HR333JUL15

TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending July 15, 2005

House Resolution 333 Supporting the goals and ideals of a National Weekend of Prayer and Reflection for Darfur, Sudan.

BRIEF

The Resolution preamble begins with a year-old congressional resolution that defines the mass slaughter of individuals in Sudan, Africa as genocide and concludes that US religious organizations of most faiths should observe a National Weekend of Prayer to help solve the problem.

The ‘problem’ is responsible for the death of an estimated 400,000 Sudanese at the hands of their own fellow citizens and the displacement of 2 million within and without the country.

Although the French and some African nations and organizations have attempted to intervene the problem continues relatively unabated. The US has been accused of going light on the matter and of having ignored the problem for years until major media coverage highlighted the murders.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel, though. The area of the country about which the Resolution would request prayer is Darfur, where rebel and government forces have clashed causing death and maiming and the conclusion that it is the Khartoum government that is behind the genocide to one degree or the other. But the country has been in civil war for decades. The north region includes the capital, has tremendous oil reserves as identified by a US oil company and is Muslim. The south of the country is mostly Christian, wants to secede and complains that oil profits aren’t applied to the south.

A recent realignment of government in Khartoum promises to eventually solve the north south problem. Prayer is directed at the Darfur problem.

Sponsor: Representative Donald M. Payne (NJ-10^th)

Vote: Passed House by voice vote (July 11, 2005)

Cost to the taxpayers: No discernible cost.

MORE INFORMATION

Whereas, on July 22, 2004, Congress declared that genocide was taking place in Darfur, Sudan;

Whereas, on September 9, 2004, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell testified to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that `genocide has been committed in Darfur';

Whereas, on September 21, 2004, President George W. Bush stated to the United Nations General Assembly that `the world is witnessing terrible suffering and horrible crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan, crimes my government has concluded are genocide';

Whereas Article 1 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, done at Paris December 9, 1948, and entered into force January 12, 1951, states that `[t]he Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish';

Whereas fundamental human rights, including the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, are protected in numerous international agreements and declarations;

Whereas the United Nations Security Council, in Security Council Resolution 1591, condemned the `continued violations of the N'djamena Ceasefire Agreement of 8 April 2004 and the Abuja Protocols of 9 November 2004 by all sides in Darfur and the deterioration of the security situation and negative impact this has had on humanitarian assistance efforts';

Whereas scholars estimate that as many as 400,000 have died from violence, hunger, and disease since the outbreak of conflict in Darfur began in 2003, and that as many as 10,000 may be dying each month;

Whereas it is estimated that more than 2,000,000 people have been displaced from their homes and remain in camps in Darfur and Chad;

Whereas religious leaders, genocide survivors, and world leaders have expressed grave concern over the continuing atrocities taking place in Darfur; and

Whereas it is appropriate that the people of the United States, leaders and citizens alike, unite in prayer for the people of Darfur and reflect upon the situation in Darfur: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) supports the goals and ideals of a National Weekend of Prayer and Reflection for Darfur, Sudan;

(2) encourages the people of the United States to observe that weekend by praying for an end to the genocide and crimes against humanity and for lasting peace in Darfur, Sudan; and

(3) urges all churches, synagogues, mosques, and religious institutions in the United States to consider the issue of Darfur in their activities and to observe the National Weekend of Prayer and Reflection with appropriate activities and services.

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