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]