[108th Congress Public Law 283]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


[DOCID: f:publ283.108]

[[Page 911]]

                   NORTHERN UGANDA CRISIS RESPONSE ACT

[[Page 118 STAT. 912]]

Public Law 108-283
108th Congress

                                 An Act


 
      To require a report on the conflict in Uganda, and for other 
             purposes. <<NOTE: Aug. 2, 2004 -  [S. 2264]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress <<NOTE: Northern Uganda Crisis 
Response Act.>> assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Northern Uganda Crisis Response 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The United States and the Republic of Uganda enjoy a 
        strong bilateral relationship and continue to work closely 
        together in fighting the human immunodeficiency virus and 
        acquired immune deficiency syndrome (``HIV/AIDS'') pandemic and 
        combating international terrorism.
            (2) For more than 17 years, the Government of Uganda has 
        been engaged in a conflict with the Lord's Resistance Army that 
        has inflicted hardship and suffering on the people of northern 
        and eastern Uganda.
            (3) The members of the Lord's Resistance Army have used 
        brutal tactics during this conflict, including abducting and 
        forcing individuals into sexual servitude, and forcing a large 
        number of children, estimated to be between 16,000 and 26,000 
        children, in Uganda to serve in such Army's military forces.
            (4) The Secretary of State has designated the Lord's 
        Resistance Army as a terrorist organization and placed the 
        Lord's Resistance Army on the Terrorist Exclusion list pursuant 
        to section 212(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
        U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)).
            (5) According to Human Rights Watch, since the mid-1990s the 
        only known sponsor of the Lord's Resistance Army has been the 
        Government of Sudan, though such Government denies providing 
        assistance to the Lord's Resistance Army.
            (6) More than 1,000,000 people have been displaced from 
        their homes in Uganda as a result of the conflict.
            (7) The conflict has resulted in a lack of security for the 
        people of Uganda, and as a result of such lack, each night more 
        than 18,000 children leave their homes and flee to the relative 
        safety of town centers, creating a massive ``night commuter'' 
        phenomenon that leaves already vulnerable children subject to 
        exploitation and abuse.

[[Page 118 STAT. 913]]

            (8) Individuals who have been displaced by the conflict in 
        Uganda often suffer from acute malnutrition and the mortality 
        rate for children in northern Uganda who have been displaced is 
        very high.
            (9) In the latter part of 2003, humanitarian and human 
        rights organizations operating in northern Uganda reported an 
        increase in violence directed at their efforts and at civilians, 
        including a sharp increase in child abductions.
            (10) The Government of Uganda's military efforts to resolve 
        this conflict, including the arming and training of local 
        militia forces, have not ensured the security of civilian 
        populations in the region to date.
            (11) The continued instability and lack of security in 
        Uganda has severely hindered the ability of any organization or 
        governmental entity to deliver regular humanitarian assistance 
        and services to individuals who have been displaced or otherwise 
        negatively affected by the conflict.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that the Government of the United States 
should--
            (1) work vigorously to support ongoing efforts to explore 
        the prospects for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in 
        northern and eastern Uganda;
            (2) work with the Government of Uganda and the international 
        community to make available sufficient resources to meet the 
        immediate relief and development needs of the towns and cities 
        in Uganda that are supporting large numbers of people who have 
        been displaced by the conflict;
            (3) urge the Government of Uganda and the international 
        community to assume greater responsibility for the protection of 
        civilians and economic development in regions in Uganda affected 
        by the conflict, and to place a high priority on providing 
        security, economic development, and humanitarian assistance to 
        the people of Uganda;
            (4) work with the international community, the Government of 
        Uganda, and civil society in northern and eastern Uganda to 
        develop a plan whereby those now displaced may return to their 
        homes or to other locations where they may become economically 
        productive;
            (5) urge the leaders and members of the Lord's Resistance 
        Army to stop the abduction of children, and urge all armed 
        forces in Uganda to stop the use of child soldiers, and seek the 
        release of all individuals who have been abducted;
            (6) make available increased resources for assistance to 
        individuals who were abducted during the conflict, child 
        soldiers, and other children affected by the conflict;
            (7) work with the Government of Uganda, other countries, and 
        international organizations to ensure that sufficient resources 
        and technical support are devoted to the demobilization and 
        reintegration of rebel combatants and abductees forced by their 
        captors to serve in non-combatant support roles;
            (8) cooperate with the international community to support 
        civil society organizations and leaders in Uganda, including 
        Acholi religious leaders, who are working toward a just and 
        lasting resolution to the conflict;

[[Page 118 STAT. 914]]

            (9) urge the Government of Uganda to improve the 
        professionalism of Ugandan military personnel currently 
        stationed in northern and eastern Uganda, with an emphasis on 
        respect for human rights, accountability for abuses, and 
        effective civilian protection;
            (10) work with the international community to assist 
        institutions of civil society in Uganda to increase the capacity 
        of such institutions to monitor the human rights situation in 
        northern Uganda and to raise awareness of abuses of human rights 
        that occur in that area;
            (11) urge the Government of Uganda to permit international 
        human rights monitors to establish a presence in northern and 
        eastern Uganda;
            (12) monitor the creation of civilian militia forces in 
        northern and eastern Uganda and publicize any concerns regarding 
        the recruitment of children into such forces or the potential 
        that the establishment of such forces will invite increased 
        targeting of civilians in the conflict or exacerbate ethnic 
        tension and violence; and
            (13) make clear that the relationship between the Government 
        of Sudan and the Government of the United States cannot improve 
        unless no credible evidence indicates that authorities of the 
        Government of Sudan are complicit in efforts to provide weapons 
        or other support to the Lord's Resistance Army.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

    (a) Requirements.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to 
the appropriate congressional committees on the conflict in Uganda.
    (b) Content.--The report required by subsection (a) shall include a 
description of the following:
            (1) The individuals or entities that are providing financial 
        and material support for the Lord's Resistance Army, including a 
        description of any such support provided by the Government of 
        Sudan or by senior officials of such Government.
            (2) The activities of the Lord's Resistance Army that create 
        obstacles that prohibit the provision of humanitarian assistance 
        or the protection of the civilian population in Uganda.
            (3) The practices employed by the Ugandan People's Defense 
        Forces in northern and eastern Uganda to ensure that children 
        and civilians are protected, that civilian complaints are 
        addressed, and that any member of the armed forces that abuses a 
        civilian is held accountable for such abuse.
            (4) The actions carried out by the Government of the United 
        States, the Government of Uganda, or the international community 
        to protect civilians, especially women and children, who have 
        been displaced by the conflict in Uganda, including women and 
        children that leave their homes and flee to cities and towns at 
        night in search of security from sexual exploitation and gender-
        based violence.

    (c) Form of Report.--The report under subsection (a) shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
    (d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means

[[Page 118 STAT. 915]]

the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on 
International Relations of the House of Representatives.

    Approved August 2, 2004.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 2264:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 150 (2004):
            May 7, considered and passed Senate.
            July 14, 19, considered and passed House.

                                  <all>