IV 

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; 


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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; 


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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 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that it should be the policy of the United 

3 States Government to encourage and facilitate as fea4 sible— 

5 (1) the full implementation of the January 23, 

6 2014, cessation of hostilities agreement between the 

7 Government of South Sudan and the Sudan People’s 

8 Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition, with a 

9 commitment to ensuring that the multilateral Joint 

10 Monitoring and Verification Team has unimpeded 

11 access to all parts of the country; 


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1 (2) the expansion of existing efforts to disarm 

2 militia and other armed groups in South Sudan, de3 mobilize combatants and reintegrate them into civil4 ian society, and curtail supplies of foreign arms be5 yond that necessary for national security or law and 

6 order, raising the possibility of an arms embargo in 

7 the event of further violations of the cessation of 

8 hostilities agreement; 

9 (3) the elevation of the United States Govern10 ment’s existing presence at the Addis Ababa-based 

11 peace negotiations, building on Special Envoy Don12 ald Booth’s efforts and with a focus on high-level en13 gagement around the broader political negotiations 

14 necessary to broker a durable peace in conjunction 

15 with neighboring countries, including Kenya, Ethi16 opia, Uganda, and the broader international commu17 nity, to increase leverage in the discussions; 

18 (4) the observance of due process and rule of 

19 law leading to either the lawful prosecution or un20 conditional release of all arrested political leaders in 

21 line with the constitution and all relevant laws; 

22 (5) the relaunching of an inclusive process of 

23 consultations on South Sudan’s permanent constitu24 tion, drawing on the National Constitutional Review 

25 Commission’s work around the existing transitional 


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1 constitution, while recognizing the need for reforms 

2 in light of the current circumstances; 

3 (6) the negotiation of an inclusive political 

4 framework for governance in the time remaining 

5 until the next general elections that provides political 

6 actors and civil society roles in ensuring that good 

7 governance prevails in South Sudan as a part of the 

8 ongoing negotiations in Addis Ababa, with a strong 

9 emphasis on the need for direct participation of civil 

10 society actors in the process and creation of a cred11 ible feedback process allowing stakeholders and con12 stituencies within South Sudan to remain informed 

13 about the ongoing negotiations and have their input 

14 respected; 

15 (7) support for South Sudan’s National Elec16 tion Commission as it lays out a conflict-sensitive 

17 roadmap to prepare for and conduct the next South 

18 Sudanese general elections with an agreed-upon 

19 timetable for a census, constitutional adoption, and 

20 the return of displaced people, establishing measur21 able benchmarks to ensure to the fullest extent pos22 sible a free, fair, and transparent process; 

23 (8) the creation of a framework for security 

24 sector reform by engaging with the Sudan People’s 

25 Liberation Army (SPLA) and South Sudan Police 


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1 Service (SPSS) with a focus on transforming the 

2 fractured security forces into a professional and ac3 countable national army and police force, providing 

4 for the integration of rebel militias into the national 

5 army where appropriate and politically engaging re6 spected officers and civil society representatives; 

7 (9) technical, logistical, and expert support to 

8 the African Union Commission of Inquiry into atroc9 ities and human rights abuses committed during the 

10 current conflict in South Sudan, while independently 

11 weighing targeted sanctions against perpetrators of 

12 human rights abuses and those obstructing the 

13 peace process and encouraging the Commission of 

14 Inquiry to report publicly on its findings and rec15 ommendations and adhere to the reporting timeline 

16 of three months from its establishment in accord17 ance with the African Union Peace and Security 

18 Council Communique ́ of December 30, 2013; 

19 (10) support for a South Sudan version of a 

20 Truth and Reconciliation Commission to provide a 

21 platform for grievances to be aired and addressed to 

22 lessen the temptation for revenge; 

23 (11) financial and technical assistance to sup24 port a grassroots program of social reconciliation, 

25 utilizing the good offices of the South Sudan faithVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:14 Mar 06, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR503.IH HR503

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1 based community and other elements of civil society 

2 to mitigate conflict and encourage social cohesion 

3 across the country building on successful effort to 

4 work with local communities and traditional authori5 ties; 

6 (12) encouragement of the creation of a hybrid 

7 or mixed court for South Sudan to hold perpetrators 

8 of grave human rights abuses accountable while re9 specting South Sudanese sovereign legal authority 

10 and building indigenous capacity in the justice sector 

11 and establishing a documentation clearinghouse 

12 modeled on the multi-donor Syrian Justice and Ac13 countability Center to collect testimony and forensic 

14 evidence or any eventual trial; 

15 (13) the resumption of United States Agency 

16 for International Development programming, focus17 ing on famine prevention and resilience, especially in 

18 hard-hit areas; and 

19 (14) United States financial support to meet 

20 humanitarian needs and capacity building support to 

21 meet the goals in previously listed recommendations. 

Æ 


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