I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2989 

To encourage the warring parties of South Sudan to resolve their conflict 

peacefully, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 8, 2015 

Mr. ROONEY of Florida (for himself, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. LEE, 

and Mr. FORTENBERRY) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee 

on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To encourage the warring parties of South Sudan to resolve 

their conflict peacefully, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘South Sudan Peace 

5 Promotion and Accountability Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; STATEMENT OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) In December 2013, tensions between polit2 ical leaders sparked a new civil conflict in South 

3 Sudan that has killed tens of thousands, displaced 

4 an estimated two million people, including over 

5 500,000 refugees, and left 4.6 million people—40 

6 percent of the population—facing the threat of ex7 treme hunger and in need of immediate humani8 tarian assistance. 

9 (2) Since the United States helped broker the 

10 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ulti11 mately set the framework for the 2011 South Sudan 

12 referendum in which the people of South Sudan 

13 chose independence, the United States has remained 

14 the leading donor to South Sudan. 

15 (3) The warring parties have repeatedly im16 peded and interfered with the delivery of humani17 tarian assistance and threatened aid workers, show18 ing little regard for the dire conditions facing the 

19 people of South Sudan. 

20 (4) The warring parties have often defied inter21 national humanitarian and human rights law, com22 mitting acts of sexual violence, recruiting and using 

23 children as soldiers, and targeting and killing civil24 ians based on their ethnicity or perceived allegiances, 

25 among other atrocities. 


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1 (5) While representatives of the warring parties 

2 agreed in the January 21, 2015, Arusha Commu3 nique that they bear full responsibility for South Su4 dan’s crisis and that those individuals responsible 

5 for atrocities should be held accountable, no party to 

6 the conflict has taken credible steps to hold any sen7 ior civilian or military leader to account, and instead 

8 continue to commit atrocities with impunity. 

9 (6) Eight commitments and recommitments to 

10 cease hostilities have been broken, and the most re11 cent round of peace talks held in Addis Ababa, Ethi12 opia, under the auspices of the Intergovernmental 

13 Authority on Development (IGAD) from January 

14 2014 through March 5, 2015, failed to bring mean15 ingful progress to end the war. 

16 (7) The African Union (AU) has joined the 

17 Intergovernmental Authority on Development 

18 (IGAD) in pursuing other options to bring peace in 

19 South Sudan, including discussion of targeted sanc20 tions on individuals in South Sudan who continue to 

21 undermine the peace process. 

22 (8) Regional actors and other external entities 

23 continue to undermine the peace process through 

24 various means, including through the transfer of 

25 arms and other support to the warring parties, and 


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1 through the presence of foreign forces participating 

2 in the conflict. 

3 (9) The proliferation of small arms in South 

4 Sudan continues to fuel the killing of innocent civil5 ians and is instrumental in undermining the peace 

6 process. 

7 (10) Attempts to establish peace and stability 

8 in South Sudan have not resulted in a comprehen9 sive peace agreement, including mediation supported 

10 by IGAD and initiatives to address divisions within 

11 the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) 

12 by Tanzania and South Africa. 

13 (11) On March 3, 2015, the United Nations Se14 curity Council (UNSC) adopted Security Council 

15 Resolution 2206 which condemned the flagrant vio16 lations of the various cessation of hostilities agree17 ments, underscored its willingness to impose tar18 geted sanctions against those responsible for actions 

19 or policies that threatened South Sudan’s peace, se20 curity, or stability, requested that the United Na21 tions Secretary General form a panel of experts to 

22 identify responsible individuals or entities, and indi23 cated a willingness to consider an arms embargo in 

24 the future. 


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1 (12) On April 3, 2014, President Obama signed 

2 Executive Order 13664, which allows for additional 

3 targeted sanctions and a visa ban against those indi4 viduals whose actions threaten the peace, security or 

5 stability of South Sudan, obstruct the peace talks 

6 and processes, undermine democratic institutions, or 

7 commit human rights abuses. The Administration 

8 has already designated four individuals under this 

9 order, two from the Government of South Sudan 

10 and two from the opposition. Canada and the Euro11 pean Union have implemented similar regimes. 

12 (13) On May 29, 2015, the Government of 

13 South Sudan expelled the United Nations Humani14 tarian Coordinator, Toby Lanzer, who was tasked 

15 with overseeing the vast humanitarian operation in 

16 South Sudan. 

17 (14) The date July 9, 2015, should signify and 

18 celebrate South Sudan’s independence and peaceful 

19 recovery from decades of war, yet the violence 

20 against children in South Sudan has reached a new 

21 level of brutality. Children are being aggressively re22 cruited into armed groups on both sides of the con23 flict and forced to participate in a conflict not of 

24 their making. The psychological and physical effects 

25 on these children must be recognized and addressed 


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1 and this violence against the innocent must stop im2 mediately. 

3 (b) STATEMENT OF CONGRESS.—Congress— 

4 (1) recognizes that there has been a dramatic 

5 failure of leadership in South Sudan that has left 

6 South Sudanese civilians in a protracted and unac7 ceptable state of suffering, and that the United 

8 States stands in solidarity with the people of South 

9 Sudan as they call for peace; 

10 (2) urges all parties involved in the conflict to 

11 immediately cease all violence and work towards a 

12 negotiated, publicly transparent settlement developed 

13 through diplomacy and reconciliation, and urges that 

14 this process be inclusive to South Sudanese civil so15 ciety, including women and traditional leaders, to 

16 bring about peace and stability in South Sudan; 

17 (3) stresses the need to adequately commu18 nicate to the South Sudanese people the proposed 

19 process for the establishment of a transitional gov20 ernment to carry South Sudan through the develop21 ment of a fully inclusive national dialogue, constitu22 tional and internal government reform, national 

23 peace and reconciliation efforts, and eventually an 

24 inclusive, credible process towards national elections; 


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1 (4) stresses the need for the Administration to 

2 continue to promote freedoms of association and ex3 pression in South Sudan, and to support the growth 

4 of effective, resilient, and empowered civil society or5 ganizations, particularly those organizations that are 

6 transparent, representative, and promote the active 

7 inclusion and participation of women and girls; 

8 (5) expresses concern over the March 23, 2015, 

9 decision of the Parliament of South Sudan to extend 

10 by three years the terms of President Kiir and other 

11 elected officials, and urges the Government of South 

12 Sudan to ensure that this does not curtail the ur13 gent need for a negotiated peace agreement with the 

14 opposition and a transitional government of national 

15 unity as had been committed to by both parties in 

16 IGAD negotiations on May 9, 2014; 

17 (6) welcomes the efforts by the Administration 

18 to push for the public release of the full report by 

19 the AU Commission of Inquiry (CoI) in South 

20 Sudan, and emphasizes the positive impact the re21 lease of this report, and resulting prosecutions of 

22 those individuals determined responsible for conflict 

23 or human rights crimes, would have for account24 ability, justice, and closure for the people of South 

25 Sudan; 


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1 (7) calls on the United States Permanent Rep2 resentative to the United Nations to promote human 

3 rights monitoring carried out by United Nations 

4 Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and advocate 

5 for publicly releasing reports on the human rights 

6 situation in South Sudan on a regular basis; 

7 (8) approves of the ongoing efforts by the Ad8 ministration to use the necessary tools, as outlined 

9 in Security Council Resolution 2206, to increase 

10 pressure on the warring parties to come to the nego11 tiating table following the failure of the parties to 

12 meet the March 5, 2015, IGAD deadline in Addis 

13 Ababa, Ethiopia; 

14 (9) supports the ongoing efforts by the United 

15 States Permanent Representative to the United Na16 tions to use the voice, vote, and influence of the 

17 United States at the United Nations to work with 

18 regional countries and like-minded countries to fully 

19 implement Security Council Resolution 2206; 

20 (10) applauds the United Nations Security 

21 Council and the Department of the Treasury for im22 posing sanctions on individuals on both sides of the 

23 conflict in South Sudan and supports the efforts of 

24 the Department of the Treasury and the DepartVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Jul 10, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2989.IH H2989

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1 ment of State to identify candidates for designation 

2 under Executive Order 13664; 

3 (11) urges the Department of the Treasury to 

4 prioritize investigative actions that uncover the illicit 

5 financial flows fueling the ongoing violence and con6 tributing to the extended humanitarian suffering of 

7 the people caught in the conflict; 

8 (12) supports the establishment of a credible, 

9 independent hybrid judicial court or investigation by 

10 the International Criminal Court or other credible 

11 judicial court and for all parties in South Sudan to 

12 deliberate in a peaceful manner for transitional jus13 tice and a truth and reconciliation commission; 

14 (13) urges the Administration to continue to 

15 offer and further expand support for resilience and 

16 development programming in parts of South Sudan 

17 less affected by conflict or otherwise suited for such 

18 programming in order to preserve and expand where 

19 possible the fragile gains in health, education, agri20 cultural productivity, and economic development; 

21 (14) applauds the work of the United Nations 

22 peacekeeping mission, which by sheltering over 

23 100,000 people within its compounds has saved 

24 thousands of live, as well as the continuous humani25 tarian and human rights work in the region from 


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1 many national and international nongovernmental 

2 organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations, 

3 faith-based groups, and international organizations, 

4 and calls on all parties to the conflict to respect and 

5 support the unfettered access of humanitarian orga6 nizations to provide aid to all civilian populations 

7 during humanitarian crises; 

8 (15) condemns the expulsion of Toby Lanzer, 

9 the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator by 

10 the Government of South Sudan at a time when the 

11 humanitarian crisis continues to grow; 

12 (16) urges all parties to respect the neutrality 

13 of UNMISS sites and expresses the need for the Ad14 ministration to work with the Government of South 

15 Sudan on its compliance with its Status of Forces 

16 Agreement with UNMISS to ensure it is respecting, 

17 supporting and protecting the work of UNMISS per18 sonnel as they endeavor to protect internally dis19 placed people sheltering at UNMISS bases and those 

20 individuals outside these bases who are displaced by 

21 the ongoing fighting; and 

22 (17) expresses the need for the Administration 

23 to capitalize on opportunities to engage in dialogue 

24 at the highest levels with like-minded members of 

25 the international community to further promote 


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1 positive engagement in South Sudan to bring about 

2 a reform process that addresses the root causes of 

3 this conflict. 

4 SEC. 3. CODIFICATION OF SANCTIONS. 

5 (a) RESTRICTION.—The sanctions imposed on indi6 viduals identified in the Federal Register as of the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act related to South Sudan, and 

8 all other such individuals so identified after such date, 

9 specified in Executive Order No. 13664 of April 3, 2014 

10 (Blocking Property of Certain Persons With Respect to 

11 South Sudan), as in effect on the day before such date 

12 of enactment, shall remain in effect until the President 

13 has certified to the appropriate congressional committees 

14 that such sanctions are no longer necessary. 

15 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec16 tion may be construed to limit the authority of the Presi17 dent to impose additional sanctions pursuant to the Inter18 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 

19 1701 et seq.), relevant executive orders, regulations, or 

20 other provisions of law. 

21 SEC. 4. REPORTING AND STRATEGY. 

22 (a) REPORT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

25 shall transmit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 


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1 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

2 on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report regard3 ing the United States engagement with South 

4 Sudan. 

5 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 

6 paragraph (1) may contain a classified annex and 

7 shall include the following: 

8 (A) An update on the peace process and a 

9 description of the Administration’s direct sup10 port for diplomatic engagement, including the 

11 United States efforts to mitigate challenges 

12 that arise within the negotiations, a description 

13 of those challenges, and the overall diplomatic 

14 strategy to end the conflict. 

15 (B) An assessment of the strengths and 

16 weaknesses of the existing peace process and re17 lated regional activities impacting the process, 

18 and a plan to strengthen that process or to de19 velop complementary or alternative diplomatic 

20 efforts to achieve peace and foster stability in 

21 South Sudan. 

22 (C) An assessment of the impact of exist23 ing targeted sanctions on South Sudan, includ24 ing those sanctions imposed under Executive 

25 Order No. 13664 and subsequent actions by the 


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1 Administration and international community to 

2 expand targeted sanctions, and the efforts made 

3 to date, including an assessment of the pro4 posed impact of and challenges associated with, 

5 building an international consensus to enforce 

6 an arms embargo. 

7 (D) The Administration’s current policy 

8 regarding the export, sale, distribution, trans9 fer, lending, or gift of defense articles or de10 fense services (as such terms are defined in sec11 tion 47 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 

12 U.S.C. 2794)) to the Government of the Repub13 lic of South Sudan and those armed forces in 

14 opposition to the Government of the Republic of 

15 South Sudan. 

16 (E) A detailed description of the known 

17 sources of arms and related material dispatched 

18 to the warring parties since the onset of the 

19 conflict. 

20 (F) A description of the efforts taken by 

21 the Administration to support, develop, main22 tain, or expand foreign assistance programming 

23 in parts of South Sudan less affected by conflict 

24 or otherwise suited for such programming. 


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1 (G) An assessment of South Sudan’s do2 mestic capacity to support a hybrid judicial 

3 court and the options for the establishment of 

4 such a court. 

5 (b) STRATEGY.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

7 the date of transmission of the report required 

8 under subsection (a), the President shall transmit to 

9 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 

10 Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Re11 lations of the Senate a strategy to guide future 

12 United States engagement with South Sudan. 

13 (2) CONTENT OF STRATEGY.—The strategy re14 quired under paragraph (1) may contain a classified 

15 annex and shall include the following: 

16 (A) A plan to help strengthen efforts by 

17 the United Nations peacekeeping mission in 

18 concert with the regional and international dip19 lomatic and donor community to protect South 

20 Sudanese civilians affected by the conflict, par21 ticularly women and children. 

22 (B) A strategy to advance peace and rec23 onciliation efforts in the South Sudan and for 

24 supporting the rule of law in affected areas. 


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1 (C) An interagency framework plan to co2 ordinate and review diplomatic, development, 

3 and military elements of United States policy, 

4 including expended, obligated, and requested 

5 funding amounts contained in annual budget 

6 submissions to Congress, for South Sudan and 

7 the region. 

8 (D) A description of the Administration’s 

9 strategy to support documentation and inves10 tigation of instances of human rights abuses 

11 and corruption, parties’ financing of the con12 flict, and to monitor and combat illicit financial 

13 flows fueling the ongoing violence, and the re14 sources necessary to adequately support these 

15 efforts. 

16 (E) A description of ways the United 

17 States is working with the United Nations to 

18 gather information on events taking place on 

19 the ground in South Sudan that may be attrib20 uting to instability, as well as information on 

21 those individuals of South Sudan or non-native 

22 entities that are implicated in violations of 

23 international and human rights law, and infor24 mation regarding the root causes of the pro25 liferation of weapons in South Sudan, and a 


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1 plan for sharing information with the United 

2 Nations Panel of Experts. 

3 (F) A plan to assist in refugee and inter4 nally displaced persons’ (IDPs) voluntary re5 turn and reintegration into communities once 

6 they determine conditions are appropriate for 

7 return, including efforts to provide support for 

8 children needing both psychological and phys9 ical rehabilitation. 

10 (G) A plan to pursue high-level engage11 ment with the regional and like-minded govern12 ments in order promote a better environment 

13 for resolution of the crisis, to halt the flow of 

14 arms from all external sources, and to support 

15 the creation, implementation, and enforcement 

16 of a United Nations Security Council arms em17 bargo and targeted individual sanctions on all 

18 parties to the conflict in South Sudan. 

Æ 


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