BILL NUMBER: AJR 6	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  57
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JUNE 27, 2005
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  JUNE 23, 2005
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 31, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 31, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 14, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Koretz
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Dymally,  Karnette, Aghazarian,
Arambula, Baca, Bass, Benoit, Berg, Bermudez, Blakeslee, Calderon,
Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn, Coto, Daucher, De La Torre, DeVore,
Emmerson, Evans, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock, Harman, Jerome
Horton, Shirley Horton, Houston, Huff, Jones, Keene, Klehs, La Malfa,
La Suer, Laird, Leno, Leslie, Levine, Lieber, Liu, Matthews, Maze,
McCarthy, Montanez, Mountjoy, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nava, Negrete
McLeod, Nunez, Oropeza, Parra, Pavley, Plescia, Richman, Sharon
Runner, Ruskin, Saldana, Salinas, Spitzer, Torrico, Tran, Umberg,
Vargas, Villines, Walters, Wolk, Wyland, and Yee)

                        FEBRUARY 3, 2005

   Relative to Darfur.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 6, Koretz.  Darfur genocide.
   This measure would express the sense of the Legislature with
respect to matters surrounding the Darfur genocide and would request
that the President and Congress of the United States continue to take
all prudent and necessary steps to ensure that these matters are
addressed at the highest levels of the federal government.





   WHEREAS, Sudan's government and southern rebels have come to an
historic, long-awaited agreement that ends Africa's longest civil war
and brings hope to millions of exiled Sudanese yearning to return
home; and

   WHEREAS, Continued violence in the troubled region of Darfur,
Sudan, previously described by the Bush administration as genocide,
cast a shadow over the agreement, which does not cover the Darfur
conflict; and

   WHEREAS, Darfur, an area of 256,000 square kilometers constituting
the western region of the Sudan, is home to an estimated five
million people, a population made up of a complex tribal mix; and

   WHEREAS, Large swathes of Darfur have been prone to drought and
desertification, intensifying demands on its more fertile lands,
making areas of Darfur subject to sporadic intertribal clashes over
use of resources in recent decades; and

   WHEREAS, The government of the Sudan appears to have sponsored a
militia composed of a loose collection of fighters, apparently of
Arab background, known as the "Janjaweed"; and

   WHEREAS, With the active support of the regular army, the
Janjaweed have attacked villages, targeting those suspected of
supporting the rebels and committing numerous human rights
violations; and

   WHEREAS, The humanitarian consequences of the situation in Darfur
are grave, with an estimated 70,000 innocent civilians brutally
murdered, and according to the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, an estimated 1,600,000 people internally
displaced, and more than 200,000 people forced from their homes and
fleeing to neighboring Chad; and

   WHEREAS, The government of the Sudan should, at the highest
levels, publicly and unequivocally condemn all violations of human
rights and international humanitarian law, investigate those
violations, and bring the perpetrators to justice; and

   WHEREAS, The Janjaweed and other militias should be immediately
disarmed and disbanded, and humanitarian workers must be given full
and unimpeded access to Darfur; and

   WHEREAS, Refugees and displaced persons should be permitted to
return to their lands and homes voluntarily, and should receive
restitution or fair compensation for their losses; and

   WHEREAS, Fundamental human rights must be respected in times of
peace and in times of armed conflict; and

   WHEREAS, The Sudan is a party to several core human rights
treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR), the International Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC), and the African Charter on Human and
Peoples' Rights; now, therefore, be it

   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That it is the sense of the Legislature of the
State of California that the government of the Sudan should, at the
highest levels, publicly and unequivocally condemn all actions and
crimes committed by the Janjaweed, ensure that all militias are
immediately disarmed and disbanded, and pursue a policy of national
reconciliation, ending impunity and ensuring the rule of law and the
protection of minorities; and be it further

   Resolved, That it is the further sense of the Legislature that
humanitarian workers must be given full and unimpeded access to
Darfur in order to ensure that there is no blockage in the delivery
of much-needed humanitarian assistance; and be it further

   Resolved, That it is the further sense of the Legislature that the
government of the Sudan should put in place measures to ensure that
human rights abuses, war crimes, and crimes against humanity are not
repeated in the future and that the rule of law is restored in Darfur
in conformity with internationally agreed standards; and be it
further

   Resolved, That the Legislature respectfully requests that the
President and Congress of the United States continue to take all
prudent and necessary steps to ensure that these matters are
addressed at the highest levels of the federal government; and be it
further

   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to each
Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the
United States, to the United States Secretary of State, and to the
Secretary General of the United Nations.