[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 9, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S4735]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 909. Mr. THUNE (for Mr. Cruz (for himself and Mr. Durbin))
proposed an amendment to the resolution S. Res. 188, encouraging a
swift transfer of power by the military to a civilian-led political
authority in the Republic of the Sudan, and for other purposes; as
follows:
Strike the preamble and insert the following:
Whereas the nation of Sudan has endured corrupt and brutal
dictatorships for most of its post-independence period since
1956;
Whereas President Omar al-Bashir came to power through a
military coup in 1989, and for the next 3 decades his
government was responsible for horrendous crimes in Sudan,
especially in Darfur, South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and in what
is now the Republic of South Sudan;
Whereas the United States Government designated Sudan as a
State Sponsor of Terrorism on August 12, 1993, for its
support to international terrorist organizations and
extremists, including elements of what would later be known
as al Qaeda;
Whereas more than 2 decades of civil war between President
al-Bashir's government and insurgents in southern Sudan
resulted in more than 2,000,000 deaths and led to the
eventual independence of South Sudan in 2011;
Whereas in 2003, President al-Bashir's government launched
a ruthless crackdown against insurgents and civilians in
Darfur, which killed at least 300,000 Sudanese and displaced
2,500,000 more people, prompting Congress and the
Administration of President George W. Bush, in 2004, to
describe the Government of Sudan's actions in Darfur as
genocide;
Whereas in 2011, when conflict resumed in South Kordofan
and Blue Nile states, President al-Bashir's government
conducted indiscriminate bombings, raided villages, raped and
killed civilians, and waged a campaign of forced starvation
in the Nuba Mountains region of South Kordofan that displaced
as many as 2,000,000 people;
Whereas, while the fighting between government forces and
insurgents in Darfur has subsided since 2016, violent attacks
against civilians continue and humanitarian access remains
restricted in some opposition stronghold areas of Darfur,
South Kordofan, and Blue Nile;
Whereas President al-Bashir remains the subject of 2
outstanding arrest warrants from the International Criminal
Court based on charges that include 5 counts of crimes
against humanity, 2 counts of war crimes, and 3 counts of
genocide;
Whereas Sudan's economic crisis risks bringing the national
economy to total collapse, further increasing the possibility
of state failure and broader regional destabilization that
could threaten a wide array of United States' interests in
East and North Africa and the Red Sea regions;
Whereas the people of Sudan have engaged since December
2018 in a wave of peaceful protests throughout the country,
demanding an end to President al-Bashir's brutal regime and
pressing for a citizen-centered democratic transition;
Whereas women have played a prominent role in the protest
movement and have helped to bring about the ouster of former
President al-Bashir;
Whereas President al-Bashir's government unlawfully
detained and tortured hundreds of Sudanese during the
protests, including political leaders, journalists, doctors,
unionists, and youth and women leaders, in gross violation of
international civil and human rights, some of whom remain in
detention;
Whereas on February 22, 2019, President al-Bashir declared
a year-long nationwide state of emergency and curfew,
dissolved his government, replaced state governors with
senior security officers, and expanded the powers of Sudan's
security forces;
Whereas when protesters in early April 2019 challenged
President al-Bashir's decrees and gathered in the tens of
thousands in front of Sudan's military headquarters in
Khartoum to call for an end to the al-Bashir regime, some
elements of the security forces tried to disperse the crowds
with violence, leading to clashes between internal security
forces and the military as some soldiers sought to protect
the protesters;
Whereas on April 11, 2019, after 5 days of mass protests in
front of their headquarters, Sudan's military removed
President al-Bashir from office, and the country's First Vice
President and Minister of Defense, Lt. General Awad Ibn Auf--
(1) announced that he would lead a Transitional Military
Council that would rule the country for a 2-year period;
(2) suspended the Constitution;
(3) the dissolved the National Assembly; and
(4) imposed a 3-month State of Emergency and nightly
curfew;
Whereas Lt. General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, former general
inspector of the Sudanese Armed Forces, who replaced Lt.
General Ibn Auf on April 12, 2019, as the chairman of the
Transitional Military Council, said, on April 21, 2019, that
the council was ``ready to hand over power tomorrow to a
civilian government agreed by political forces'';
Whereas the Rapid Support Forces, paramilitary forces led
by Lt. General Mohammed Hamdan Dagolo (also known as
``Hemmeti''), a former Janjaweed leader who currently serves
as the deputy chairman of the Transitional Military Council--
(1) have been implicated by the United Nations Panel of
Experts in widespread violations of international
humanitarian law that human rights groups suggest may amount
to war crimes; and
(2) have been accused of killing protesters during the
recent uprising;
Whereas, the African Union Peace and Security Council
convened on April 30, 2019, and reiterated its conviction
that ``a military-led transition in Sudan will be totally
unacceptable and contrary to the will and legitimate
aspirations'' of the Sudanese people, expressed ``deep
regret'' that the military had not stepped aside, and, noting
negotiations were underway, demanded that the military hand
over power to a civilian-led transitional authority within 60
days;
Whereas on June 3, 2019, the Rapid Support Forces led a
brutal attack on peaceful protesters, with the aim of
eradicating a large sit-in site in front of Sudan's military
headquarters in Khartoum, which resulted in more than 100
deaths, hundreds of injuries, several cases of rape,
indiscriminate beatings and shooting of unarmed protesters,
and other human rights abuses;
Whereas, the Khartoum massacre on June 3, 2019, was
followed by a nationwide crackdown led by the Rapid Support
Forces against peaceful protesters and civilians that
included--
(1) violent attacks on citizens in Khartoum and other major
cities;
(2) the brutal detention of protesters and opposition
leaders like Yasir Arman, with many disappearances of those
detained;
(3) the targeting of hospitals and medical workers caring
for the injured; and
(4) the overt attempts by Sudanese authorities to cover-up
the scale of their atrocities by dumping bodies in the Nile
river and shutting off access to the Internet; and
Whereas, the international community has widely condemned
the actions of the Rapid Support Forces, with the African
Union's Peace and Security Council voting on June 6, 2019, to
suspend Sudan from all African Union activities until a
civilian government is formed, and United Nations' experts
appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, on June
12, 2019, calling for an independent investigation into the
violence against protesters in Sudan: Now, therefore, be it
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