[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 150 (Wednesday, December 10, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S6579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           RECOGNIZING 20 YEARS SINCE THE GENOCIDE IN RWANDA

  On Tuesday, December 9, 2014, the Senate adopted S. Res. 413, as 
amended, with its preamble, as amended, as follows:

                              S. Res. 413

       Whereas in the aftermath of the Holocaust, the United 
     Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the 
     Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide declaring 
     that genocide, whether committed in a time of peace or war, 
     is a crime under international law;
       Whereas the United States was the first country to sign the 
     Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of 
     Genocide, and the Senate voted to ratify the Convention on 
     the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide on 
     February 11, 1986;
       Whereas, for approximately 100 days between April 7, 1994, 
     and July 1994, more than 800,000 civilians were killed in a 
     genocide in Rwanda that targeted members of the Tutsi, 
     moderate Hutu, and Twa populations, resulting in the horrific 
     deaths of nearly 70 percent of the Tutsi population living in 
     Rwanda;
       Whereas the massacres of innocent Rwandan civilians were 
     premeditated and systematic attempts to eliminate the Tutsi 
     population by Hutu extremists, fueled by hatred and 
     incitement propagated by newspapers and radio;
       Whereas in addition to systematic targeting of an ethnic 
     minority in Rwanda resulting in the mass slaughter of 
     innocent civilians, rape was also used as a weapon of war;
       Whereas, despite the deployment of the United Nations 
     Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) in October 1993 
     following the end of the Rwandan Civil War, its mandate was 
     insufficient to ensure the protection of large swathes of the 
     population, demonstrating the inability of the United Nations 
     to effectively respond to the unfolding genocide and stop or 
     mitigate its impact;
       Whereas, on July 4, 1994, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a 
     trained military group consisting of formerly exiled Tutsis, 
     began its takeover of the country, which resulted in an 
     ending of the genocide, though not a complete end to the 
     violence, including retribution;
       Whereas, in October 1994, the International Criminal 
     Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was established as the first 
     international tribunal with the mandate to prosecute the 
     crime of genocide and ultimately prosecuted 63 individuals 
     for war crimes, including genocide and crimes against 
     humanity as well as the first convictions for rape as a 
     weapon of war;
       Whereas the United States Government supports initiatives 
     to ensure that victims of genocide and mass atrocities are 
     not forgotten, and has committed to work with international 
     partners to help prevent genocide and mass atrocities and 
     identify and support a range of actions to protect civilian 
     populations at risk;
       Whereas, in July 2004, the Senate adopted Senate Concurrent 
     Resolution 133 and the House of Representatives adopted House 
     Concurrent Resolution 467, declaring that ``the atrocities 
     unfolding in Darfur, Sudan, are genocide'', and calling on 
     the United States Government and the international community 
     to take measures to address the situation immediately;
       Whereas, in September 2004, the United States Government, 
     in testimony by Secretary of State Colin Powell before the 
     Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, declared the 
     ongoing conflict in Darfur, Sudan, a ``genocide'' perpetrated 
     by the government based in Khartoum against its own people 
     and affecting over 2,400,000 people in Sudan, including an 
     estimated 200,000 fatalities;
       Whereas, in September 2005, the United States joined other 
     members of the United Nations in adopting United Nations 
     General Assembly Resolution 60/1, which affirmed that the 
     international community has a responsibility to use 
     appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means 
     to help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic 
     cleansing, and crimes against humanity;
       Whereas, in December 2011, the Senate unanimously passed 
     Senate Concurrent Resolution 71, recognizing the United 
     States national interest in helping to prevent and mitigate 
     acts of genocide and other mass atrocities against civilians, 
     and urging the development of a whole of government approach 
     to prevent and mitigate such acts;
       Whereas, in April 2012, President Barack Obama established 
     the Atrocities Prevention Board within the United States 
     inter-agency structure, chaired by National Security staff, 
     to help identify and more effectively address atrocity 
     threats, including genocide, as a core national security 
     interest and core moral responsibility;
       Whereas, in July 2013, the National Intelligence Council 
     completed the first ever National Intelligence Estimate on 
     the global risk for mass atrocities and genocide;
       Whereas, in January 2014, the National Director of 
     Intelligence testified before the Select Committee on 
     Intelligence of the Senate, stating that ``the overall risk 
     of mass atrocities worldwide will probably increase in 2014 
     and beyond. . . . Much of the world will almost certainly 
     turn to the United States for leadership to prevent and 
     respond to mass atrocities.'';
       Whereas, despite measures taken by the United States 
     Government and other governments since 1994, the 
     international community still faces the challenges of 
     responding to escalation of violence, atrocities, and 
     religious-based conflict in many corners of the globe, 
     including Syria and the Central African Republic, and a 
     failure of the international community to appropriately 
     respond to and address the rapidly deteriorating situation 
     could result in further atrocities;
       Whereas the United Nations Security Council was unable to 
     pass a resolution condemning the Government of Bashar al 
     Assad of Syria for the use of chemical weapons against 
     civilians, killing more than 1,400 of his own people in 
     August 2013; and
       Whereas United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon 
     recommended to the United Nations Security Council the 
     establishment of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the 
     Central African Republic with the primary mandate to protect 
     civilians: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the United Nations designation of April 7th 
     as the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in 
     Rwanda;
       (2) honors the memory of the more than 800,000 victims of 
     the Rwandan genocide and expresses sympathy for those whose 
     lives were forever changed by this horrific event;
       (3) expresses support for the people of Rwanda as they 
     remember the victims of genocide;
       (4) affirms it is in the national interest of the United 
     States to work in close coordination with international 
     partners to prevent and mitigate acts of genocide and mass 
     atrocities;
       (5) condemns ongoing acts of violence and mass atrocities 
     perpetrated against innocent civilians in Syria, the Central 
     African Republic, South Sudan, Sudan and elsewhere;
       (6) urges the President to confer with Congress on an 
     ongoing basis regarding the priorities and objectives of the 
     Atrocities Prevention Board;
       (7) urges the President to work with Congress to strengthen 
     the United States Government's ability to identify and more 
     rapidly respond to genocide and mass atrocities in order to 
     prevent where possible and mitigate the impact of such 
     events;
       (8) clarifies that nothing in this resolution shall be 
     construed as an authorization for the use of force or a 
     declaration of war; and
       (9) supports ongoing United States and international 
     efforts to--
       (A) strengthen multilateral peacekeeping capacities;
       (B) build capacity for democratic rule of law, security 
     sector reform, and other measures to improve civilian 
     protection in areas of conflict;
       (C) ensure measures of accountability for per-petrators of 
     mass atrocities and crimes against humanity; and
       (D) strengthen the work of United States and international 
     institutions, such as the Holocaust Memorial Museum, which 
     are working to document, identify, and prevent mass 
     atrocities and inspire citizens and leaders worldwide to 
     confront hatred and prevent genocide.

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