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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 503 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 503

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the need 
to bring the South Sudan conflict to a sustainable and lasting end and 
  to promote reconciliation of longstanding and recent grievances to 
           allow for a peaceful society with good governance.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 5, 2014

 Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Ms. Bass, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Wolf, 
 and Mr. Weber of Texas) submitted the following resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the need 
to bring the South Sudan conflict to a sustainable and lasting end and 
  to promote reconciliation of longstanding and recent grievances to 
           allow for a peaceful society with good governance.

Whereas the long civil war between the Government of Sudan and its southern 
        region (1983 to 2005) was ended with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement;
Whereas citizens in the then-semi-autonomous region of South Sudan voted on 
        January 9, 2011, through January 15, 2011, to secede from Sudan and 
        became the world's newest nation on July 9, 2011;
Whereas leaders of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) put 
        aside longstanding ethnic and personal animosities in the last few years 
        in order to facilitate the independence effort;
Whereas political, social, and economic conflict between the Dinka and Nuer, the 
        largest and second largest ethnic groups respectively, as well as among 
        other smaller ethnic groups, have nevertheless occurred during the 
        period of apparent peace since the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive 
        Peace Agreement;
Whereas there have been persistent questions raised in recent years concerning 
        an alleged lack of broad political and ethnic inclusion in building the 
        Government of South Sudan;
Whereas South Sudan President Salva Kiir (a Dinka) dismissed his entire cabinet 
        on July 23, 2013, including his main rival, then-Vice President Riek 
        Machar (a Nuer), which necessitated radio broadcasts calling for calm in 
        the wake of that action;
Whereas in mid-December, tensions erupted over the handling of an SPLM party 
        conference preparing for 2015 national elections, with the spark for 
        violence reportedly being an attempt by Dinka presidential guards to 
        disarm their Nuer counterparts;
Whereas in the wake of the initial violence, the Government of South Sudan 
        arrested 11 senior political figures, including former Finance Minister 
        Kosti Manibe, former Minister of Cabinet Affairs Deng Alor, and SPLM 
        Secretary General Pagan Amum, accusing them of being involved in a 
        ``failed coup'' and holding them in virtual house arrest;
Whereas government forces, led by President Kiir, and a rebel force led by 
        former Vice President Machar have engaged in combat and have been joined 
        in the fighting by some militia leaders, forming, along with defectors 
        from the ruling party and national army, the nucleus of an Army in 
        Opposition;
Whereas fighting quickly spread to several provinces and as of February 11, 
        2014, more than 723,000 people were displaced within South Sudan and 
        more than 145,000 had fled to nearby countries, mostly to Ethiopia;
Whereas untold thousands of South Sudanese have been killed in the fighting, 
        including, according to the United Nations, those targeted for their 
        ethnicity; and
Whereas United States commitment to fully implementing the Comprehensive Peace 
        Agreement and ongoing United States Department of State engagement in 
        achieving an enduring peace remain essential: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
it should be the policy of the United States Government to encourage 
and facilitate as feasible--
            (1) the full implementation of the January 23, 2014, 
        cessation of hostilities agreement between the Government of 
        South Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army in 
        Opposition, with a commitment to ensuring that the multilateral 
        Joint Monitoring and Verification Team has unimpeded access to 
        all parts of the country;
            (2) the expansion of existing efforts to disarm militia and 
        other armed groups in South Sudan, demobilize combatants and 
        reintegrate them into civilian society, and curtail supplies of 
        foreign arms beyond that necessary for national security or law 
        and order, raising the possibility of an arms embargo in the 
        event of further violations of the cessation of hostilities 
        agreement;
            (3) the elevation of the United States Government's 
        existing presence at the Addis Ababa-based peace negotiations, 
        building on Special Envoy Donald Booth's efforts and with a 
        focus on high-level engagement around the broader political 
        negotiations necessary to broker a durable peace in conjunction 
        with neighboring countries, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, 
        and the broader international community, to increase leverage 
        in the discussions;
            (4) the observance of due process and rule of law leading 
        to either the lawful prosecution or unconditional release of 
        all arrested political leaders in line with the constitution 
        and all relevant laws;
            (5) the relaunching of an inclusive process of 
        consultations on South Sudan's permanent constitution, drawing 
        on the National Constitutional Review Commission's work around 
        the existing transitional constitution, while recognizing the 
        need for reforms in light of the current circumstances;
            (6) the negotiation of an inclusive political framework for 
        governance in the time remaining until the next general 
        elections that provides political actors and civil society 
        roles in ensuring that good governance prevails in South Sudan 
        as a part of the ongoing negotiations in Addis Ababa, with a 
        strong emphasis on the need for direct participation of civil 
        society actors in the process and creation of a credible 
        feedback process allowing stakeholders and constituencies 
        within South Sudan to remain informed about the ongoing 
        negotiations and have their input respected;
            (7) support for South Sudan's National Election Commission 
        as it lays out a conflict-sensitive roadmap to prepare for and 
        conduct the next South Sudanese general elections with an 
        agreed-upon timetable for a census, constitutional adoption, 
        and the return of displaced people, establishing measurable 
        benchmarks to ensure to the fullest extent possible a free, 
        fair, and transparent process;
            (8) the creation of a framework for security sector reform 
        by engaging with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and 
        South Sudan Police Service (SPSS) with a focus on transforming 
        the fractured security forces into a professional and 
        accountable national army and police force, providing for the 
        integration of rebel militias into the national army where 
        appropriate and politically engaging respected officers and 
        civil society representatives;
            (9) technical, logistical, and expert support to the 
        African Union Commission of Inquiry into atrocities and human 
        rights abuses committed during the current conflict in South 
        Sudan, while independently weighing targeted sanctions against 
        perpetrators of human rights abuses and those obstructing the 
        peace process and encouraging the Commission of Inquiry to 
        report publicly on its findings and recommendations and adhere 
        to the reporting timeline of three months from its 
        establishment in accordance with the African Union Peace and 
        Security Council Communique of December 30, 2013;
            (10) support for a South Sudan version of a Truth and 
        Reconciliation Commission to provide a platform for grievances 
        to be aired and addressed to lessen the temptation for revenge;
            (11) financial and technical assistance to support a 
        grassroots program of social reconciliation, utilizing the good 
        offices of the South Sudan faith-based community and other 
        elements of civil society to mitigate conflict and encourage 
        social cohesion across the country building on successful 
        effort to work with local communities and traditional 
        authorities;
            (12) encouragement of the creation of a hybrid or mixed 
        court for South Sudan to hold perpetrators of grave human 
        rights abuses accountable while respecting South Sudanese 
        sovereign legal authority and building indigenous capacity in 
        the justice sector and establishing a documentation 
        clearinghouse modeled on the multi-donor Syrian Justice and 
        Accountability Center to collect testimony and forensic 
        evidence or any eventual trial;
            (13) the resumption of United States Agency for 
        International Development programming, focusing on famine 
        prevention and resilience, especially in hard-hit areas; and
            (14) United States financial support to meet humanitarian 
        needs and capacity building support to meet the goals in 
        previously listed recommendations.
                                 <all>
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