IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 467 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United Nations 

Security Council should immediately impose an arms embargo against 

the Government of South Sudan and all other parties to hostilities 

in South Sudan. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 20, 2017 

Mr. THOMAS J. ROONEY of Florida submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the United Nations Security Council should immediately 

impose an arms embargo against the Government of 

South Sudan and all other parties to hostilities in South 

Sudan. 

Whereas the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed on January 9, 2005, provided the framework for a referendum 

to determine the status of southern Sudan in 2011, in 

which approximately 99 percent of voters chose independence from Sudan; 

Whereas since the onset of the civil war in the Republic of 

South Sudan, in December 2013, more than 50,000 

South Sudanese citizens have been killed and 1,930,000 

have been internally displaced, including roughly 230,000 


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•HRES 467 IH 

who have sought refuge at civilian protection sites established by the United Nations Mission in the Republic of 

South Sudan (UNMISS); 

Whereas, in addition, 82 aid workers have been killed and 

more than 1,800,000 refugees from South Sudan have 

fled to neighboring countries to seek asylum; 

Whereas throughout the course of the civil war, both government and opposition forces have been implicated in the 

recruitment of more than 17,000 child soldiers, and have 

been found culpable in other egregious human rights violations, including ethnically targeted rape and killing; 

Whereas, on February 20, 2017, famine was officially declared in parts of South Sudan and the United States 

Agency for International Development estimates that by 

the peak lean season in July 2017, approximately 

5,500,000 people—nearly half the population—will be in 

Crisis (IPC 3) or higher levels of acute food insecurity; 

Whereas despite the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan signed on August 

17, 2015, which came into effect on August 26, 2015, 

violent clashes employing tanks, helicopter gunships, and 

heavy weaponry have continued throughout the country 

that routinely and indiscriminately affect civilian neighborhoods and United Nations compounds; 

Whereas despite the Government of South Sudan, including 

President Salva Kiir, having made several public commitments in recent months to allow unhindered humanitarian assistance, including in a joint communique with 

the United Nations Security Council in September 2016, 

the aid response continues to be obstructed, mainly by 


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•HRES 467 IH 

the government’s armed forces, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA); 

Whereas in February 2016, SPLA troops attacked a civilian 

protection site established by UNMISS in Malakal, killing up to 65 people, injuring over 100, and displacing 

roughly 30,000, and the forces also burned down 3,700 

shelters across one-third of the site; 

Whereas in July 2016, violence initiated by the SPLA and 

forces from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army—In Opposition (SPLA–IO) in Juba involved an attack in which 

SPLA forces fired over 50 rounds at an armored United 

States Embassy vehicle, an attack on the Terrain Hotel 

compound in which SPLA soldiers beat and raped foreign 

aid workers, reportedly targeting Americans, and other 

attacks on United Nations compounds and UNMISS civilian protection sites; 

Whereas the violence resulted in the deaths of 300 people, including two United Nations peacekeepers and two employees of Doctors Without Borders; and 

Whereas the final report of the United Nations Panel of Experts on South Sudan which was extended pursuant to 

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2290 (2016) 

found that— 

(1) while the SPLA, the SPLA–IO, and other armed 

groups undertook military operations, including targeting 

of civilians, throughout 2016 and the first quarter of 

2017, by far the largest-scale campaigns have been 

planned and executed by the SPLA under the leadership 

of President Kiir; 

(2) these SPLA campaigns—in Upper Nile, Unity, 

Western Bahr el Ghazal, and Jonglei states as well as in 

Greater Equatoria—have followed a consistent tactical 


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•HRES 467 IH 

pattern since the major government offensives in 2015 

and have been supported by heavy weapons such as Mi24 

attack helicopters, L–39 jets, and amphibious vehicles 

that the government has procured since the beginning of 

the war; 

(3) despite the scale and scope of the political, humanitarian, and economic crises, the United Nations 

Panel of Experts on South Sudan continues to uncover 

evidence of the ongoing procurement of weapons by the 

SPLA, the National Security Service (NSS), and other 

associated forces and militias; and 

(4) the SPLA therefore remains the main belligerent 

in the war and continues to prioritize an aggressive military approach over a political solution to the conflict: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) the United Nations Security Council should 

4 immediately impose an arms embargo against the 

5 Government of South Sudan to prevent the contin6 ued acquisition of arms and military equipment by 

7 both parties and the proliferation of weapons 

8 throughout the country, and to hold the Government 

9 of South Sudan accountable for— 

10 (A) obstructing or constraining the oper11 ations of the United Nations Mission in the Re12 public of South Sudan (UNMISS), including by 

13 restricting the transportation of wounded 

14 United Nations peacekeepers; 


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1 (B) committing other repeated violations of 

2 the status of forces agreement with the United 

3 Nations signed on August 8, 2011; 

4 (C) inhibiting the free movement of mem5 bers of the Ceasefire and Transitional Security 

6 Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism estab7 lished by the Agreement on the Resolution of 

8 the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan 

9 signed on August 17, 2015, which came into ef10 fect on August 26, 2015, who are tasked with 

11 monitoring and reporting violations of such 

12 Peace Agreement and verifying the demilitariza13 tion of Juba; and 

14 (D) obstructing humanitarian access to ci15 vilian populations in dire need of assistance; 

16 (2) the lifting of a United Nations arms embar17 go should be contingent upon the Government of 

18 South Sudan— 

19 (A) implementing a permanent ceasefire as 

20 called for in the Peace Agreement; 

21 (B) complying with its obligations under 

22 the status of forces agreement with the United 

23 Nations; 

24 (C) bearing the primary responsibility as a 

25 sovereign state to protect its citizens from gross 


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1 human rights abuses and forced displacement 

2 perpetrated by the warring parties, including 

3 the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) 

4 and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army—In 

5 Opposition (SPLA–IO); 

6 (D) cooperating with and supporting the 

7 work of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation 

8 Commission established by the Peace Agree9 ment; 

10 (E) establishing the Commission for Truth, 

11 Reconciliation, and Healing, the Hybrid Court 

12 for South Sudan, and the Compensation and 

13 Reparation Authority, as called for in the Peace 

14 Agreement; and 

15 (F) allowing for consistent, unimpeded hu16 manitarian access to vulnerable civilian popu17 lations; and 

18 (3) the international community should con19 tinue to support civilians, particularly women and 

20 children, who have been adversely affected by the 

21 civil war in South Sudan and should promote peace 

22 and reconciliation dialogues within local civil society. 

Æ 


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