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Whereas the United States Civilian Protection Monitoring
Team (CPMT) reported in February 2003 that militia al-
lied with the Government of Sudan and supported di-
rectly by Government of Sudan troops continued to
abduct civilians in the western Upper Nile region of
Sudan;
Whereas subsequent to the February 2003 report of the Ci-
vilian Protection Monitoring Team, the Government of
Sudan restricted the movements of the CPMT and pre-
vented it from carrying out its mandate;
Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights de-
clares ‘‘[n]o one shall be held in slavery or servitude:
slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their
forms’’;
Whereas numerous human rights organizations, including
Christian Solidarity International, the Center for Reli-
gious Freedom of Freedom House, and the American
Anti-Slavery Group have demanded an end to slavery in
all its forms and, in particular, to the abuses practiced
by the Government of Sudan;
Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People adopted, in May 1995, a Resolution to
Combat Modern Day Slavery stating that slavery in
Sudan was an ‘‘irrefutable fact, corroborated by numer-
ous sources,’’ and pledging that ‘‘we will not rest until
these slaves are freed’’;
Whereas the House of Representatives has repeatedly decried
human rights abuses in Sudan and called for the aboli-
tion of the slave trade and of chattel slavery in Sudan;
•HRES 194 EH
Whereas the House of Representatives committed itself to
practical measures to suppress the slave trade and chat-
tel slavery in the Sudan by the passage, by a vote of
359–8, in the 107th Congress of H.R. 5531, the ‘‘Sudan
Peace Act’’, and the Senate passed a similar measure, S.
180, unanimously;
Whereas the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
conducted its 59th session in Geneva from March 17
through April 25, 2003;
Whereas the head of the United States delegation to the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Ambas-
sador Jeane Kirkpatrick, declared in her opening address
that ‘‘[t]he Commission has the solemn duty to speak for
those who are denied the right to speak for themselves’’;
Whereas Human Rights Watch and many other concerned
persons and organizations have called upon the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights to renew the
mandate of the Special Rapporteur on human rights for
Sudan, and to condemn gross abuses of human rights
and violations of international humanitarian law by the
Sudanese Government and rebel Sudan People’s Libera-
tion Movement/Army (SPLM/A) forces; and
Whereas the United Nations Commission on Human Rights,
by a vote of 26 to 24 with 3 abstentions, refused to clas-
sify Sudan as an ‘‘Item 9’’ country, one in which grave
human rights problems justify the appointment of a Spe-
cial Rapporteur to investigate abuses and to report on
them: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Represent-
atives that—
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(1) slavery, under any circumstances, is an uncon-
scionable practice;
(2) the subjection inherent in slavery inevitably
leads to other abuses, including torture and rape;
(3) human rights abuses and slavery in Sudan re-
main a matter of the most profound concern;
(4) the United States must condemn attempts to ig-
nore or condone these outrages;
(5) the United States must make clear to all mem-
bers of the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights that the refusal to condemn slavery in Sudan un-
dermines any moral authority that the Commission
might seek to exert in other areas;
(6) the United States must work to re-classify
Sudan as an ‘‘Item 9’’ country, requiring a Special
Rapporteur at the next session of the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights; and
(7) the United States should encourage the United
Nations to consider reinstating sanctions against Sudan
and should urge the European Union, the African
Union, and all others who express concern for human
freedom and dignity to be engaged in activities that will
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convince Sudan to abolish slavery and respect human
rights.
Attest:
Clerk.