U.S. Congress Votes to Declare Genocide in Sudan
The U.S. Congress passed a resolution on Thursday declaring that genocide is occurring in Sudan, which backers hope will pressure the international community to take action to protect Africans in the Darfur region from marauding Arab militias. In a rare show of bipartisan agreement, the House of Representatives passed the measure in a unanimous vote, and the Senate then approved it by a voice vote, in their last acts before Congress adjourned for a six-week summer recess.
The resolution says "the atrocities unfolding in Darfur, Sudan, are genocide." It urges President Bush to seek a U.N. resolution to impose sanctions against those responsible for the atrocities, authorize a multinational force to protect displaced people and humanitarian workers, create a commission to investigate crimes and set up a process to resolve grievances between Darfurians and the Sudanese government. [more]