IV

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 410

Supporting peace and democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

and an end to the plunder of its natural resources.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 23, 2002

Mr. HALL of Ohio (for himself, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. WOLF, and

Mr. PAYNE) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Supporting peace and democracy in the Democratic Republic

of the Congo, and an end to the plunder of its natural

resources.

Whereas during the war in the Democratic Republic of the

Congo that began in 1998, involving rebel groups in that

country as well as armed forces of Angola, Zimbabwe,

Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, the United

States has supported the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in their desire for peace and democracy through moral and financial support of Congolese

citizens, and through United Nations and other initiatives designed to secure peace;

Whereas, despite a peace agreement signed by most parties

to the conflict in 1999 (the ‘‘Lusaka Peace Accords’’),
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and despite the efforts of the United Nations there

through peacekeeping forces and otherwise, suffering

caused by the war continues, in significant part because

rebel groups and foreign armies are profiting directly

from their control of the natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and are therefore dissuaded

from agreeing to end the war;

Whereas independent reports confirm that most of the more

than 2,500,000 deaths in the Democratic Republic of the

Congo since the war began in 1998 have been caused by

starvation and disease, and are not the direct result of

fighting;

Whereas the human suffering in the Democratic Republic of

the Congo is extreme; one-third of the population is in

critical need of food, infant mortality in some isolated regions exceeds 41 percent, maternal mortality in the country is among the highest in the world, 60 percent of

school-aged children are not being educated, and large

numbers of children are forced to serve as soldiers;

Whereas there have been many reports by United Nations organizations, private charities, journalists, and others concerning the extent of the human suffering in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and concerning the role that

plunder of natural resources, including diamonds, timber,

and coltan, is playing in preventing an end to the war;

Whereas international efforts to sever the funding that the

trade in diamonds provides for wars that are underway

encourage diamond-producing countries to develop a system of certification to assist international efforts in excluding ‘‘conflict diamonds’’ from international trade;

however, because the United Nations has not imposed

sanctions on diamonds that fund the conflict in the
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Democratic Republic of the Congo, there is no way for

consumers to be confident that the money they use to

purchase diamond jewelry is not funding the most deadly

ongoing war in the world; and

Whereas there is growing evidence that the trade in diamonds

mined in lawless areas such as much of the Democratic

Republic of the Congo supports not only terror against

Africans, but also acts of terrorism against Americans:

Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That—

3 (1) the Congress joins the international commu4 nity in supporting peace and democracy in the

5 Democratic Republic of the Congo, and an end to

6 the plunder of its natural resources; and

7 (2) it is the sense of the Congress that—

8 (A)(i) the President should direct the

9 United States representative to the United Na10 tions immediately to work to bring before the

11 United Nations Security Council a resolution

12 imposing comprehensive sanctions against the

13 sale of diamonds mined in the territory of the

14 Democratic Republic of the Congo unless the

15 diamonds are certified by the government of

16 that country as not funding the conflict there;

17 and
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1 (ii) sanctions referred to in clause (i)

2 should be similar to those sanctions relating to

3 conflict diamonds that have been imposed

4 against rebels in Angola and UNITA, and

5 against Liberia, taking into account the rec6 ommendations of the report of the United Na7 tions Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploi8 tation of Natural Resources and Other Forms

9 of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the

10 Congo;

11 (B) the President should urge the United

12 Nations Security Council to give priority to tak13 ing steps to control the illegal harvesting of

14 timber in the Democratic Republic of the

15 Congo;

16 (C) combatants in the Democratic Repub17 lic of the Congo, whether members of rebel

18 groups within that country or members of

19 armed forces of other countries, should be con20 demned by the United Nations and the inter21 national community for failing to abide by the

22 1999 Lusaka Peace Accords, and for inflicting

23 unspeakable suffering on the vast numbers of

24 civilians in the Democratic Republic of the

25 Congo, including more than 2,500,000 people
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1 who have died and more than 2,000,000 who

2 have been driven from their homes;

3 (D) the President should forthwith send

4 representatives of the United States to the

5 Democratic Republic of the Congo, to countries

6 whose armed forces occupy the Democratic Re7 public of the Congo, and to countries whose

8 support sustains rebel groups operating in the

9 Democratic Republic of the Congo, to advise

10 the leaders of those countries—

11 (i) that peace in the Democratic Re12 public of the Congo is in the national secu13 rity interests of all countries, including the

14 United States; and

15 (ii) that continued strife in that coun16 try threatens to impede the war against

17 terrorism; and

18 (E) the United States Government should

19 not grant a visa to any individual who is sus20 pected of committing war crimes in the Demo21 cratic Republic of the Congo, or to members of

22 the individual’s family, and should transfer any

23 such individual found in the United States to
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1 the jurisdiction of the International War Crimes

2 Tribunal for prosecution.

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