IV

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 131

Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to the situation in Sudan.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 3, 1993

Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida (for himself, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. PAYNE

of New Jersey, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. WOLF, Mr. LANTOS,

Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. EDWARDS of California, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. MFUME, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr.

WHEAT, Mr. EMERSON, Mr. LIVINGSTON, Mr. WALKER, Mr.

ROHRABACHER, Mr. SCHAEFER, Mr. LINDER, Mr. CANADY, Mr. FRANK

of Massachusetts, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. MORAN, Mr.

HALL of Ohio, Mrs. MEEK, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. OLVER, Mr. GORDON,

Mr. WYNN, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. MCCLOSKEY, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. BORSKI,

Mrs. LOWEY, and Mr. MENENDEZ) submitted the following concurrent

resolution; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to the

situation in Sudan.

Whereas the war-induced famine in southern Sudan is threatening the lives of an estimated 4,000,000 people, and an

estimated 80 percent of children in some areas of southern Sudan are reportedly malnourished;

Whereas the civil war between the Government of Sudan and

the factions of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army,

as well as fighting within the Sudanese People’s Libera-
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tion Army, have resulted in the displacement of millions

of civilians;

Whereas the United States Government has provided over

$130,000,000 in humanitarian assistance to Sudan in fiscal years 1992 and 1993;

Whereas access for humanitarian relief organizations has

been inconsistent and subject to the military and political

objectives of the Government of Sudan and Sudanese

People’s Liberation Army factions;

Whereas a human rights group reported in early 1993 that

the Government of Sudan ‘‘is engaged in a program of

military action which appears to amount to ethnic cleansing’’ in the Nuba Mountains and that it continues to torture political prisoners;

Whereas an estimated 500 unarmed civilians were reportedly

executed by security forces on suspicion that they had

collaborated with the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army

after its incursions into Juba in June and July of 1992;

Whereas the Government of Sudan executed Andrew Tombe

and Baudoin Talley (Sudanese employees of the United

States Government) and Mark Laboke Jenner (an employee of the European Community) in Juba in mid-August 1992;

Whereas all factions of the Sudanese People’s Liberation

Army also are responsible for serious abuses of human

rights, including the killing in September 1992 of 4 foreign citizens, the reported killing of 87 civilians by the

Nasir faction of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army

in January 1992 in Pagarau, and the reported killing of

200 ‘‘deserters’’ by the Torit group near Tonj in Bahr

al-Ghazal;
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Whereas the government of General Omar Hassan al-Bashir,

which came to power by overthrowing the democratically

elected civilian government on June 30, 1989, formed a

15-member Revolutionary Command Council, abolished

the constitution, the National Assembly, political parties,

and trade unions, and declared a state of emergency;

Whereas the political, religious, and military policies of the

Bashir government have heightened political and religious

tensions in the country;

Whereas the military government in Khartoum has become a

threat to regional stability in part because of its reported

activities in neighboring countries and its relations with

known terrorist and political extremist groups;

Whereas the conflict in southern Sudan, which has dragged

on for over 3 decades, is the result of decades of political,

religious, and economic discrimination against the people

of southern Sudan by successive Arab-dominated governments in the north;

Whereas the people of southern Sudan have never exercised

their political rights freely, except for a brief period after

the Addis Ababa agreement, and the lack of serious efforts by successive governments in Khartoum has resulted in deep mistrust;

Whereas the divisions within the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army in 1991 have resulted in untold suffering for

the people of southern Sudan; and

Whereas the resolution of the conflict in southern Sudan will

not guarantee respect for human rights and political freedom in other regions of the country, and a number of

peace talks between the Government of Sudan and the
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Sudanese People’s Liberation Army have failed to

produce lasting, tangible results: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress—

3 (1) strongly condemns the Government of

4 Sudan for its severe human rights abuses, and calls

5 upon that government to improve human rights con6 ditions throughout the country;

7 (2) deplores the internecine fighting among the

8 Sudanese People’s Liberation Army factions which

9 has caused untold suffering for the people of south10 ern Sudan;

11 (3) calls on all factions of the Sudanese Peo12 ple’s Liberation Army to cease hostilities and resolve

13 their differences through peaceful means;

14 (4) urges the Government of Sudan and the Su15 danese People’s Liberation Army factions to provide

16 full access for and to cooperate with relief organiza17 tions;

18 (5) encourages the military government of

19 Sudan to hand over political power to an elected ci20 vilian government as soon as possible;

21 (6) urges the Government of Sudan to lift the

22 press ban which was imposed after it took power in

23 June 1989;
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1 (7) recognizes the right of the people of south2 ern Sudan to self-determination;

3 (8) urges the Government of Sudan and the Su4 danese People’s Liberation Army factions to allow

5 free access to human rights organizations;

6 (9) commends the Government of Nigeria, the

7 Government of Uganda, and the Organization of Af8 rican Unity for their mediation efforts;

9 (10) calls upon the President—

10 (A) to appoint a special representative for

11 mediation, reconciliation, peace, and humani12 tarian affairs in Sudan;

13 (B) to increase the levels of humanitarian

14 assistance for Sudan that is provided through

15 nongovernmental organizations, including local

16 church groups;

17 (C) to place the Government of Sudan on

18 the list of states that support international ter19 rorism;

20 (D) to oppose all loans and credits for

21 Sudan from the International Monetary Fund,

22 the International Bank for Reconstruction and

23 Development and the International Develop24 ment Association, and the African Development
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1 Bank, and all nonhumanitarian assistance from

2 United Nations agencies; and

3 (E) to explore other means necessary to

4 force the Government of Sudan to halt its war

5 policies should the humanitarian conditions fur6 ther deteriorate and the Government of Sudan

7 continue to impede relief efforts; and

8 (11) further calls upon the President—

9 (A) to urge the United Nations to exert all

10 efforts to bring an early end to the conflict in

11 Sudan;

12 (B) to urge that the situation in Sudan be

13 brought to the attention of the United Nations

14 Security Council; and

15 (C) to urge the United Nations Security

16 Council—

17 (i) to consider the creation of demili18 tarized zones for war and famine victims in

19 southern Sudan that would be off limit to

20 all warring factions;

21 (ii) to consider the creation of safe ha22 vens for war and famine victims should the

23 warring factions reject the creation of de24 militarized zones;
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1 (iii) to facilitate safe passage for war

2 and famine victims to and from conflict

3 zones; and

4 (iv) to impose an arms embargo on

5 Sudan.

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