STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1400

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

 

RE:   H.R. No. 276

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred H.R. No. 276 entitled:

 

"HOUSE RESOLUTION CONDEMNING THE HUMAN-RIGHTS ATROCITIES AND VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN IN NORTHERN UGANDA AND THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO, AND URGING CONGRESS TO LEAD THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN EFFORTS TO PROTECT THE CHILDREN OF UGANDA AND THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this resolution is to:

 

1)   condemn the human rights atrocities and violence against children in northern Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo;

 

2)   urge Congress to lead the international community in efforts to protect the children of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo;

 

     Testimony in support was submitted by the Invisible Children of Hawaii Club and a concerned individual.

 

     Your Committee finds the human rights atrocities and violence committed by the Lord's Resistance Army affect children the most.  These victims of the twenty-three year civil war in Uganda have faced enslavement, sexual exploitation, and forced soldiering.  So far, over 5,000 children are believed to be serving in the Ugandan People's Defense Forces against the Lord's Resistance Army, where countless other children are soldiering involuntarily.  The use of children soldiers has resulted in thousands of murders, at least twice that number of children abducted, and nearly two million people displaced from their homes.

 

The United Nations Security Council President, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the State Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor have all openly and publicly condemned these acts of violence and human rights violations.  Your Committee also wishes to express its disapproval and condemnation of the Lord's Resistance Army's leadership and acts of human rights violations.  They would also like to urge both the Government of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to abolish child soldiering in their armed forces.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.R. No. 276 and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Tourism, Culture, & International Affairs.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair