission in concert with the
regional and international diplomatic and donor
community to protect South Sudanese civilians affected
by the conflict, particularly women and children.
(B) A strategy to advance peace and reconciliation
efforts in the South Sudan and for supporting the rule
of law in affected areas.
(C) An interagency framework plan to coordinate and
review diplomatic, development, and military elements
of United States policy, including expended, obligated,
and requested funding amounts contained in annual
budget submissions to Congress, for South Sudan and the
region.
(D) A description of the Administration's strategy
to support documentation and investigation of instances
of human rights abuses and corruption, parties'
financing of the conflict, and to monitor and combat
illicit financial flows fueling the ongoing violence,
and the resources necessary to adequately support these
efforts.
(E) A description of ways the United States is
working with the United Nations to gather information
on events taking place on the ground in South Sudan
that may be attributing to instability, as well as
information on those individuals of South Sudan or non-
native entities that are implicated in violations of
international and human rights law, and information
regarding the root causes of the proliferation of
weapons in South Sudan, and a plan for sharing
information with the United Nations Panel of Experts.
(F) A plan to assist in refugee and internally
displaced persons' (IDPs) voluntary return and
reintegration into communities once they determine
conditions are appropriate for return, including
efforts to provide support for children needing both
psychological and physical rehabilitation.
(G) A plan to pursue high-level engagement with the
regional and like-minded governments in order promote a
better environment for resolution of the crisis, to
halt the flow of arms from all external sources, and to
support the creation, implementation, and enforcement
of a United Nations Security Council arms embargo and
targeted individual sanctions on all parties to the
conflict in South Sudan.
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