HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

276

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 


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.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, Hawaii is committed to supporting the dignity and worth of each human being; and

 

     WHEREAS, after twenty-three years of civil war, the Lord's Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, has engaged in an armed conflict with the Government of Uganda, resulting in thousands of murders, at least twice that number of children abducted, and nearly two-million people displaced; and

 

WHEREAS, on October 6, 2005, it was announced by the International Criminal Court (ICC) that arrest warrants had been issued for five members of the Lord’s Resistance Army, including Joseph Kony, for crimes against humanity following a sealed indictment; and

 

     WHEREAS, since September of 2008, the scope of the LRA attacks has escalated across Sudan, causing United Nations Security Council President Jean-Maurice Ripert to issue a statement on January 16, 2009 on behalf of fifteen countries, including the United States, strongly condemning the recent attacks; and

 

WHEREAS, the Lord's Resistance Army has been placed on the Terrorist Exclusion List by the United States State Department under the Patriot Act, which among other qualifications, means it's members cannot immigrate to the U.S.; and

 

WHEREAS, on April 26, 2006, the State Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor testified before Congress that those who suffer most from the Lord's Resistance Army tactics are the children, who face enslavement, sexual exploitation, and forced soldiering; and

 

WHEREAS, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, issued a statement on January 27, 2009 speaking out against the “grotesque” human rights abuses by the Lord’s Resistance Army, stating that the parties responsible for these abuses will be held accountable for their actions, and urging the governments of South Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to properly plan and execute their joint-operations against the Lord’s Resistance Army as the previous efforts have been largely ineffective; and

 

     WHEREAS, over 5,000 children are also believed to be serving in the Ugandan People's Defense Forces, joining due to economic necessity, to avenge the loss of a family member, or for their own personal safety exposing them to hazardous conditions which risk physical injury and disability, psychological trauma, sexually transmitted diseases, and often death; and

 

WHEREAS, the continuing violence and instability obstruct the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of northern Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and impede national and regional trade, development and democratization efforts, and counter-terrorism efforts; and

 

WHEREAS, Hawaii and its citizens cannot be bystanders, as child enslavement, exploitation, soldiering, and human trafficking are moral and ethical issues that implicate us all; now, therefore

 

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, that it disapproves of the Lord's Resistance Army leadership's inconsistent commitment to resolving the conflict in northern Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo peacefully; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the State of Hawaii urges the Governments of Uganda and Democratic Republic of the Congo to abolish child soldiering in their armed forces in conjunction with the United States’ Child Soldiers Accountability Act signed into law by President Bush on October 3, 2008; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Congressional Delegation is urged to support legislation allocating sufficient funds for continued humanitarian aid to the people of Uganda and the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as legislation urging the Lord's Resistance Army to engage in good faith negotiations to pursue a political solution to this conflict; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to Hawaii's congressional delegation, the President of the United States, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, the Ugandan Ambassador to the United States and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ambassador to the United States.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Child Human-Rights Abuses; Northern Uganda