IV
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 234
Regarding the human rights situation in Sudan and Mauritania, including
the practice of chattel slavery and all other forms of booty.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 4, 1998
Mr. PAYNE submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Regarding the human rights situation in Sudan and Mauri-
tania, including the practice of chattel slavery and all
other forms of booty.
Whereas the Government of Sudan and the Government of
Mauritania have perpetrated a prolonged campaign of
human rights abuses and discrimination;
Whereas the 1997 Country Reports on Human Rights of the
Department of State has documented numerous such
abuses by both governments;
Whereas since Sudan’s independence in 1956, the Khartoum
Government dominated by northern Arabs has been fight-
ing against the Christian and animist South;
•HCON 234 IH
Whereas the Government of Sudan is not able to pay their
militias and has encouraged the militias to take slaves as
compensation;
Whereas the Christian Solidarity International estimates that
tens of thousands of black slaves are owned by Arabs in
northern Sudan;
Whereas the Sudanese Government’s Popular Defense Force
(PDF) enslaved 18 women and children during a slave
raid on four villages—Tiomthet, Mabior Nyang, Ajok and
Achorou—in northeastern Bahr El Ghazal on November
30, 1997;
Whereas the slave raid is the most recent of a long series of
such raids undertaken as part of the ruling National
Islam Front (NIF) regime’s self-declared jihad (holy war)
against the predominantly Christian and Christian and
animist South;
Whereas the Government of Mauritania detained two human
rights activists and a lawyer following the broadcast on
French television of a documentary on slavery;
Whereas the Government of Mauritania has carried out ille-
gal searches that has culminated in the arrest of
Boubacar Ould Messaoud, Maitre Brahim Ould Ebety,
and Cheick Saad Bouh Kamara on January 17, 1998, for
broadcasting a documentary on slavery;
Whereas the Government of Mauritania ratified the United
Nations Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and
Slavery, and has officially abolished slavery in 1905,
1960 and 1980, however, despite being a party to these
agreements, slavery still exists in Mauritania; and
Whereas Sudan is a party to the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter on Human
•HCON 234 IH
and People’s Rights, the Slavery Convention, and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, however, despite
being a party to these agreements, slavery still exists in
Sudan: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) calls upon the Government of Sudan and
the Government of Mauritania to honor their obliga-
tions under the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the Convention on the Abolition of Slav-
ery to prosecute slave owners to the fullest extent
under the anti-slavery laws of each such country and
to educate individuals being held as slaves concern-
ing their legal rights;
(2) calls upon both governments to surrender
and release all slaves and return them to their
homes;
(3) urges in the strongest terms that both gov-
ernments investigate abuses of slavery;
(4) urges the United Nations Security Council
to condemn these acts of slavery by both govern-
ments;
(5) deplores the fighting of the National Islam
Front (NIF) which has caused untold suffering for
the people of Sudan;
•HCON 234 IH
(6) advocates the strengthening of the border
between northern and southern Sudan;
(7) encourages human rights organizations to
facilitate a safe passage for slavery victims to and
from conflict zones;
(8) commends the Clinton Administration for
sanctioning Sudan and monitoring the acts of Mau-
ritania with respect to slavery; and
(9) urges in the strongest possible terms that
the Secretary of the Treasury should not waive any
of the current sanctions that are in place against
Sudan.
Æ