5-7-04
Bill Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent

To require a report on the conflict in Uganda, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) The United States and the Republic of Uganda enjoy a strong bilateral relationship and continue to work closely together in fighting the human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (`HIV/AIDS') pandemic and combating international terrorism.

(2) For more than 17 years, the Government of Uganda has been engaged in a conflict with the Lord's Resistance Army that has inflicted hardship and suffering on the people of northern and eastern Uganda.

(3) The members of the Lord's Resistance Army have used brutal tactics during this conflict, including abducting and forcing individuals into sexual servitude, and forcing a large number of children, estimated to be between 16,000 and 26,000 children, in Uganda to serve in such Army's military forces.

(4) The Secretary of State has designated the Lord's Resistance Army as a terrorist organization and placed the Lord's Resistance Army on the Terrorist Exclusion list pursuant to section 212(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)).

(5) According to Human Rights Watch, since the mid-1990s the only known sponsor of the Lord's Resistance Army has been the Government of Sudan, though such Government denies providing assistance to the Lord's Resistance Army.

(6) More than 1,000,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Uganda as a result of the conflict.

(7) The conflict has resulted in a lack of security for the people of Uganda, and as a result of such lack, each night more than 18,000 children leave their homes and flee to the relative safety of town centers, creating a massive `night commuter' phenomenon that leaves already vulnerable children subject to exploitation and abuse.

(8) Individuals who have been displaced by the conflict in Uganda often suffer from acute malnutrition and the mortality rate for children in northern Uganda who have been displaced is very high.

(9) In the latter part of 2003, humanitarian and human rights organizations operating in northern Uganda reported an increase in violence directed at their efforts and at civilians, including a sharp increase in child abductions.

(10) The Government of Uganda's military efforts to resolve this conflict, including the arming and training of local militia forces, have not ensured the security of civilian populations in the region to date.

(11) The continued instability and lack of security in Uganda has severely hindered the ability of any organization or governmental entity to deliver regular humanitarian assistance and services to individuals who have been displaced or otherwise negatively affected by the conflict.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that the Government of the United States should--

(1) work vigorously to support ongoing efforts to explore the prospects for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in northern and eastern Uganda;

(2) work with the Government of Uganda and the international community to make available sufficient resources to meet the immediate relief and development needs of the towns and cities in Uganda that are supporting large numbers of people who have been displaced by the conflict;

(3) urge the Government of Uganda and the international community to assume greater responsibility for the protection of civilians and economic development in regions in Uganda affected by the conflict, and to place a high priority on providing security, economic development, and humanitarian assistance to the people of Uganda;

(4) work with the international community, the Government of Uganda, and civil society in northern and eastern Uganda to develop a plan whereby those now displaced may return to their homes or to other locations where they may become economically productive;

(5) urge the leaders and members of the Lord's Resistance Army to stop the abduction of children, and urge all armed forces in Uganda to stop the use of child soldiers, and seek the release of all individuals who have been abducted;

(6) make available increased resources for assistance to individuals who were abducted during the conflict, child soldiers, and other children affected by the conflict;

(7) work with the Government of Uganda, other countries, and international organizations to ensure that sufficient resources and technical support are devoted to the demobilization and reintegration of rebel combatants and abductees forced by their captors to serve in non-combatant support roles;

(8) cooperate with the international community to support civil society organizations and leaders in Uganda, including Acholi religious leaders, who are working toward a just and lasting resolution to the conflict;

(9) urge the Government of Uganda to improve the professionalism of Ugandan military personnel currently stationed in northern and eastern Uganda, with an emphasis on respect for human rights, accountability for abuses, and effective civilian protection;

(10) work with the international community to assist institutions of civil society in Uganda to increase the capacity of such institutions to monitor the human rights situation in northern Uganda and to raise awareness of abuses of human rights that occur in that area;

(11) urge the Government of Uganda to permit international human rights monitors to establish a presence in northern and eastern Uganda;

(12) monitor the creation of civilian militia forces in northern and eastern Uganda and publicize any concerns regarding the recruitment of children into such forces or the potential that the establishment of such forces will invite increased targeting of civilians in the conflict or exacerbate ethnic tension and violence; and

(13) make clear that the relationship between the Government of Sudan and the Government of the United States cannot improve unless no credible evidence indicates that authorities of the Government of Sudan are complicit in efforts to provide weapons or other support to the Lord's Resistance Army.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

(a) REQUIREMENTS- Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees on the conflict in Uganda.

(b) CONTENT- The report required by subsection (a) shall include a description of the following:

(1) The individuals or entities that are providing financial and material support for the Lord's Resistance Army, including a description of any such support provided by the Government of Sudan or by senior officials of such Government.

(2) The activities of the Lord's Resistance Army that create obstacles that prohibit the provision of humanitarian assistance or the protection of the civilian population in Uganda.

(3) The practices employed by the Ugandan People's Defense Forces in northern and eastern Uganda to ensure that children and civilians are protected, that civilian complaints are addressed, and that any member of the armed forces that abuses a civilian is held accountable for such abuse.

(4) The actions carried out by the Government of the United States, the Government of Uganda, or the international community to protect civilians, especially women and children, who have been displaced by the conflict in Uganda, including women and children that leave their homes and flee to cities and towns at night in search of security from sexual exploitation and gender-based violence.

(c) FORM OF REPORT- The report under subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.

(d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED- In this section, the term `appropriate congressional committees' means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives.

Passed the Senate May 7, 2004.

Attest:

Secretary.

To require a report on the conflict in Uganda, and for other purposes.

END