[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 20 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 20

 Condemning the October 25, 2021, military coup in Sudan and standing 
                       with the people of Sudan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 4, 2021

   Mr. Menendez (for himself and Mr. Risch) submitted the following 
 concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Condemning the October 25, 2021, military coup in Sudan and standing 
                       with the people of Sudan.

Whereas the people of the Republic of Sudan suffered for three decades under the 
        despotic rule of President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, whose government 
        was responsible for the suppression of civil liberties, grand 
        corruption, support for international terrorism, and the commission of 
        crimes against humanity and genocide;
Whereas, throughout 2019, a coalition of Sudanese civic groups, including 
        professional associations, labor unions, community groups, democracy 
        activists, and opposition parties, led a mass protest movement to demand 
        the end of Bashir's reign and the transition to democracy in Sudan;
Whereas, on April 11, 2019, Sudanese military officers deposed Bashir, and, 
        following continued protests, agreed to form a transitional government 
        in partnership with a civilian pro-democracy coalition on July 17, 2019;
Whereas, on June 3, 2019, Sudanese forces led by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), 
        largely comprised of Janjaweed militia involved in genocidal campaigns 
        across Darfur for decades, opened fire on protesters at an army command 
        headquarters in Khartoum, killing at least 127 people, at least 40 of 
        whom were found in the Nile River;
Whereas the military and civilian elements agreed to a 39-month transition to 
        democracy, with a Civilian-Led Transitional Government (CLTG) comprised 
        of a predominantly civilian cabinet led by Prime Minister Abdallah 
        Hamdok, a Sovereign Council, an executive body with civilian and 
        military members chaired for the first half of the transitional period 
        by Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and a Transitional 
        Legislative Council, which has yet to be formed;
Whereas the United States and the international community supported Sudan's 
        transition to democracy, with the United States identifying more than 
        $1,000,000,000 in foreign assistance, and the multilateral Friends of 
        Sudan group pledging $1,800,000,000 from roughly 50 countries and 
        international organizations;
Whereas the CLTG made progress in human rights reforms, including guaranteeing 
        the people of Sudan freedom of religion and gender equality under the 
        transitional constitution, banning female genital mutilation, and 
        decriminalizing apostasy;
Whereas, in August 2021, when the Sudanese Cabinet ratified the Rome Statute of 
        the International Criminal Court (ICC), the CLTG made progress towards 
        ending impunity for abusers of human rights, stating its intention to 
        deliver Omar al-Bashir to the ICC to stand trial for genocide, war 
        crimes, and crimes against humanity, and formed civilian committees to 
        investigate corruption and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the 
        Bashir regime;
Whereas the transitional government negotiated a peace agreement with several 
        rebel groups, a step towards ending decades of conflict in the regions 
        of Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile, which killed hundreds of 
        thousands of civilians and left more than 3,000,000 people displaced 
        within Sudan;
Whereas Sudan continues to face a serious humanitarian situation, with an 
        estimated 13,400,000 people, or 29 percent of the population, in need of 
        humanitarian assistance in 2021;
Whereas Sudan faces a severe economic crisis, exacerbated by the COVID-19 
        pandemic, which caused the price of food and consumer goods to increase 
        significantly, while austerity measures imposed to stabilize the economy 
        resulted in the reduction or elimination of subsidies for commodities 
        including wheat and fuel;
Whereas the political tensions between the civilian and military elements and 
        within factions of the civilian coalition undermined the CLTG and 
        contributed to widespread unrest within the Sudanese population relating 
        to a range of issues, including the economic crisis, ethnic and tribal 
        conflict in peripheral regions, and the unsatisfactory pace of reforms;
Whereas, on September 21, 2021, some members of the military reportedly 
        attempted a coup d'etat against the transitional government, which 
        failed to depose the government but succeeded in precipitating the most 
        serious political crisis of the transition period;
Whereas, on October 21, 2021, hundreds of thousands of people across Sudan 
        demonstrated in support of democratic civilian rule, to counter a 
        smaller protest days prior demanding the military take complete control 
        of the government;
Whereas, on October 25, 2021, Lieutenant General Burhan, with the support of 
        General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as ``Hemedti'', seized control 
        of the government, deployed the military to the streets of Khartoum and 
        Omdurman, and arrested and detained Prime Minister Hamdok and other 
        civilian officials;
Whereas the African Union Peace and Security Council convened on October 27, 
        2021, strongly condemned the coup, reaffirmed the mandate of the CLTG, 
        and subsequently suspended Sudan from the regional body ``with immediate 
        effect . . . until the effective restoration'' of the CLTG;
Whereas the actions of Lieutenant General Burhan and the Sudanese military 
        violate Sudan's Constitutional Charter and threaten to plunge Sudan into 
        isolation and instability;
Whereas the United States Government publicly condemned the coup, suspended its 
        foreign assistance to Sudan, and urged Lieutenant General Burhan and his 
        accomplices to restore the CLTG and return Sudan to the path to 
        democracy; and
Whereas the Troika (the United States, United Kingdom, Norway), the European 
        Union, and Switzerland ``continue to recognize the Prime Minister and 
        his cabinet as the constitutional leaders of the transitional 
        government'' and ``confirm once again the international calls for the 
        immediate return to the roadmap for democratic transition of Sudan'': 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) condemns the October 25, 2021, coup in Sudan;
            (2) stands with the people of Sudan in their democratic 
        aspirations;
            (3) recognizes the Prime Minister and his cabinet as the 
        constitutional leaders of Sudan's transitional government;
            (4) calls for Sudan's military junta to--
                    (A) immediately release all civilian government 
                officials, civil society members, and other individuals 
                detained in connection with the coup;
                    (B) return to constitutional rule under the 
                transitional constitution as the starting point for 
                negotiations with civilians toward full civilian rule;
                    (C) lift the state of emergency, including complete 
                restoration of all means of communication;
                    (D) remove all roadblocks and checkpoints, and 
                order the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and RSF to stand 
                down and comply with international recognized rules of 
                engagement;
                    (E) ensure security forces respect the right to 
                peaceful protest and hold those who used excessive 
                force and committed other abuses accountable in a 
                transparent, credible process;
                    (F) cease all attempts to change the civilian 
                composition of the cabinet, Sovereign Council, and 
                other government bodies; and
                    (G) transfer leadership of the Sovereign Council to 
                a civilian member of the Sovereign Council in keeping 
                with the transitional constitution;
            (5) calls on the Secretary of State to--
                    (A) immediately identify coup leaders, their 
                accomplices, and enablers for consideration for 
                targeted sanctions;
                    (B) urge junta leaders to return immediately to the 
                rule of law as set forth by the transitional 
                constitution;
                    (C) monitor, discourage, and deter any effort by 
                external parties to support the coup and the military 
                junta;
                    (D) coordinate with--
                            (i) the Administrator of the United States 
                        Agency for International Development and other 
                        Federal Government agencies to pause all non-
                        humanitarian bilateral assistance to Sudan 
                        until restoration of the transitional 
                        constitutional order;
                            (ii) the Department of the Treasury to use 
                        the voice and vote of the United States in 
                        international financial institutions to suspend 
                        all actions related to non-humanitarian loans 
                        or debt relief to Sudan until restoration of 
                        the transitional constitutional order; and
                            (iii) the United States Permanent 
                        Representative to the United Nations to ensure 
                        the United Nations Security Council is seized 
                        of the matter on an ongoing basis; and
                    (E) work with the Troika to engage members of the 
                international community to join these United States 
                actions; and
            (6) calls on international partners to--
                    (A) join United States efforts to impose targeted 
                sanctions on the junta and other accomplices to the 
                coup, monitor, discourage, and deter any effort by 
                external parties to support the junta, and urge junta 
                leaders to return to the rule of law as set forth by 
                the transitional constitution; and
                    (B) suspend Sudan's participation in all regional 
                multilateral organizations until Sudan is returned to 
                constitutional rule under the transitional 
                constitution.
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