[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 283 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 283
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 8 (legislative day, February 6), 2008
Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Calling for a peaceful resolution to the current electoral crisis in
Kenya.
Whereas on December 27, 2007, the citizens of Kenya went peacefully to the polls
to elect a new parliament and a new President and signaled their
commitment to democracy by turning out in large numbers and, in some
instances, waiting in long lines to vote;
Whereas on December 29, 2007, the opposition presidential candidate, Raila
Odinga, was reportedly over
300,000 votes ahead of the incumbent with 90 percent of the precincts
reporting;
Whereas on December 30, 2007, the head of the Electoral Commission of Kenya
(``ECK'') declared that Mwai Kibaki won the presidential election by
197,000 votes;
Whereas Mr. Kibaki was sworn in as President within an hour of the announcement
of the election results, despite serious concerns raised about the
legitimacy of the election results by domestic and international
observers;
Whereas the lack of transparency in vote tallying, serious irregularities
reported by election observers, the implausibility of the margin of
victory, and the swearing in of the Party of National Unity presidential
candidate with undue haste, all serve to undermine the credibility of
the presidential election results;
Whereas the Government of Kenya imposed a ban on live media that day, and
shortly after the election results were announced, in contravention of
Kenyan law, the Government also announced a blanket ban on public
assembly and gave police the authority to use lethal force;
Whereas on January 1, 2008, 4 commissioners on the ECK issued a statement which
called into question the election results announced by the Commission
and called for a judicial review;
Whereas the head of the European Union Election Observation Mission stated that
``Lack of transparency as well as a number of verified irregularities .
. . cast doubt on the accuracy of the results of the presidential
election as announced by the ECK'' and called for an international audit
of the results;
Whereas observers from the East African Community have called for an
investigation into irregularities during the tallying process and for
those responsible for such irregularities to be held accountable;
Whereas in 1991 President Daniel Arap Moi agreed to move from one party rule to
multi-party politics, and in 1992, Kenyans voted in record numbers in
the country's first multi-party election in almost 26 years;
Whereas in 1997 Kenya held its second multi-party elections, despite extremely
high levels of tension between the opposition and the ruling party;
Whereas in 2002 the opposition succeeded in forming and holding together a
coalition that for the first time in history ousted the ruling party
from power, demonstrating to Kenyans and Africans that incumbency and
the entrenched clout of a ruling party can be defeated through the
ballot box;
Whereas the violence and unrest in Kenya threatens to roll back the democratic
gains made over the past 17 years;
Whereas more than 900 people have died and an estimated 250,000 people, 80,000
of whom are children, have been displaced as a result of the violence;
Whereas Kenya has been a valuable United States ally since independence,
providing the United States with access to its military facilities and
political support in the United Nations, and has been an important ally
in the war against terrorism, especially since the United States embassy
bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998;
Whereas the political instability in Kenya is connected to a larger struggle for
democracy and is not merely the result of tribal violence;
Whereas continued violence and unrest could have serious political, economic,
and security implications for the entire region; and
Whereas the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs has stated that
``serious flaws in the vote tallying process damaged the credibility of
the process'' and that the United States should not ``conduct business
as usual'' in Kenya: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That the Congress--
(1) commends the Kenyan people for their commitment to
democracy and respect for the democratic process as evidenced
by the high voter turnout and peaceful voting on election day;
(2) strongly condemns the ongoing violence in Kenya and
urges all parties concerned to immediately end use of violence
as a means to achieve their political objectives;
(3) calls for a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the
conflict in Kenya;
(4) calls on the 2 leading presidential candidates to
continue to accept external and internal assistance to help
find a solution to the current crisis which has the support of
the people of Kenya;
(5) calls on Kenyan security forces to refrain from use of
excessive force and respect the human rights of Kenyan
citizens;
(6) calls for those who are found guilty of committing
human rights violations to be held accountable for their
actions;
(7) calls for an immediate end to the restrictions on the
media, and on the rights of peaceful assembly and association;
(8) condemns threats to civil society groups, journalists,
religious leaders, human rights activists, and all those who
are making every effort to achieve a peaceful, just, and
equitable political solution to the current electoral crisis;
(9) calls on the international community, United Nations
aid organizations, and all neighboring countries to provide
assistance to those affected by violence and encourages the use
of all the diplomatic means at their disposal to persuade
relevant political actors to commit to a peaceful resolution to
the current crisis; and
(10) urges the President of the United States to--
(A) continue to support diplomatic efforts to
facilitate a dialogue between leaders of the Party of
National Unity, the Orange Democratic Movement, and
other relevant actors that will lead to the
establishment of an interim or coalition government in
order to implement necessary constitutional reforms,
establish a mechanism to investigate the election
crisis, and address its root causes;
(B) consider the imposition of targeted sanctions,
including a travel ban and asset freeze, on political
leaders and other relevant actors who refuse to engage
in mediation efforts to end the political crisis in the
country; and
(C) conduct a review of current United States aid
to Kenya for the purposes of restricting all non-
essential assistance to Kenya unless the parties are
able to establish a peaceful political resolution to
the current crisis which is credible to the Kenyan
people.
Passed the House of Representatives February 7, 2008.
Attest:
LORRAINE C. MILLER,
Clerk.