[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1517-1518]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




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

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 213, S. 
Res. 345.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 345) deploring the rape and assault 
     of women in Guinea and the killing of political protesters.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Boxer amendment to the resolution be agreed to; the resolution, as 
amended, be agreed to; the Boxer amendment to the preamble be agreed 
to; the preamble be agreed to; a title amendment which is at the desk 
be agreed to; and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with 
no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the 
resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 3321) was agreed to, as follows:

                (Purpose: To amend the resolving clause)

       In paragraph (1) of the resolving clause, strike ``Guinea, 
     and calls for an immediate cessation of violence, including 
     gender-based violence and targeted killings by security 
     forces'' and insert ``Guinea''.
       Strike paragraphs (2) through (5) of the resolving clause 
     and insert the following:
       (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.


[[Page 1518]]


  The resolution (S. Res. 345), as amended, was agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 3322) was agreed to, as follows:

                    (Purpose: To amend the preamble)

       Strike the 2nd whereas clause of the preamble and insert 
     the following:
       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 for president, after he said that he 
     would not;
       Strike the 3rd whereas clause of the preamble and insert 
     the following:
       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'';
       Strike the 5th whereas clause of the preamble.
       Strike the 6th whereas clause of the preamble.
       Insert between the 7th and 8th whereas clauses of the 
     preamble, the following:
       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.'';
       In the 8th whereas clause of the preamble, strike the 
     ``and'' at the end.
       Strike the 9th whereas clause of the preamble, and insert 
     the following:
       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

  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 3323) was agreed to, as follows:

                     (Purpose: To amend the title)

       Amend the title so as to read: ``A resolution deploring the 
     rape and assault of women in Guinea and the killing of 
     political protesters on September 28, 2009.''.

  The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, reads 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 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.

                          ____________________