H.R. 3127 (109^th): Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006

Appropriate congressional committees

The term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

Government of Sudan

Sudan north-south peace agreement

The term Sudan North-South Peace Agreement means the comprehensive peace agreement signed by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in Nairobi, Kenya, on January 9, 2005.

On July 22, 2004, the House of Representatives and the Senate declared that the atrocities occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan are genocide.

On September 9, 2004, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell stated before the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, [w]hen we reviewed the evidence compiled by our team, along with other information available to the State Department, we concluded that genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the Government of Sudan and the [Janjaweed] bear responsibility—and genocide may still be occurring.

On September 21, 2004, in an address before the United Nations General Assembly, President George W. Bush affirmed the Secretary of State’s finding and stated,[a]t this hour, the world is witnessing terrible suffering and horrible crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan, crimes my government has concluded are genocide.

On July 30, 2004, the United Nations Security Council passed Security Council Resolution 1556, calling upon the Government of Sudan to disarm the Janjaweed militias and to apprehend and bring to justice Janjaweed leaders and their associates who have incited and carried out violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, and establishing a ban on the sale or supply of arms and related materiel of all types, including the provision of related technical training or assistance, to all nongovernmental entities and individuals, including the Janjaweed.

On September 18, 2004, the United Nations Security Council passed Security Council Resolution 1564, determining that the Government of Sudan had failed to meet its obligations under Security Council Resolution 1556, calling for a military flight ban in and over the Darfur region, demanding the names of Janjaweed militiamen disarmed and arrested for verification, establishing an International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur to investigate violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws, and threatening sanctions should the Government of Sudan fail to fully comply with Security Council Resolutions 1556 and 1564, including such actions as to affect Sudan’s petroleum sector or individual members of the Government of Sudan.

On February 1, 2005, the United Nations released the Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, which had been submitted to the United Nations Secretary-General on January 25, 2005.

The Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur established that the Government of the Sudan and the Janjaweed are responsible for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law amounting to crimes under international law, that these acts were conducted on a widespread and systematic basis, and therefore may amount to crimes against humanity, and that Sudanese officials and other individuals may have acted with genocidal intent.

The Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur further notes that, pursuant to its mandate and in the course of its work, the Commission had collected information relating to individual perpetrators of acts constituting violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including crimes against humanity and war crimes and that a sealed file containing the names of those individual perpetrators had been delivered to the United Nations Secretary-General.

On March 24, 2005, the United Nations Security Council passed Security Council Resolution 1590, establishing the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), consisting of up to 10,000 military personnel and 715 civilian police and tasked with supporting implementation of the Sudan North-South Peace Agreement and closely and continuously liais[ing] and coordinat[ing] at all levels with the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) with a view towards expeditiously reinforcing the effort to foster peace in Darfur.

On March 29, 2005, the United Nations Security Council passed Security Council Resolution 1591, extending the military embargo established by Security Council Resolution 1556 to all the parties to the N’djamena Ceasefire Agreement and any other belligerents in the states of North Darfur, South Darfur, and West Darfur, calling for an asset freeze and travel ban against those individuals who impede the peace process, constitute a threat to stability in Darfur and the region, commit violations of international humanitarian or human rights law or other atrocities, or violate the military embargo, and establishing a Panel of Experts to assist in monitoring compliance with Security Council Resolutions 1556 and 1591.

On March 31, 2005, the United Nations Security Council passed Security Council Resolution 1593, referring the situation in Darfur since July 1, 2002, to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and calling on the Government of Sudan and all parties to the conflict to cooperate fully with the Court, while recognizing that [s]tates not party to the Rome Statute have no obligation under the [S]tatute.

the atrocities unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan have been and continue to be genocide;

the African Union should rapidly expand the size and amend the mandate of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to authorize such action as may be necessary to protect civilians and humanitarian operations, and deter violence in the Darfur region without delay;

the international community, including the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and the United States, should immediately act to mobilize sufficient political, military, and financial resources to support the expansion of the African Union Mission in Sudan so that it achieves the size, strength, and capacity necessary for protecting civilians and humanitarian operations, and ending the continued violence in the Darfur region;

if an expanded and reinforced African Union Mission in Sudan fails to stop genocide in the Darfur region, the international community should take additional, dispositive measures to prevent and suppress acts of genocide in the Darfur region;

acting under Article 5 of the Charter of the United Nations, the United Nations Security Council should call for suspension of the Government of Sudan’s rights and privileges of membership by the General Assembly until such time as the Government of Sudan has honored pledges to cease attacks upon civilians, demobilize the Janjaweed and associated militias, and grant free and unfettered access for deliveries of humanitarian assistance in the Darfur region;

pursuant to the adoption of resolutions on July 22, 2004, by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the declaration on September 9, 2004, by former Secretary of State Colin Powell that the atrocities unfolding in Darfur, Sudan, are genocide, and notwithstanding the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act of 2002 (title II of the 2002 Public Law 107–206), the United States should render assistance to the efforts of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring to justice persons accused of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity in Darfur, Sudan, provided that assurances have been received by the United Nations Security Council or the ICC that no current or former United States Government official or employee (including any contractor), member of the United States Armed Forces, or United States national will be subject to prosecution by the ICC in connection with those efforts;

the United States should not provide assistance to the Government of Sudan, other than assistance necessary for the implementation of the Sudan North-South Peace Agreement, the support of the southern regional government in Sudan, or for humanitarian purposes in Sudan, until such time as the Government of Sudan has honored pledges to cease attacks upon civilians, demobilize the Janjaweed and associated militias, and grant free and unfettered access for deliveries of humanitarian assistance in the Darfur region;

the President should seek to assist members of the Sudanese diaspora in the United States by establishing a student loan forgiveness program for those individuals who commit to return to southern Sudan for a period of not less than five years for the purpose of contributing professional skills needed for the reconstruction of southern Sudan;

the President should appoint a Presidential Envoy for Sudan to provide stewardship of efforts to implement the Sudan North-South Peace Agreement, seek ways to bring stability and peace to the Darfur region, address instability elsewhere in Sudan and northern Uganda, and pursue a truly comprehensive peace throughout the region;

the international community should strongly condemn attacks against humanitarian workers and demand that all armed groups in the Darfur region, including the forces of the Government of Sudan, the Janjaweed, associated militias, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and all other armed groups to refrain from such attacks;

the United States should fully support the Sudan North-South Peace Agreement and urge rapid implementation of its terms; and

the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement should seek to play a constructive role in bringing about a political settlement to the crisis in the Darfur region.

supports the expansion of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) so that it achieves the mandate, size, strength, and capacity needed to protect civilians and humanitarian operations, and dissuade and deter fighting and violence in the Darfur region of Sudan, and urges member states of the United Nations to accelerate political, material, financial, and other assistance to the African Union toward this end;

reinforces efforts of the African Union to negotiate peace talks between the Government of Sudan, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and associated armed groups in the Darfur region, calls on the Government of Sudan, the SLM/A, and the JEM to abide by their obligations under the N’Djamena Ceasefire Agreement of April 8, 2004 and subsequent agreements, urges all parties to engage in peace talks without preconditions and seek to resolve the conflict, and strongly condemns all attacks against humanitarian workers in the Darfur region;

imposes sanctions against the Government of Sudan, including sanctions against individual members of the Government of Sudan, and entities controlled or owned by officials of the Government of Sudan or the National Congress Party in Sudan;

calls upon those member states of the United Nations that continue to undermine efforts to foster peace in Sudan by providing military assistance and equipment to the Government of Sudan, the SLM/A, the JEM, and associated armed groups in the Darfur region in violation of the embargo on such assistance and equipment, as called for in United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1556 (July 30, 2004) and 1591 (March 29, 2005), to immediately cease and desist; and

acting under Article 5 of the Charter of the United Nations, calls for suspension of the Government of Sudan’s rights and privileges of membership by the General Assembly until such time as the Government of Sudan has honored pledges to cease attacks upon civilians, demobilize the Janjaweed and associated militias, and grant free and unfettered access for deliveries of humanitarian assistance in the Darfur region.