SCR12

WHEREAS, Hawaii is committed to supporting the dignity and worth of each human being; and

WHEREAS, for more than twenty years, the Government of Uganda has been engaged in an armed conflict with the Lord's Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony, resulting in ten thousand people murdered, at least twice that number of children abducted, and over 1,600,000 people displaced; and

WHEREAS, the government forces, or the Uganda People's Defense Forces, have also committed abuses against civilians such as rape and murder, especially with the internally displaced persons camps under their protection; and

WHEREAS, the former United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator called the civil war in northern Uganda "the biggest forgotten, neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today"; and

WHEREAS, the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has labeled the Lord's Resistance Army "vicious and cult-like" and designates it as a terrorist organization under the Immigration and Nationality Act; and

WHEREAS, on April 26, 2006, the State Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor testified before Congress that those who suffer most from the Lord's Resistance Army tactics are the children, who face enslavement, sexual exploitation, and forced soldiering; and

WHEREAS, many of the children serving in armed forces or paramilitaries were forcibly conscripted through kidnapping or coercion, a form of human trafficking, while others joined due to economic necessity, to avenge the loss of a family member, or for their own personal safety; and

WHEREAS, some military and militia commanders force child soldiers to commit gruesome acts of ritual killings or torture, including acts of violence against other children; and

WHEREAS, child soldiers are exposed to hazardous conditions and are at risk of physical injury and disability, psychological trauma, sexually transmitted diseases, and often death; and

WHEREAS, due to the threat of abduction, at one time as many as thirty-five thousand child "night commuters" traveled nightly from conflict areas or camps to spend the night in shelters, schools, churches or balconies in urban centers with greater capacity to protect them; and

WHEREAS, the continuing violence and instability obstruct the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of northern Uganda and impede national and regional trade, development and democratization efforts, and counter-terrorism efforts; and

WHEREAS, although the Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army signed a cessation of hostilities agreement in August 2006, it was never fully implemented, and they have not yet arrived at a sustainable negotiated settlement and observers remain concerned that hostilities between rebel and government forces could resume; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii and its citizens cannot be bystanders, as genocide and human trafficking are moral and ethical issues that implicate us all; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislature disapproves of the Lord's Resistance Army leadership's inconsistent commitment to resolving the conflict in northern Uganda peacefully; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii congressional delegation is urged to support legislation allocating sufficient funds for continued humanitarian aid the people of Uganda as well as legislation urging the Lord's Resistance Army to engage in good faith negotiations to pursue a political solution to this conflict; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that leaders on both sides of the conflict in Uganda are urged to renounce any intentions and halt any preparations to resume violence and to ensure that this message is clearly conveyed to armed elements under their control; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, and the heads of other similar government agencies and nongovernmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations within the international community are urged to continue augmenting efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in northern Uganda and to support a peaceful resolution to this crisis by publicly and forcefully reiterating the proceeding demands; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to Hawaii's congressional delegation, the President of the United States, and the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Genocide; Trafficking; Northern Uganda

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	12
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII