III
Calendar No. 447
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 59
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 18, 2022
Received and placed on the calendar
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Condemning the October 25, 2021, military coup in Sudan and standing with the people of Sudan.
Whereas the people of the Republic of Sudan suffered for three decades under the despotic rule of President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, whose government was responsible for the suppression of civil liberties, grand corruption, support for international terrorism, and the commission of crimes against humanity and genocide;
Whereas, throughout 2019, a coalition of Sudanese civic groups, including professional associations, labor unions, community groups, democracy activists, and opposition parties, led a mass protest movement to demand the end of Bashir’s reign and the transition to democracy in Sudan;
Whereas, on April 11, 2019, Sudanese military officers deposed Bashir, and, following continued protests, agreed to form a transitional government in partnership with a civilian pro-democracy coalition on July 17, 2019;
Whereas, on June 3, 2019, Sudanese forces led by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), largely comprised of Janjaweed militia involved in genocidal campaigns across Darfur for decades, opened fire on protesters at an army command headquarters in Khartoum, killing at least 127 people, at least 40 of whom were found in the Nile River;
Whereas the military and civilian elements agreed to a 39-month transition to democracy, with a Civilian-Led Transitional Government (CLTG) comprised of a predominantly civilian cabinet led by Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, a Sovereign Council, an executive body with civilian and military members chaired for the first half of the transitional period by Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and a Transitional Legislative Council, which has yet to be formed;
Whereas the United States and the international community supported Sudan’s transition to democracy, with the United States identifying more than $1,000,000,000 in foreign assistance, and the multilateral Friends of Sudan group pledging $1,800,000,000 from roughly 50 countries and international organizations;
Whereas the CLTG made progress in human rights reforms, including guaranteeing the people of Sudan freedom of religion and gender equality under the transitional constitution, banning female genital mutilation, and decriminalizing apostasy;
Whereas, in August 2021, when the Sudanese Cabinet ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the CLTG made progress towards ending impunity for abusers of human rights, stating its intention to deliver Omar al-Bashir to the ICC to stand trial for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and formed civilian committees to investigate corruption and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Bashir regime;
Whereas the transitional government negotiated a peace agreement with several rebel groups, a step towards ending decades of conflict in the regions of Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile, which killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and left more than 3,000,000 people displaced within Sudan;
Whereas Sudan continues to face a serious humanitarian situation, with an estimated 13,400,000 people, or 29 percent of the population, in need of humanitarian assistance in 2021;
Whereas Sudan faces a severe economic crisis, exacerbated by the COVID–19 pandemic, which caused the price of food and consumer goods to increase significantly, while austerity measures imposed to stabilize the economy resulted in the reduction or elimination of subsidies for commodities including wheat and fuel;
Whereas the political tensions between the civilian and military elements and within factions of the civilian coalition undermined the CLTG and contributed to widespread unrest within the Sudanese population relating to a range of issues, including the economic crisis, ethnic and tribal conflict in peripheral regions, and the unsatisfactory pace of reforms;
Whereas, on September 21, 2021, some members of the military reportedly attempted a coup d’état against the transitional government, which failed to depose the government but succeeded in precipitating the most serious political crisis of the transition period;
Whereas, on October 21, 2021, hundreds of thousands of people across Sudan demonstrated in support of democratic civilian rule, to counter a smaller protest days prior demanding the military take complete control of the government;
Whereas, on October 25, 2021, Lieutenant General Burhan, with the support of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti
, seized control of the government, deployed the military to the streets of Khartoum and Omdurman, and arrested and detained Prime Minister Hamdok and other civilian officials;
Whereas the African Union Peace and Security Council convened on October 27, 2021, strongly condemned the coup, reaffirmed the mandate of the CLTG, and subsequently suspended Sudan from the regional body with immediate effect * * * until the effective restoration
of the CLTG;
Whereas the actions of Lieutenant General Burhan and the Sudanese military violate Sudan’s Constitutional Charter and threaten to plunge Sudan into isolation and instability;
Whereas the United States Government publicly condemned the coup, suspended its foreign assistance to Sudan, and urged Lieutenant General Burhan and his accomplices to restore the CLTG and return Sudan to the path to democracy; and
Whereas, the Troika (the United States, United Kingdom, Norway), the European Union, and Switzerland continue to recognize the Prime Minister and his cabinet as the constitutional leaders of the transitional government
and confirm once again the international calls for the immediate return to the roadmap for democratic transition of Sudan
: Now, therefore, be it
That Congress—
condemns the October 25, 2021, coup in Sudan;
stands with the people of Sudan in their democratic aspirations;
recognizes the Prime Minister and his cabinet as the constitutional leaders of Sudan’s transitional government;
calls for Sudan’s military junta to—
immediately release all civilian government officials, civil society members, and other individuals detained in connection with the coup;
return to constitutional rule under the transitional constitution as the starting point for negotiations with civilians toward full civilian rule;
lift the state of emergency, including complete restoration of all means of communication;
remove all roadblocks and checkpoints, and order the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and RSF to stand down and comply with international recognized rules of engagement;
ensure security forces respect the right to peaceful protest and hold those who used excessive force and committed other abuses accountable in a transparent, credible process;
cease all attempts to change the civilian composition of the cabinet, Sovereign Council, and other government bodies; and
transfer leadership of the Sovereign Council to a civilian member of the Sovereign Council in keeping with the transitional constitution;
calls on the Secretary of State to—
immediately identify coup leaders, their accomplices, and enablers for consideration for targeted sanctions;
urge junta leaders to return immediately to the rule of law as set forth by the transitional constitution;
monitor, discourage, and deter any effort by external parties to support the coup and the military junta;
coordinate with—
the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and other Federal Government agencies to pause all non-humanitarian bilateral assistance to Sudan until restoration of the transitional constitutional order;
the Department of the Treasury to use the voice and vote of the United States in international financial institutions to suspend all actions related to non-humanitarian loans or debt relief to Sudan until restoration of the transitional constitutional order; and
the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to ensure the United Nations Security Council is seized of the matter on an ongoing basis; and
work with the Troika to engage members of the international community to join these United States actions; and
calls on international partners to—
join United States efforts to impose targeted sanctions on the junta and other accomplices to the coup, monitor, discourage, and deter any effort by external parties to support the junta, and urge junta leaders to return to the rule of law as set forth by the transitional constitution; and
suspend Sudan’s participation in all regional multilateral organizations until Sudan is returned to constitutional rule under the transitional constitution.
Passed the House of Representatives July 14, 2022.
Cheryl L. Johnson,
Clerk.
July 18, 2022
Received and placed on the calendar