FIRST REGULAR SESSION

House Concurrent Resolution No. 40

94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

2618L.01I

            Whereas, the Missouri General Assembly denounces the genocide that continues to be perpetrated in the Darfur region of Sudan; and

            Whereas, the Missouri General Assembly supports the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; and

            Whereas, the United Nations treaty defines genocide as "any of the number of acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group; killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group"; and

            Whereas, both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously passed resolutions terming the tragedy in Sudan "genocide", and calling for action by the United Nations under the Genocide Convention; and

            Whereas, the Sudanese Government is supporting militia groups that are engaged in genocidal practices in communities of black African farmers in the Western province of Darfur; and

            Whereas, with the support of the Sudanese government warplanes and army troops, these militias are razing villages, systematically raping women and girls, specifically targeting and destroying food and water supplies, and massacring communities; and

            Whereas, in the last four years the conflict has taken the lives of more than 400,000 civilians; and

            Whereas, more than 2 million civilians have been displaced within Darfur or fled into neighboring Chad, and another 3.5 million have been left to rely on humanitarian aid to survive; and

            Whereas, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1706, authorizing deployment of up to 22,500 United Nations peacekeepers with a mandate to use all necessary means to protect civilians, gradually taking over the African Union Mission's under-funded efforts to cease the violence and killings; and

            Whereas, the Security Council's Resolution 1706 is contingent on the government of Sudan consenting to the deployment of troops; and

            Whereas, the Sudanese government has firmly rejected the Security Council Resolution 1706 and has hindered some international relief efforts throughout the region; and

            Whereas, the genocide in Darfur has severely escalated in the last six months, with a continuous loss of almost 20,000 civilian lives each month, and the possibility that the under-funded African Union troops may be forced out of the region, leaving no peacekeeping force in Darfur; and

            Whereas, in early January 2007, several representatives of humanitarian organizations received a promise from Sudan President Bashir for a temporary cease-fire and a pledge to hold an international peace summit before March 15, 2007; and

            Whereas, the United States Congress is urged to make the Darfur humanitarian crisis a priority:

            Now, therefore, be it resolved that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-fourth General Assembly, First Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby stands in full support of taking immediate action to help end the genocide in Darfur and calls on President Bush and the United States Congress to take immediate action to prevent further atrocities; and

            Be it further resolved that the Missouri General Assembly urges the President to act quickly to ensure that Sudan honors its promise for a sixty-day cease-fire and an international peace summit; and

            Be it further resolved that the Missouri General Assembly urges the Presidential Special Envoy to Sudan to work diligently with international partners to support a long-term peace process in Darfur; and

            Be it further resolved that the State of Missouri urgently calls for the United States Congress to reintroduce a bill similar to the one it failed to pass in the last session, Darfur Act (S.3801), and that the President immediately sign it into law; and reintroduce a measure in the Department of Defense Appropriations bill authorizing funds that will bolster the African Union Mission until United Nations peacekeeping forces can be deployed; and

            Be it further resolved that the State of Missouri calls on the President to apply diplomatic political pressure on the Sudanese government to ensure that humanitarian organizations maintain access to the region, including inviting the United Nations peacekeeping troops in to the country without restrictions; and

            Be it further resolved that the Missouri General Assembly calls on President Bush and the United States Congress to increase humanitarian aid to the Darfur region, providing crucial resources to the hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians; and

            Be it further resolved that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution for President George W. Bush and each member of the Missouri Congressional Delegation.