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 regard-
ing 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 fa-
cilitate 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 Comprehen-
sive 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) dis-
missed 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 han-
dling 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, in-
cluding former Finance Minister Kosti Manibe, former 
Minister of Cabinet Affairs Deng Alor, and SPLM Sec-
retary General Pagan Amum, accusing them of being in-
volved 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 en-
gaged 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 Rep-
resentatives that it should be the policy of the United 
States Government to encourage and facilitate as fea-
sible— 
(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; 
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(2) the expansion of existing efforts to disarm 
militia and other armed groups in South Sudan, de-
mobilize combatants and reintegrate them into civil-
ian society, and curtail supplies of foreign arms be-
yond 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 Govern-
ment’s existing presence at the Addis Ababa-based 
peace negotiations, building on Special Envoy Don-
ald Booth’s efforts and with a focus on high-level en-
gagement around the broader political negotiations 
necessary to broker a durable peace in conjunction 
with neighboring countries, including Kenya, Ethi-
opia, Uganda, and the broader international commu-
nity, to increase leverage in the discussions; 
(4) the observance of due process and rule of 
law leading to either the lawful prosecution or un-
conditional 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 constitu-
tion, drawing on the National Constitutional Review 
Commission’s work around the existing transitional 
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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 cred-
ible feedback process allowing stakeholders and con-
stituencies within South Sudan to remain informed 
about the ongoing negotiations and have their input 
respected; 
(7) support for South Sudan’s National Elec-
tion 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 measur-
able benchmarks to ensure to the fullest extent pos-
sible 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 
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Service (SPSS) with a focus on transforming the 
fractured security forces into a professional and ac-
countable national army and police force, providing 
for the integration of rebel militias into the national 
army where appropriate and politically engaging re-
spected officers and civil society representatives; 
(9) technical, logistical, and expert support to 
the African Union Commission of Inquiry into atroc-
ities 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 rec-
ommendations and adhere to the reporting timeline 
of three months from its establishment in accord-
ance 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 sup-
port a grassroots program of social reconciliation, 
utilizing the good offices of the South Sudan faith- 
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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 authori-
ties; 
(12) encouragement of the creation of a hybrid 
or mixed court for South Sudan to hold perpetrators 
of grave human rights abuses accountable while re-
specting 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 Ac-
countability Center to collect testimony and forensic 
evidence or any eventual trial; 
(13) the resumption of United States Agency 
for International Development programming, focus-
ing 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. 
Æ 
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