103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 131

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect

to the situation in Sudan.
103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 131

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

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 Liberation Army, have resulted in the displacement of millions

of civilians;

Whereas the United States Government provided over

$85,000,000 in humanitarian assistance to Sudan in fiscal year 1993;
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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 (foreign national employees of the

United States Government) and Mark Laboke Jenner (an

employee of the European Community) in Juba in midAugust 1992;

Whereas all factions of the Sudanese People’s Liberation

Army also are reportedly responsible for serious abuses

of human rights, including the killing in September 1992

of 4 foreign citizens, the killing of 87 civilians by the

Nasir faction of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army

in January 1992 in Pagarau, and the killing of 200 ‘‘deserters’’ by the Torit group near Tonj in Bahr al-Ghazal;

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;
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Whereas the political, religious, and military policies of the

Bashir government have heightened political and religious

tensions in the country;

Whereas the 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 governments in the

north;

Whereas the people of southern Sudan have not 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 1991 division of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army into factions has resulted in untold suffering

for the people of southern Sudan;

Whereas the Government of Sudan continues its indiscriminate aerial bombardment of civilians in southern Sudan;

Whereas the factions of the Sudanese People’s Liberation

Army agreed on an 8 point peace plan, including an immediate cessation of hostilities, at a peace conference in

Washington in October 1993; 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: Now, therefore, be

it
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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 the Government of Sudan and all

12 factions of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army

13 to cease hostilities and resolve their differences

14 through peaceful means;

15 (4) urges the Government of Sudan and all fac16 tions of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army to

17 provide full access for and to cooperate with relief

18 organizations;

19 (5) encourages the Government of Sudan to

20 hand over political power to an elected civilian gov21 ernment as soon as possible;

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

23 press ban which was imposed after it took power in

24 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 all fac4 tions of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army to

5 allow free access to human rights organizations;

6 (9) commends the Clinton Administration for

7 placing Sudan on the list of states having a govern8 ment that has repeatedly provided support for acts

9 of international terrorism;

10 (10) commends the Government of Kenya, the

11 Government of Nigeria, the Government of Uganda,

12 and the Organization of African Unity for their me13 diation efforts;

14 (11) calls upon the President—

15 (A) to appoint a special representative for

16 mediation, reconciliation, and peace in Sudan;

17 (B) to increase the level of humanitarian

18 assistance for Sudan that is provided through

19 nongovernmental organizations, including local

20 church groups; and

21 (C) to explore other means necessary to

22 force the Government of Sudan to halt its war

23 policies should the humanitarian conditions fur24 ther deteriorate and the Government of Sudan

25 continue to impede relief efforts; and
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1 (12) further calls upon the President—

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

3 efforts to bring an early end to the conflict in

4 Sudan;

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

6 brought to the attention of the United Nations

7 Security Council; and

8 (C) to urge the United Nations Security

9 Council—

10 (i) to consider the creation of demili11 tarized zones for war and famine victims in

12 southern Sudan that would be off limits to

13 all warring factions;

14 (ii) to consider the creation of safe ha15 vens for war and famine victims should the

16 warring factions reject the creation of de17 militarized zones;

18 (iii) to facilitate safe passage for war

19 and famine victims to and from conflict

20 zones; and
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1 (iv) to impose an arms embargo on

2 Sudan.

Passed the House of Representatives November 21,

1993.

Attest:

Clerk.