SR0717 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are concerned with the plight of innocent victims of genocide around the world and recognize that stable and peaceful international conditions provide benefits and opportunities for the citizens of this State; and

WHEREAS, Since seizing power through a military coup in 1989, the government of Sudan has repeatedly attacked and dislocated the civilian population in southern Sudan in a coordinated policy of ethnic cleansing that has cost the lives of more than 2,000,000 people and that has dislocated more than 4,000,000 people; and

WHEREAS, Sudanese government forces and government-supported militia forces have used the rape of women, the abduction of children, and the destruction of food and water resources as weapons of war; and

WHEREAS, The United States Agency for International Development believes that the violence and the obstruction of the delivery of food, shelter, and medical care to the people in the Dafur region of Sudan will result in the death of an estimated 320,000 people between April 1, 2004 and December 31, 2004; and

WHEREAS, H.R. 5061 is a bi-partisan bill currently under consideration in the 108th United States Congress to provide assistance for the current crisis in the Dafur region of Sudan and to facilitate a comprehensive peace in Sudan; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that in a demonstration of our commitment to freedom, liberty, and justice, we condemn the government of Sudan for its participation in atrocities committed in the Dafur region of Sudan and declare those atrocities to be genocide; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call upon the members of the United States Congress and upon the federal executive branch to support H.R. 5061 in an effort to end the human rights abuses occurring in Sudan; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call upon the National Islamic Front in Khartoum to make all restitution necessary to allow the victims of its state-sponsored atrocities to return to their peaceful and cultural way of life; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Secretary General of the United Nations, the President of the United States, the President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and each member of the Illinois congressional delegation.