IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 723 

Calling on the President to take immediate steps to help improve the security 

situation in Darfur, Sudan, with a specific emphasis on civilian protection. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2006 

Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mr. PITTS, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mr. MCCOTTER, Ms. LEE, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. 

ADERHOLT, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. GORDON, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Ms. 

LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RUSH, Ms. WATSON, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. NEAL

of Massachusetts, Mr. OWENS, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. CLAY, Mr. ACKERMAN, 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. WEXLER, and Mr. CONYERS) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on International Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the President to take immediate steps to help 

improve the security situation in Darfur, Sudan, with 

a specific emphasis on civilian protection. 

Whereas the United States Congress and Administration are 

on record as declaring that the atrocities being committed in Darfur, Sudan are genocide; 

Whereas the April 8, 2004, N’Djamena Ceasefire Agreement, 

calling for an end to hostilities in Darfur has been flagrantly violated by the Government of Sudan and its 


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•HRES 723 IH 

proxies, the Janjaweed militias, which have continued to 

engage in acts of genocide against innocent civilians; 

Whereas the African Union (AU) deployed the African Union 

Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to Darfur to monitor the violence and, in spite of attacks on AMIS observers that has 

resulted in kidnappings and deaths, AMIS has protected 

civilians from further violence and, according to Human 

Rights Watch, while the mandate of AMIS does not allow 

for proactive protection of civilians, AMIS has been successful in creating pockets of security for displaced persons simply through its presence; 

Whereas rebel movements known as the Sudanese Liberation 

Army (SLA) and the Justice and Empowerment Movement (JEM) have violated the N’Djamena Ceasefire 

Agreement and such violations have contributed to growing instability; 

Whereas the Government of Sudan and its armed militia 

groups continue to commit crimes against humanity and 

engage in genocidal acts in Darfur, in spite of the presence of AMIS forces, and, as of February 22, 2006, 

Janjaweed militias were still attacking innocent villagers 

in retaliation for encounters with rebel forces; 

Whereas subsequent to the signing of the Comprehensive 

Peace Agreement between the Government of Sudan and 

the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Sudan People’s 

Liberation Army (SPLM/SPLA) on January 9, 2005, the 

Government of Sudan refused a proposal from the Sudan 

People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) to send joint 

troops to protect civilians and disarm the governmentsupported militia; 


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•HRES 723 IH 

Whereas United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has 

indicated that, ‘‘People in many parts of Darfur continue 

to be killed, raped, and driven from their homes by the 

thousands.’’; 

Whereas it has been reported that an estimated 300,000 to 

400,000 people have died in the conflict-affected area of 

Darfur and eastern Chad, and due to the number of 

areas that cannot be accounted for, the total number of 

deaths may be higher; 

Whereas nearly 2,000,000 people have been internally displaced, 3,000,000 people are dependant on international 

assistance to survive, and more than 200,000 people are 

refugees in neighboring Chad due to the conflict in 

Darfur; 

Whereas Human Rights Watch reported on February 16, 

2006, that Janjaweed militias and Chadian rebel groups 

with support from the Sudanese Government were 

launching deadly cross-border raids on villages in eastern 

Chad, further escalating the humanitarian crisis for the 

people of Darfur; 

Whereas Salim Ahmed Salim, the AU Special Envoy for the 

Darfur Talks and Chief Mediator at the ongoing talks in 

Abuja, Nigeria, indicated that all parties to existing 

ceasefire agreements were increasingly resorting to military attacks in contravention of such agreements and impeding the distribution of humanitarian aid to millions of 

people in need and that, in each month since October 

2005, the violence in Darfur has worsened; 

Whereas the ongoing assault on civilians by Sudanese Government forces and Janjaweed militias requires forces 

larger than the current AMIS forces and with a stronger 


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•HRES 723 IH 

mandate than such AMIS forces in order to adequately 

protect civilians in Darfur; 

Whereas the United States has demonstrated leadership on 

the Sudan issue for years by mediating Sudan’s NorthSouth Peace Agreement, by declaring genocide in Darfur, 

by providing nearly $1 billion in humanitarian assistance 

over time, and by having United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations John Bolton, in his 

first action as President of the United Nations Security 

Council, request in February 2006 that Secretary-General Annan initiate contingency planning for a transition 

from AMIS to a United Nations peacekeeping operation; 

Whereas, although the United Nations Security Council has 

concurred with this recommendation and taken steps toward establishing a United Nations peacekeeping mission 

for Darfur, reports have concluded that it could take up 

to a year for such a mission to deploy fully; 

Whereas, as the deteriorating security situation in Darfur indicates, the people of Darfur cannot wait that long for 

security to be reestablished; 

Whereas the international community currently has no plan 

to address the immediate security needs of the people of 

Darfur; and 

Whereas all members of the international community must 

participate in efforts to stop genocide, war crimes, and 

crimes against humanity in Darfur: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) commends the Africa Union Mission in 

3 Sudan (AMIS) for its actions in monitoring the 


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•HRES 723 IH 

1 N’Djamena Ceasefire Agreement in Darfur and its 

2 role in diminishing some acts of violence; 

3 (2) strongly condemns— 

4 (A) the continued genocide against civil5 ians in Darfur by the Government of Sudan 

6 and government-sponsored militias; and 

7 (B) the continued violations of the 

8 N’Djamena Ceasefire Agreement by both par9 ties to the agreement; 

10 (3) calls upon both parties to the N’Djamena 

11 Ceasefire Agreement— 

12 (A) to abide by the terms of the 

13 N’Djamena Ceasefire Agreement; and 

14 (B) to engage in good-faith negotiations to 

15 end the conflict in Darfur; 

16 (4) calls upon the Government of Sudan imme17 diately— 

18 (A) to withdraw all military aircraft from 

19 the region; 

20 (B) to cease all support for Janjaweed mi21 litias and rebels from Chad; and 

22 (C) to disarm all Janjaweed militias; 

23 (5) calls on the African Union to work closely 

24 with the United Nations and the North Atlantic 

25 Treaty Organization (NATO) to strengthen its caVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:40 Mar 15, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR723.IH HR723

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•HRES 723 IH 

1 pacity to deter violence and instability until a United 

2 Nations peacekeeping force is fully deployed in 

3 Darfur; 

4 (6) calls on NATO to extend its current mission 

5 of advisors to the African Union, as requested by the 

6 leadership of the African Union; 

7 (7) calls upon the United Nations Security 

8 Council to approve as soon as possible, pursuant to 

9 Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, 

10 a peacekeeping force for Darfur that is well trained 

11 and equipped and has adequate troop strength; 

12 (8) urges the President to take steps imme13 diately to help improve the security situation in 

14 Darfur, including by— 

15 (A) proposing that NATO— 

16 (i) implement an interim civilian pro17 tection force using ground and air assets 

18 under centralized planning, direction, and 

19 control, to protect civilians until a United 

20 Nations peacekeeping force is fully de21 ployed in Darfur; and 

22 (B) requesting supplemental funding to 

23 support AMIS and a NATO mission in Darfur; 

24 (9) calls upon NATO allies to support such a 

25 NATO mission; and 


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•HRES 723 IH 

1 (10) calls upon NATO headquarters staff to 

2 begin prudent planning in advance of such a NATO 

3 mission. 

Æ 


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