HF 1732

as introduced - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

1.1A resolution
1.2memorializing the President concerning the implementation of the World Summit
1.3Outcome of the United Nations General Assembly.
1.4WHEREAS, in 2005, the World Summit Outcome of the United Nations General Assembly
1.5adopted the principle of the "responsibility to protect"; and
1.6WHEREAS, this principle means that each state has the responsibility to protect its
1.7populations from atrocity crimes, such as genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crime against
1.8humanity and that the international community should encourage and help states to exercise this
1.9responsibility and support the United Nations in establishing an early warning capability; and
1.10WHEREAS, the United Nations, and all its member nations, agreed to take action through
1.11the Security Council if peaceful means are inadequate and national governments are unable to
1.12protect their populations from atrocity crimes; and
1.13WHEREAS, since 1945 efforts by the United Nations and individual nations to protect
1.14populations from atrocity crimes either have failed or have not been attempted, and millions
1.15upon millions of innocent civilians have lost their lives or been wounded and displaced, their
1.16property and livelihoods destroyed; and
1.17WHEREAS, the legislators of the State of Minnesota acknowledge the moral imperative of
1.18the right to protect all citizens from atrocity crimes; this reflects the highest values of freedom,
1.19care, and preservation of the lives of innocent civilians; and
1.20WHEREAS, the citizens of Minnesota elect members of Congress and, with other citizens,
1.21the President and Vice President of the United States; and
2.1WHEREAS, we believe that these officials have a responsibility to use every legal means
2.2to protect people from atrocity crimes; NOW, THEREFORE,
2.3BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the President
2.4and the Congress of the United States to commit to implementation and global leadership of the
2.5World Summit Outcome on the responsibility to protect innocent civilians through the strategies
2.6in the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document and the 2006 Security Council Resolution 167.
2.7BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it urges the President to develop strategies to implement
2.8the responsibility to protect in coordination with the governments of the North Atlantic Treaty
2.9Organization, the European Union, the African Union, the Organization of American States, and
2.10the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
2.11BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the President and Congress take every possible action
2.12to safeguard the security of innocent noncombatant men, women, and children in Darfur, Sudan,
2.13where the United States has declared a genocide to be occurring.
2.14BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota
2.15is directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President and Vice
2.16President of the United States, the United States Secretary of State, the United States Secretary of
2.17Defense, the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, the President and the
2.18Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of
2.19Representatives, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress.