A resolution deploring the rape and assault of women in Guinea and the killing of political protesters on September 28, 2009.

Whereas, on December 23, 2008, a group of military officers calling itself the National Council for Democracy and Development (referred to in this preamble as the “CNDD”) seized power in a coup in Guinea, installed as interim President Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, and promised to hold elections;

Whereas, on September 28, 2009, authorities of the Government of Guinea opened fire on a crowd of thousands of unarmed opposition protesters who were gathered in and around an outdoor stadium to protest statements made by Captain Camara that he may run for president, after he said that he would not;

Whereas, on September 29, 2009, the United States Department of State condemned the brazen and inappropriate use of force by the military against civilians in Guinea, and demanded the immediate release of opposition leaders and a return to civilian rule as soon as possible;

Whereas according to the United Nations Security Council Report of the International Commission of Inquiry Mandated to Establish the Facts and Circumstances of the Events of 28 September 2009 in Guinea, 156 people were killed or disappeared and at least 109 women and girls “were subjected to rape and other sexual violence, including sexual mutilation and sexual slavery”;

Whereas according to Human Rights Watch, these killings and assaults were part of a “premeditated massacre” in which the “level, frequency, and brutality of sexual violence that took place at and after the protests strongly suggests that it was part of a systematic attempt to terrorize and humiliate the opposition, not just random acts by rogue soldiers”;

Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights characterized the events as a “blood bath” and stated that they “must not become part of the fabric of impunity that has enveloped Guinea for decades”;

Whereas according to the humanitarian organization CARE, “What happened in Guinea is an outrage—and a stark reminder of a larger epidemic of violence against women and girls around the world.”;

Whereas Amnesty International reports that violence against women knows few bounds, and that “in armed conflicts, countless women and girls are raped and sexually abused by security forces and opposition groups as an act of war, and often face additional violence in refugee camps. Government sponsored violence also exists in peacetime, with women assaulted while in police custody, in prison, and at the hands of any number of state actors.” and that “violence against women is a violation of human rights that cannot be justified by any political, religious, or cultural claim”;

Whereas the International Commission of Inquiry of the United Nations concluded that “the crimes perpetrated on 28 September 2009 and in the immediate aftermath can be described as crimes against humanity” and that there is sufficient evidence that Captain Camara “incurred individual criminal liability and command responsibility for the events that occurred during the attack and related events in their immediate aftermath”;

Whereas, on January 15, 2010, General Sékouba Konate and Captain Camara of the Republic of Guinea and President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso signed the Joint Declaration of Ouagadougou pledging to form a transitional government of national unity in Guinea, to hold elections within six months without the participation of candidates from the military junta, and to permit the entry of an international observer mission from the Economic Community of West African States; and

Whereas, in accordance with the Joint Declaration of Ouagadougou, a prime minister from the coalition of opposition forces, Forces Vives, has been named to the transitional government: Now, therefore, be it