[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 585 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 585
Condemning the conflict in Sudan and supporting the people of Sudan,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 13, 2023
Mrs. Kim of California (for herself, Mr. Kildee, Ms. Jacobs, Mr.
Bilirakis, Mr. James, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr.
Lawler, Ms. Omar, Mr. Bera, Mr. Baird, Mr. Kean of New Jersey, and Mr.
Allred) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the
Judiciary, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the conflict in Sudan and supporting the people of Sudan,
and for other purposes.
Whereas, on November 17, 1958, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Abboud of Sudan led
the country's first coup after independence, and the first successful
coup in post-independence Africa;
Whereas there have been more than 200 coup attempts across Africa since the 1958
coup in Sudan, including successful coups in Sudan in 1969, 1985, 1989,
2019, and 2021;
Whereas, in 1989, then Brigadier General Omar al Bashir of Sudan came to power
in a military coup;
Whereas, in 2019, the Sudanese people bravely stood up for democracy and the
right to choose their own future, and after months of staging protests,
President Omar al Bashir was overthrown by his own security chiefs, who
established a Transitional Military Council led by Lieutenant General
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Mohamed
Hamdan Dagalo (also known as ``Hemedti'') of the Rapid Support Forces
(RSF);
Whereas, on June 3, 2019, after civilians formed a sit-in in front of the
military headquarters to demand that these generals, who had seized
power from Bashir under the guise of protecting the revolution, hand
power to a civilian government, the Transitional Military Council
ordered security forces to disperse the protesters by force, resulting
in the deaths of over 100 civilians;
Whereas, on August 17, 2019--
(1) the Transitional Military Council, under domestic and international
pressure, signed a constitutional document with the prodemocracy Forces for
Freedom and Change (FFC), a broad coalition of political parties and civic
groups representing the protest movement that had pushed for the end of the
Bashir regime and a transition to democracy under civilian rule; and
(2) a transitional government was formed that allowed the military
junta leaders to remain in government in a partnership with new civilian
authorities nominated by the FFC, including Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok
acting as head of government, for a civilian-led transitional period to a
democracy under civilian rule;
Whereas, on October 25, 2021, Lieutenant General Burhan, with the support of
Hemedti seized control of the civilian-led transitional Government of
Sudan through a coup, deployed the military to the streets of Khartoum
and Omdurman, shut down the internet in Sudan, and detained Prime
Minister Hamdok and civilian officials;
Whereas the Sudanese people condemned the coup and launched a campaign of
peaceful civil disobedience, continuing the protests for democracy that
began in late 2018, and reflecting a historic tradition of non-violent
protests led by previous generations in Sudan against previous military
regime;
Whereas, in response to public calls for a transition to democracy under
civilian rule after October 25, 2021, Sudanese security forces
arbitrarily detained civilians and used excessive and lethal force
against peaceful protesters that resulted in civilian deaths across the
country;
Whereas the African Union Peace and Security Council condemned the coup,
rejected the unconstitutional change of government, and on October 27,
2021, suspended Sudan from the Council until the civilian-led
transitional government is restored;
Whereas the United States condemned the coup and called for the full and
immediate restoration of the transition to a democratic government under
civilian rule;
Whereas, on November 21, 2021, military leaders announced an agreement to
reinstate Abdalla Hamdok as Prime Minister of Sudan, but Hamdok resigned
in January after he was unable to constitute a civilian-led transition
government;
Whereas, on December 5, 2022, the Sudanese military announced a transition
framework with a group of FFC leaders and some other Sudanese civilian
leaders, and in such agreement promised to relinquish control of the
government to civilian leaders;
Whereas, in March 2023, the signatories of the Framework Political Agreement
announced that they would sign a final agreement to return the Sudanese
Government to civilian rule on April 1, 2023, and form a new
transitional government, but the April 1 deadline passed without
agreement as security sector reform negotiations stalled as the timeline
and manner for integrating the RSF into the SAF raised tensions between
the security forces;
Whereas, on Saturday, April 15, 2023, fighting broke out in Sudan between the
SAF under the leadership of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the
paramilitary RSF under the leadership of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo
and has escalated into a deadly nationwide conflict;
Whereas this conflict has spread from the Sudanese capital of Khartoum to the
Darfur region and other parts of Sudan, leading to thousands of
civilians killed and injured, and a massive displacement and
humanitarian crisis in East Africa;
Whereas this conflict has severely disrupted the delivery of humanitarian
assistance to the people of Sudan, where one-third of all people, nearly
16,000,000, required humanitarian assistance prior to the conflict and
24,700,000, half of the population, are now in need of humanitarian
assistance;
Whereas more than 2,700,000 people have been displaced since the conflict began,
including over 2,100,000 people displaced internally and over 400,000
who have crossed into neighboring countries including Chad, Egypt, South
Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic;
Whereas, during this conflict, combatants have used explosive weapons in
populated areas, including tanks, artillery, rockets, and air-delivered
munitions, that frequently result in indiscriminate attacks in violation
of international humanitarian law;
Whereas there have been horrifying documented accounts of sexual violence
perpetrated by armed men during the conflict, most of which have been
attributed to members of the paramilitary RSF;
Whereas combatants have attacked humanitarian premises and health facilities,
and looted humanitarian supplies, including at least 17,000 metric tons
of food aid;
Whereas, according to the World Food Programme, the number of individuals
acutely food insecure is expected to rise to 19,000,000;
Whereas tens of thousands of those displaced by the conflict are women and girls
facing distinct risks, and of the more than 1,100,000 Sudanese women
estimated to be pregnant, 29,000 are expected to give birth in the next
month and will need maternal and newborn health services, and at least
4,300 are believed to be in need of emergency obstetric care and at risk
of death, according to the United Nations Population Fund;
Whereas there have been documented reports of grave violations against children,
including killing and maiming, recruitment of children into armed groups
and armed forces, and sexual violence and exploitation perpetrated
against children;
Whereas, on April 18, 2023, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that an
American diplomatic convoy was attacked, but no one was harmed;
Whereas, on April 23, 2023, the United States suspended operations at its
embassy in Sudan and evacuated embassy personnel from the country;
Whereas, on April 23, 2023, the United States Agency for International
Development activated a Disaster Assistance Response Team in a direct
effort to support the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the
Sudanese people;
Whereas the fighting has continued despite the multiple cease-fire
announcements, and the warring parties have failed to adhere to a
Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan signed by
the warring parties on May 11, 2023, that was mediated by the United
States and Saudi Arabia;
Whereas prodemocracy neighborhood Resistance Committees, medical and
professional organizations, and other civic volunteers in Sudan are
helping to facilitate the humanitarian response to the crisis and
providing vital assistance to civilians caught in the fighting;
Whereas, 20 years after the start of the genocide in Darfur, there has not been
meaningful accountability for atrocities committed, and there are
disturbing reports of agitators in the conflict trying to mobilize
communities in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan along ethnic lines;
Whereas, on June 14, 2023, Khamis Abdallah Abbakar, the Governor of West Darfur,
was found tortured and killed after he publicly described the RSF's
actions in Darfur as ``genocide'';
Whereas the United Nations has said that ``compelling eyewitness accounts
attribute'' Khamis Abdallah Abbakar's killing to ``Arab militias and the
RSF'';
Whereas the Sudanese people have continued to call for an end to this conflict
and demand transition to a democratic government under civilian rule;
Whereas, on May 4, 2023, President Biden announced that it ``is policy of the
United States to support a transition to democracy and civilian
transitional government in Sudan, to defend such a transitional
government from those who would prevent its initial formation through
violence and other methods, and, once formed, to protect it from those
who would undermine it''; and
Whereas, on June 1, 2023, the Biden administration announced new economic
sanctions and visa restrictions against actors perpetuating the violence
in Sudan to ``hold accountable those responsible for undermining the
peace, security, and stability of Sudan'', reiterating that the United
States will continue to support the Sudanese people's ``rightful demand
for a transition to democracy'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) calls on all combatants in the conflict to agree to an
immediate cease-fire;
(2) calls on all combatants to immediately adhere to new
and previously signed cease-fire agreements;
(3) condemns the outbreak of armed conflict and departure
from the transition to a democratic government under civilian
rule;
(4) urges the SAF and RSF to adhere to the Declaration of
Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan;
(5) condemns attacks against civilians and diplomatic
personnel, attacks on civilian objects, including schools and
hospitals, sexual violence, and other grave human rights
abuses;
(6) recognizes efforts by the United States, Saudi Arabia,
and other international actors to facilitate a cease-fire, and
calls for greater participation by Sudanese civil society
actors in current and future negotiations;
(7) recognizes efforts by the African Union to seek a
resolution of the conflict in Sudan;
(8) calls on the concerned regional and international
parties to unify their efforts to secure a cease-fire,
establish a monitoring mechanism with civilian participation,
improve humanitarian access and scale up assistance, and secure
more-inclusive negotiations aimed at forming a democratic
government under civilian rule in Sudan;
(9) calls on the President, the Secretary of State, the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development, and other Federal Government agencies to urgently
resource and scale up the delivery of humanitarian assistance
to Sudan and the region commensurate with the growing level of
need and take steps to coordinate with local and international
humanitarian actors, nonprofits, and medical professionals to
respond to the crisis;
(10) calls on the Secretary of State and the Administrator
of the United States Agency for International Development to
ensure that humanitarian response and recovery efforts directly
support local actors in Sudan to ensure maximum impact and
sustainability of these efforts, and ensure that humanitarian
aid does not fall into the hands of combatants;
(11) calls upon the Secretary of State and the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development to prioritize the needs of children affected by the
conflict, including those within Sudan and those who have fled
across borders, by providing protection services, education in
emergencies and continued learning opportunities, and critical
mental health and psychosocial support services for children
and their family members;
(12) calls on neighboring countries to Sudan to provide
refuge to those seeking safety from the conflict, to facilitate
the delivery of humanitarian aid across borders, and to refrain
from refoulement of displaced Sudanese back to Sudan;
(13) affirms its commitment to supporting a transition to
civilian rule and a democratically elected government in Sudan;
(14) calls on the President, the Secretary of State, and
the Secretary of the Treasury to use their authority under
Executive Order 14098 of May 4, 2023, to issue sanctions
against persons and additional entities whose actions threaten
the peace, security, or stability of Sudan, obstruct,
undermine, delay, or impede Sudan's transition to democracy,
and those who have committed serious human rights violations in
Sudan, including those determined to have command
responsibility for forces that commit gross human rights
abuses, and elements associated with the former Islamist regime
who have undermined the democratic transition, manipulated the
conflict, and threatened civilians and United Nations
officials;
(15) calls on the President, the Secretary of State, and
the Secretary of the Treasury to ensure that sanctions include
comprehensive safeguards to protect humanitarian activities,
provision of basic services and peacebuilding activities as
delivered by humanitarian actors, including United Nations
agencies and non-governmental organizations, and to take steps
to mitigate financial sector derisking as a result of Executive
Order 14098;
(16) calls on the President and the Secretary of State to
develop a strategy to ensure meaningful civilian engagement in
all aspects of negotiations to end the conflict, facilitate
humanitarian assistance, and facilitate a new democratic
government under civilian rule;
(17) calls on the President, the Secretary of State, the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development, and the United States Ambassador to the United
Nations to ensure that resources are provided for the
monitoring and documentation of violations of international
humanitarian law and international human rights law during the
conflict to ensure future accountability;
(18) recognizes the brave efforts by prodemocracy
neighborhood Resistance Committees, medical and professional
organizations in Sudan to respond to the growing humanitarian
crisis and assist communities in need;
(19) recognizes the United States armed forces, allied
armed forces, and private organizations who have worked to
safely evacuate United States embassy personnel and citizens
from Sudan;
(20) acknowledges that a sustainable political resolution
to the crisis in Sudan requires a process led by Sudanese
civilians and United States leadership to coordinate the
efforts of regional actors; and
(21) calls on the President to appoint a Presidential
Special Envoy to Sudan to ensure direct, sustained and high-
level diplomatic engagement with international and regional
actors, to respond to the conflict, improve interagency
coordination of United States-Sudan policy implementation, and
to facilitate the establishment of a democracy under civilian
rule.
<all>