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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 345 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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;
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 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 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon 
        announced the creation of an international commission of inquiry to 
        investigate the events: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) deplores the rape and assault of women and the killing 
        of political protestors in Guinea, and calls for an immediate 
        cessation of violence, including gender-based violence and 
        targeted killings by security forces;
            (2) strongly supports efforts by the United Nations 
        Security Council's commission of inquiry into the violence, and 
        calls for Captain Moussa Dadis Camara and the National Council 
        for Democracy and Development to abide by their pledge to 
        cooperate with the commission;
            (3) urges the identification and prosecution, by the 
        appropriate authorities, of those responsible for orchestrating 
        or carrying out the violence in Guinea;
            (4) urges President Barack Obama, in coordination with 
        leaders from the European Union and the African Union, to 
        seriously consider punitive measures that could be taken 
        against senior officials in Guinea found to be complicit in the 
        violence, in particular the atrocities perpetrated against 
        women and other gross human rights violations; and
            (5) encourages President Obama to remain actively engaged 
        in the political situation in Guinea, to continue to convey 
        that the blatant abuse of women will not be tolerated, and to 
        continue supporting the efforts of the appointed facilitator, 
        President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, to pave a way 
        forward to credible elections.
                                 <all>
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