79S30815 CME-D

By:  Naishtat                                                     H.R. No. 341



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, In February 2003, after decades of tension over 
scarce natural resources in the Darfur province of western Sudan, 
African Muslims rose up against the Arab Muslim government in the 
capital city of Khartoum; in response to the uprising, the 
government armed local militias, known as "Janjaweed," to campaign 
primarily against three ethnic groups: the Fur, Massalit, and 
Zaghawa; and
	WHEREAS, For nearly three years, the government-funded 
Janjaweed militias have systematically terrorized the African 
residents of Darfur--destroying villages, ransacking food 
supplies, blocking international assistance, and killing, maiming, 
and raping villagers;  the scope of the crisis is staggering, with 
an estimated 400,000 innocent civilians brutally murdered, more 
than 200,000 forced from their homes and fleeing to neighboring 
Chad, and more than 1,600,000 displaced within Sudan itself; and
	WHEREAS, Human rights organizations and governmental 
representatives from around the world have pronounced the situation 
in Darfur as nothing less than genocide; in fact, in July 2004, the 
United States Congress passed resolutions declaring genocide in 
Sudan, and in January 2005, the United Nations Commission of 
Inquiry decried the indiscriminate attacks, including killing of 
civilians, torture, enforced disappearances, destruction of 
villages, rape and other forms of sexual violence, pillaging, and 
forced displacement perpetrated by government forces and militias 
against the Fur, Zaghawa, Massalit, Jebel, Aranga, and other 
African tribes; moreover, in June 2004, the Group of Eight issued a 
statement lamenting the obstruction of humanitarian access and 
reported gross violations of human rights, many with an ethnic 
dimension; and
	WHEREAS, The United States has long been a beacon of hope for 
vulnerable and disenfranchised people around the world; as citizens 
of conscience and this great land, we bear both the responsibility 
and honor to raise our voices against injustice in behalf of those 
unable to speak for themselves; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 79th Texas 
Legislature, 3rd Called Session, express its support for the 
immediate intervention by the United States and the United Nations, 
as leaders of the international community, to stop the genocide in 
Darfur and to ensure that humanitarian relief reaches all those in 
need.