Res. No. 988 Title Resolution strongly condemning the genocide and mass killings that are taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly in the Ituri Province and its capital of Bunia, and calling upon President George W. Bush and the United Nations to take action and deploy an armed peace-keeping force with enough offensive capabilities to put an end to the present situation and restore order, safety and security. Body By Council Members Koppell, Clarke, Seabrook, Stewart and Vann Whereas, Since August 1998, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been in a constant state of civil war, during which millions of people have lost their lives; and Whereas, Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the United Nations on December 9, 1948, defines the term genocide as certain acts "committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group;" and Whereas, As a signatory of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and an advocate for democracy, the United States has an obligation to respond to the death and torture of the innocent and to protect the Congolese people; and Whereas, The civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed more lives than the oppressive regimes of Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot and the massacres in Rwanda, but as of yet no significant action has been taken by the world community to intervene in this horrific situation; and Whereas, As of April 2003, the International Rescue Committee reported a death toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo of approximately 3.3 million people, of which five hundred thousand, or 15%, were killed or murdered and 1.8 million perished due to hunger, malnutrition and disease resulting from the fact that the war cut off access to food and medical care; and Whereas, The United States and the United Nations, including every signatory of the Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, have an obligation to protect and defend the Congolese people; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York strongly condemns the genocide and mass killings that are taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly in the Ituri Province and its capital of Bunia, and calls upon President George W. Bush and the United Nations to take action and deploy an armed peace-keeping force with enough offensive capabilities to put an end to the present situation and restore order, safety and security. Body LS# 2782 RA 7/17/2003 H:/word/resolutions/koppell/ls#2782 |1013| |1013|