[108th Congress Public Law 283]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[DOCID: f:publ283.108]
[[Page 911]]
NORTHERN UGANDA CRISIS RESPONSE ACT
[[Page 118 STAT. 912]]
Public Law 108-283
108th Congress
An Act
To require a report on the conflict in Uganda, and for other
purposes. <<NOTE: Aug. 2, 2004 - [S. 2264]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress <<NOTE: Northern Uganda Crisis
Response Act.>> assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Northern Uganda Crisis Response
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The United States and the Republic of Uganda enjoy a
strong bilateral relationship and continue to work closely
together in fighting the human immunodeficiency virus and
acquired immune deficiency syndrome (``HIV/AIDS'') pandemic and
combating international terrorism.
(2) For more than 17 years, the Government of Uganda has
been engaged in a conflict with the Lord's Resistance Army that
has inflicted hardship and suffering on the people of northern
and eastern Uganda.
(3) The members of the Lord's Resistance Army have used
brutal tactics during this conflict, including abducting and
forcing individuals into sexual servitude, and forcing a large
number of children, estimated to be between 16,000 and 26,000
children, in Uganda to serve in such Army's military forces.
(4) The Secretary of State has designated the Lord's
Resistance Army as a terrorist organization and placed the
Lord's Resistance Army on the Terrorist Exclusion list pursuant
to section 212(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)).
(5) According to Human Rights Watch, since the mid-1990s the
only known sponsor of the Lord's Resistance Army has been the
Government of Sudan, though such Government denies providing
assistance to the Lord's Resistance Army.
(6) More than 1,000,000 people have been displaced from
their homes in Uganda as a result of the conflict.
(7) The conflict has resulted in a lack of security for the
people of Uganda, and as a result of such lack, each night more
than 18,000 children leave their homes and flee to the relative
safety of town centers, creating a massive ``night commuter''
phenomenon that leaves already vulnerable children subject to
exploitation and abuse.
[[Page 118 STAT. 913]]
(8) Individuals who have been displaced by the conflict in
Uganda often suffer from acute malnutrition and the mortality
rate for children in northern Uganda who have been displaced is
very high.
(9) In the latter part of 2003, humanitarian and human
rights organizations operating in northern Uganda reported an
increase in violence directed at their efforts and at civilians,
including a sharp increase in child abductions.
(10) The Government of Uganda's military efforts to resolve
this conflict, including the arming and training of local
militia forces, have not ensured the security of civilian
populations in the region to date.
(11) The continued instability and lack of security in
Uganda has severely hindered the ability of any organization or
governmental entity to deliver regular humanitarian assistance
and services to individuals who have been displaced or otherwise
negatively affected by the conflict.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the Government of the United States
should--
(1) work vigorously to support ongoing efforts to explore
the prospects for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in
northern and eastern Uganda;
(2) work with the Government of Uganda and the international
community to make available sufficient resources to meet the
immediate relief and development needs of the towns and cities
in Uganda that are supporting large numbers of people who have
been displaced by the conflict;
(3) urge the Government of Uganda and the international
community to assume greater responsibility for the protection of
civilians and economic development in regions in Uganda affected
by the conflict, and to place a high priority on providing
security, economic development, and humanitarian assistance to
the people of Uganda;
(4) work with the international community, the Government of
Uganda, and civil society in northern and eastern Uganda to
develop a plan whereby those now displaced may return to their
homes or to other locations where they may become economically
productive;
(5) urge the leaders and members of the Lord's Resistance
Army to stop the abduction of children, and urge all armed
forces in Uganda to stop the use of child soldiers, and seek the
release of all individuals who have been abducted;
(6) make available increased resources for assistance to
individuals who were abducted during the conflict, child
soldiers, and other children affected by the conflict;
(7) work with the Government of Uganda, other countries, and
international organizations to ensure that sufficient resources
and technical support are devoted to the demobilization and
reintegration of rebel combatants and abductees forced by their
captors to serve in non-combatant support roles;
(8) cooperate with the international community to support
civil society organizations and leaders in Uganda, including
Acholi religious leaders, who are working toward a just and
lasting resolution to the conflict;
[[Page 118 STAT. 914]]
(9) urge the Government of Uganda to improve the
professionalism of Ugandan military personnel currently
stationed in northern and eastern Uganda, with an emphasis on
respect for human rights, accountability for abuses, and
effective civilian protection;
(10) work with the international community to assist
institutions of civil society in Uganda to increase the capacity
of such institutions to monitor the human rights situation in
northern Uganda and to raise awareness of abuses of human rights
that occur in that area;
(11) urge the Government of Uganda to permit international
human rights monitors to establish a presence in northern and
eastern Uganda;
(12) monitor the creation of civilian militia forces in
northern and eastern Uganda and publicize any concerns regarding
the recruitment of children into such forces or the potential
that the establishment of such forces will invite increased
targeting of civilians in the conflict or exacerbate ethnic
tension and violence; and
(13) make clear that the relationship between the Government
of Sudan and the Government of the United States cannot improve
unless no credible evidence indicates that authorities of the
Government of Sudan are complicit in efforts to provide weapons
or other support to the Lord's Resistance Army.
SEC. 4. REPORT.
(a) Requirements.--Not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to
the appropriate congressional committees on the conflict in Uganda.
(b) Content.--The report required by subsection (a) shall include a
description of the following:
(1) The individuals or entities that are providing financial
and material support for the Lord's Resistance Army, including a
description of any such support provided by the Government of
Sudan or by senior officials of such Government.
(2) The activities of the Lord's Resistance Army that create
obstacles that prohibit the provision of humanitarian assistance
or the protection of the civilian population in Uganda.
(3) The practices employed by the Ugandan People's Defense
Forces in northern and eastern Uganda to ensure that children
and civilians are protected, that civilian complaints are
addressed, and that any member of the armed forces that abuses a
civilian is held accountable for such abuse.
(4) The actions carried out by the Government of the United
States, the Government of Uganda, or the international community
to protect civilians, especially women and children, who have
been displaced by the conflict in Uganda, including women and
children that leave their homes and flee to cities and towns at
night in search of security from sexual exploitation and gender-
based violence.
(c) Form of Report.--The report under subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
(d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section,
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means
[[Page 118 STAT. 915]]
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on
International Relations of the House of Representatives.
Approved August 2, 2004.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 2264:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 150 (2004):
May 7, considered and passed Senate.
July 14, 19, considered and passed House.
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