IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1462 

Condemning ongoing sales of arms to belligerents in Sudan, including the 

Government of Sudan, and calling for both a cessation of such sales 

and an expansion of the United Nations embargo on arms sales to 

Sudan. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 

Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, and Mr. MILLER

of North Carolina) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning ongoing sales of arms to belligerents in Sudan, 

including the Government of Sudan, and calling for both 

a cessation of such sales and an expansion of the United 

Nations embargo on arms sales to Sudan. 

Whereas, since 2003, the conflict in the Darfur region of 

Sudan has killed at least 300,000 people and displaced 

more than 2,500,000, according to the United Nations; 

Whereas, on July 22, 2004, the Senate declared, ‘‘the atrocities unfolding in Darfur, Sudan, are genocide’’, and on 

September 9, 2004, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell 

testified before the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

the Senate that ‘‘genocide has occurred and may still be 


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•HRES 1462 IH 

occurring in Darfur’’ and ‘‘the Government of Sudan and 

the Janjaweed bear responsibility’’; 

Whereas, on July 30, 2004, the United Nations Security 

Council passed Resolution 1556, imposing an arms embargo on non-governmental belligerents in Darfur, requiring ‘‘all states [to] take the necessary measures to prevent the sale or supply . . . of arms and related materiel 

of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military 

vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment, and 

spare parts for the aforementioned’’ to those belligerents; 

Whereas, on March 29, 2005, the United Nations Security 

Council passed Resolution 1591, extending the embargo 

imposed by Security Council Resolution 1556 to apply to 

the Government of Sudan, establishing a sanctions committee to monitor the arms embargo, and prohibiting the 

Government of Sudan from moving arms into Darfur except with the advance approval of that committee; 

Whereas Security Council Resolutions 1556 and 1591 together impose on all United Nations member states the 

obligation not to sell or supply arms to any belligerent 

operating in Darfur, including the Sudanese military, and 

obligate the Government of Sudan not to transfer any 

arms to Darfur without the approval of the sanctions 

committee; 

Whereas, in September 2006, the Panel of Experts on the 

Sudan, established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1591, reported to the United Nations Security Council that a senior official of the Government of Sudan told 

the Panel that ‘‘the Government had a sovereign right to 

transfer weapons and additional military personnel into 

Darfur without obtaining the specific permission of the 

Security Council’’; 


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•HRES 1462 IH 

Whereas the Panel of Experts on the Sudan also concluded 

that ‘‘the Government of the Sudan continues to violate 

the arms embargo by transferring equipment and related 

weapons into Darfur’’ and that ‘‘[t]he Government of the 

Sudan remains adamant that it has the right to transfer 

troops and equipment into Darfur without reference to 

the sanctions Committee’’ established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1591; 

Whereas, in October 2007, the Panel of Experts on the 

Sudan reported numerous instances in which the Government of Sudan had transferred arms to Darfur without 

seeking the approval of the sanctions committee; 

Whereas, according to a May 2007 report by Amnesty International, weapons transferred to Sudan from China and 

Russia are used extensively in Darfur; 

Whereas, according to a July 2008 report by the British 

Broadcasting Corporation, weapons have been transferred 

to Darfur from China since the arms embargo imposed 

by Security Council Resolution 1591 became effective; 

Whereas, at the insistence of the Governments of China and 

Russia, arms sales to the Government of Sudan were excluded from the arms embargo imposed by Security 

Council Resolution 1556, though not from Security 

Council Resolution 1591, passed 8 months later; and 

Whereas, according to data provided by the Government of 

Sudan to the United Nations, arms sales from China to 

the Government of Sudan have increased dramatically 

since the late 1990s, and from 2004 through 2006, 

China supplied approximately 90 percent of small arms 

imported into Sudan: Now, therefore, be it 


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•HRES 1462 IH 

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

3 (1) the United States should seek a peaceful 

4 resolution to the conflict in Darfur and should con5 tinue to pursue a political solution as well as the im6 mediate and unfettered deployment of the peace7 keeping forces of the United Nations-African Union 

8 Mission in Darfur, without regard to the country of 

9 origin of those forces; 

10 (2) the United States supports United Nations 

11 Security Council Resolutions 1556 (2004) and 1591 

12 (2005), imposing an arms embargo on all belliger13 ents in Darfur, and supports consistent enforcement 

14 of the embargo; 

15 (3) taken together, the obligation imposed by 

16 the United Nations on all member states to ‘‘take 

17 the necessary measures to prevent the sale or sup18 ply’’ of arms to belligerents operating in Darfur, the 

19 well-documented existence of arms in Darfur that 

20 were transferred from China and Russia, and the in21 sistence of the Government of Sudan that it will not 

22 abide by the embargo, lead to the conclusion that 

23 continued sale of arms to Sudan under these cir24 cumstances violates the United Nations arms embarVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:07 Sep 19, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1462.IH HR1462

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•HRES 1462 IH 

1 go imposed by Security Council Resolutions 1556 

2 and 1591; 

3 (4) all United Nations member states should 

4 immediately cease all arms sales to the Government 

5 of Sudan, until the conflict in Darfur, and the 

6 armed conflict related to the Comprehensive Peace 

7 Agreement, have been peacefully resolved; and 

8 (5) the United States Permanent Representa9 tive to the United Nations should use the voice and 

10 vote of the United States in the United Nations Se11 curity Council to seek an expansion of the arms em12 bargo imposed by Security Council Resolutions 1556 

13 and 1591 to cover all of Sudan, with an appropriate 

14 exception for non-lethal assistance to the Govern15 ment of Southern Sudan. 

Æ 


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