5-7-04
Bill Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2264
AN ACT
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.
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2264
AN ACT
To require a report on the conflict in Uganda, and for other purposes.
END