[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 23, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S712-S713]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 DEPLORING THE RAPE AND ASSAULT OF WOMEN IN GUINEA AND THE KILLING OF 
                          POLITICAL PROTESTERS

  On Monday, February 22, 2010, the Senate agreed to S. Res. 345, as 
amended, as follows:

                              S. Res. 345

       Whereas, on December 23, 2008, a group of military officers 
     calling itself the National Council for Democracy and 
     Development (referred to in this preamble as the ``CNDD'') 
     seized power in a coup in Guinea, installed as interim 
     President Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, and promised to hold 
     elections;
       Whereas, on September 28, 2009, authorities of the 
     Government of Guinea opened fire on a crowd of thousands of 
     unarmed opposition protesters who were gathered in and around 
     an outdoor stadium to protest statements made by Captain 
     Camara that he may run

[[Page S713]]

     for president, after he said that he would not;
       Whereas, on September 29, 2009, the United States 
     Department of State condemned the brazen and inappropriate 
     use of force by the military against civilians in Guinea, and 
     demanded the immediate release of opposition leaders and a 
     return to civilian rule as soon as possible;
       Whereas according to the United Nations Security Council 
     Report of the International Commission of Inquiry Mandated to 
     Establish the Facts and Circumstances of the Events of 28 
     September 2009 in Guinea, 156 people were killed or 
     disappeared and at least 109 women and girls ``were subjected 
     to rape and other sexual violence, including sexual 
     mutilation and sexual slavery'';
       Whereas according to Human Rights Watch, these killings and 
     assaults were part of a ``premeditated massacre'' in which 
     the ``level, frequency, and brutality of sexual violence that 
     took place at and after the protests strongly suggests that 
     it was part of a systematic attempt to terrorize and 
     humiliate the opposition, not just random acts by rogue 
     soldiers'';
       Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
     Rights characterized the events as a ``blood bath'' and 
     stated that they ``must not become part of the fabric of 
     impunity that has enveloped Guinea for decades'';
       Whereas according to the humanitarian organization CARE, 
     ``What happened in Guinea is an outrage--and a stark reminder 
     of a larger epidemic of violence against women and girls 
     around the world.'';
       Whereas Amnesty International reports that violence against 
     women knows few bounds, and that ``in armed conflicts, 
     countless women and girls are raped and sexually abused by 
     security forces and opposition groups as an act of war, and 
     often face additional violence in refugee camps. Government 
     sponsored violence also exists in peacetime, with women 
     assaulted while in police custody, in prison, and at the 
     hands of any number of state actors.'' and that ``violence 
     against women is a violation of human rights that cannot be 
     justified by any political, religious, or cultural claim'';
       Whereas the International Commission of Inquiry of the 
     United Nations concluded that ``the crimes perpetrated on 28 
     September 2009 and in the immediate aftermath can be 
     described as crimes against humanity'' and that there is 
     sufficient evidence that Captain Camara ``incurred individual 
     criminal liability and command responsibility for the events 
     that occurred during the attack and related events in their 
     immediate aftermath'';
       Whereas, on January 15, 2010, General Sekouba Konate and 
     Captain Camara of the Republic of Guinea and President Blaise 
     Compaore of Burkina Faso signed the Joint Declaration of 
     Ouagadougou pledging to form a transitional government of 
     national unity in Guinea, to hold elections within six months 
     without the participation of candidates from the military 
     junta, and to permit the entry of an international observer 
     mission from the Economic Community of West African States; 
     and
       Whereas, in accordance with the Joint Declaration of 
     Ouagadougou, a prime minister from the coalition of 
     opposition forces, Forces Vives, has been named to the 
     transitional government: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) deplores the rape and assault of women and the killing 
     of political protestors in Guinea;
       (2) urges the prosecution, by the appropriate authorities, 
     of those responsible for orchestrating or carrying out the 
     violence in Guinea;
       (3) urges the President, in coordination with leaders from 
     the European Union and the African Union, to continue to 
     consider punitive measures that could be taken against senior 
     officials in Guinea found to be complicit in the violence, 
     and in particular, the atrocities perpetrated against women 
     and other gross human rights violations;
       (4) encourages the President to remain actively engaged in 
     the political situation in Guinea, and to continue to convey 
     that the blatant abuse of women will not be tolerated;
       (5) calls on President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso to 
     ensure that Captain Camara does not return to Guinea in order 
     to allow a peaceful transition to civilian rule;
       (6) notes that the first steps set forth in the Joint 
     Declaration of Ouagadougou have been initiated with the 
     naming of a prime minister and urges all parties to continue 
     to adhere to the agreement to see the process through free, 
     fair, and timely elections; and
       (7) recognizes the importance of the multilateral observer 
     mission to help ensure peace and security in Guinea during 
     the period of transition.

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