III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 345 

Deploring the rape and assault of women in Guinea and the killing of 

political protesters. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2009 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Ms. COLLINS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. STABENOW, 

Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mrs. LINCOLN, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN, Ms. SNOWE, Ms. MIKULSKI, and Mrs. MCCASKILL) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Deploring the rape and assault of women in Guinea and 

the killing of political protesters. 

Whereas, on December 23, 2008, a group of military officers 

calling itself the National Council for Democracy and Development (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘CNDD’’) 

seized power in a coup in Guinea, installed as interim 

President Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, and promised 

to hold elections; 

Whereas, on September 28, 2009, tens of thousands of unarmed opposition protesters met in and around an outdoor stadium to protest statements made by Captain 

Camara that he may run for president, after he said that 

he would not; 


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•SRES 345 IS 

Whereas government security forces killed at least 157 demonstrators, after opening fire on the crowd, and brutalized and raped dozens of women openly in public; 

Whereas, according to Human Rights Watch, these killings 

and assaults were part of a ‘‘premeditated massacre’’ in 

which the ‘‘level, frequency, and brutality of sexual violence that took place at and after the protests strongly 

suggests that it was part of a systematic attempt to terrorize and humiliate the opposition, not just random acts 

by rogue soldiers’’; 

Whereas, according to the humanitarian organization CARE, 

‘‘What happened in Guinea is an outrage—and a stark 

reminder of a larger epidemic of violence against women 

and girls around the world.’’; 

Whereas members of the United Nations Security Council 

condemned ‘‘the violence that caused reportedly more 

than 150 deaths and hundreds of wounded and other blatant violations of human rights including rapes in public 

streets in broad day light, and violence that led to the arrest of opposition party leaders’’; 

Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 

Rights characterized the events as a ‘‘blood bath’’ and 

stated that they ‘‘must not become part of the fabric of 

impunity that has enveloped Guinea for decades’’; 

Whereas Amnesty International reports that violence against 

women knows few bounds, and that ‘‘in armed conflicts, 

countless women and girls are raped and sexually abused 

by security forces and opposition groups as an act of war, 

and often face additional violence in refugee camps. Government sponsored violence also exists in peacetime, with 

women assaulted while in police custody, in prison, and 


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•SRES 345 IS 

at the hands of any number of state actors.’’ and that 

‘‘violence against women is a violation of human rights 

that cannot be justified by any political, religious, or cultural claim’’; and 

Whereas, on October 16, 2009, United Nations SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon announced the creation of an 

international commission of inquiry to investigate the 

events: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) deplores the rape and assault of women and 

3 the killing of political protestors in Guinea, and calls 

4 for an immediate cessation of violence, including 

5 gender-based violence and targeted killings by secu6 rity forces; 

7 (2) strongly supports efforts by the United Na8 tions Security Council’s commission of inquiry into 

9 the violence, and calls for Captain Moussa Dadis 

10 Camara and the National Council for Democracy 

11 and Development to abide by their pledge to cooper12 ate with the commission; 

13 (3) urges the identification and prosecution, by 

14 the appropriate authorities, of those responsible for 

15 orchestrating or carrying out the violence in Guinea; 

16 (4) urges President Barack Obama, in coordi17 nation with leaders from the European Union and 

18 the African Union, to seriously consider punitive 

19 measures that could be taken against senior officials 


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•SRES 345 IS 

1 in Guinea found to be complicit in the violence, in 

2 particular the atrocities perpetrated against women 

3 and other gross human rights violations; and 

4 (5) encourages President Obama to remain ac5 tively engaged in the political situation in Guinea, to 

6 continue to convey that the blatant abuse of women 

7 will not be tolerated, and to continue supporting the 

8 efforts of the appointed facilitator, President Blaise 

9 Compaore of Burkina Faso, to pave a way forward 

10 to credible elections. 

Æ 


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