Senate Bill sb1940

    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                      SR 1940

    By Senator Joyner





    18-1423-07

  1                        Senate Resolution

  2         A resolution condemning the Government of the

  3         Republic of the Sudan for its participation and

  4         complicity in the attacks against innocent

  5         civilians in the impoverished Darfur region of

  6         western Sudan.

  7  

  8         WHEREAS, since early 2003, a conflict between forces of

  9  the Government of the Republic of the Sudan, including militia

10  forces backed by the Government, and rebel forces in the

11  impoverished Darfur region of western Sudan has resulted in

12  attacks by ground and air forces of the Government of Sudan

13  against innocent civilians and undefended villages in the

14  region, and

15         WHEREAS, the militia forces backed by the Government of

16  Sudan have also engaged in the use of rape as a weapon of war,

17  the abduction of children, the destruction of food and water

18  sources, and the deliberate and systematic manipulation and

19  denial of humanitarian assistance for the people of the Darfur

20  region, and

21         WHEREAS, on December 18, 2003, United Nations

22  Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland

23  declared that the Darfur region was probably "the world's

24  worst humanitarian catastrophe," and in April 2004 reported to

25  the United Nations Security Council that in Darfur, "a

26  sequence of deliberate actions has been observed that seem

27  aimed at achieving a specific objective: the forcible and

28  long-term displacement of the targeted communities which may

29  also be termed 'ethnic cleansing'," and

30         WHEREAS, on February 17, 2004, Amnesty International

31  reported that it "continues to receive details of horrifying

                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                      SR 1940
    18-1423-07




 1  attacks against civilians in villages by government warplanes,

 2  soldiers, and pro-government militia," and

 3         WHEREAS, on April 20, 2004, the United Nations Office

 4  of the High Commissioner for Human Rights delayed the release

 5  of a report citing gross human rights abuses, crimes against

 6  humanity, and war crimes committed in Darfur in a bid to gain

 7  access to Sudan for investigators, and

 8         WHEREAS, the Government of Sudan continues to deny

 9  humanitarian assistance for the people of the Darfur region by

10  denying them unrestricted access to humanitarian aid

11  organizations, and

12         WHEREAS, attacks on civilians in Darfur continue

13  despite an April 8, 2004, temporary cease-fire agreement, and

14         WHEREAS, nearly 3 million people affected by the

15  conflict in the Darfur region have remained beyond the reach

16  of aid agencies attempting to provide essential humanitarian

17  assistance, and United Nations aid agencies estimate that they

18  have been able to reach only 15 percent of people in need and

19  that more than 700,000 people have been displaced within

20  Sudan, and

21         WHEREAS, on September 9, 2004, Secretary of State Colin

22  Powell said that genocide has taken place in Sudan, and that

23  the Government and Government-sponsored militia groups bear

24  the responsibility for rapes, killings, and other abuses that

25  have left 1.2 million Black Africans homeless, NOW, THEREFORE,

26  

27  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

28  

29         That this body strongly condemns the Government of the

30  Republic of the Sudan and militia groups supported by the

31  Government of Sudan for attacks against innocent civilians in

                                  2

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                      SR 1940
    18-1423-07




 1  the impoverished Darfur region of western Sudan, in violation

 2  of Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, done at Geneva August

 3  12, 1949, and entered into force October 21, 1950, which

 4  specifically prohibit attacks on civilians, and demands that

 5  the Government of Sudan immediately take actions to cease

 6  these attacks.

 7         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution,

 8  with the Seal of the Senate affixed, be transmitted to the

 9  Embassy of the Republic of Sudan and each member of the

10  Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

11  

12  

13  

14  

15  

16  

17  

18  

19  

20  

21  

22  

23  

24  

25  

26  

27  

28  

29  

30  

31  

                                  3

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.