[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 350 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 350

     Expressing the sense of the Congress with regard to political 
               repression of foreign observers in Mexico.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 8, 2000

 Mr. DeFazio (for himself, Mr Kucinich, Ms. McKinney, Mr. Sanders, Ms. 
 Lee, Mr. Olver, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Lantos, Mrs. Morella, Mr. 
Delahunt, Mr. Porter, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Stark, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Lipinski, 
 Ms. Hooley of Oregon, Mr. Payne, Mr. Engel, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. DeGette, 
Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Rush, Mr. Minge, 
    Mr. Evans, and Mr. Conyers) submitted the following concurrent 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
     Expressing the sense of the Congress with regard to political 
               repression of foreign observers in Mexico.

Whereas Mexico has ratified 45 international agreements on human rights, 
        including--

    (1) the United Nations' six principal agreements on Human Rights--

    G    (A) the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

    G    (B) the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural 
Rights;

    G    (C) the Convention Against Torture;

    G    (D) the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination;

    G    (E) the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of 
Discrimination Against Women; and

    G    (F) the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and

    (2) the two principals of the Organization of American States--

    G    (A) the American Convention on Human Rights; and

    G    (B) the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human 
Rights in the material of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights known as 
the San Salvador Protocol;

Whereas United Nations Rapporteur Asma Jahangir stated in a February 9, 2000, 
        press interview regarding Mexico, ``Although the problem of 
        extrajudicial executions and impunity may be more notorious in Guerrero 
        and Chiapas, it exists throughout the country'';
Whereas state-sponsored political violence in southern Mexico has been 
        characterized by both constant repression and sporadic outbursts of 
        bloodshed, including the torture and execution of--

    (1) 8 indigenous people in Chabajeval and Union Progreso, El Bosque, 
Chiapas, on June 10, 1998;

    (2) 11 indigenous people in El Charco, Guerrero, on June 7, 1998;

    (3) 45 indigenous people--mostly women and children--in Acteal on 
December 22, 1997; and

    (4) 17 indigenous people in Aguas Blancas, Guerrero, on June 28, 1995;

Whereas despite Mexican Government claims to the contrary, the systemic abuses 
        that led to the massacres of Acteal, Aguas Blancas, El Charco, and El 
        Bosque remain judicially unresolved, since those in positions of command 
        responsibility remain at large;
Whereas systemic gross human rights violations continue, including most recently 
        the murders of one person on January 13, 2000, and three other 
        indigenous people on February 2, 2000, from the community of Chabajeval 
        in El Bosque;
Whereas displaced war refugees in Chiapas total more than 20,000;
Whereas the harassment, kidnapping, torture, imprisonment, and murder of Mexican 
        human rights defenders continues;
Whereas it is internationally accepted that the presence of human rights 
        observers serves to deter violence and reduce its severity against 
        civilian populations;
Whereas the Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of 
        Minorities of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights passed a 
        resolution on August 20, 1998, expressing concern that ``developments in 
        the human rights situation in Mexico are becoming more and more 
        disturbing, particularly as far as the indigenous populations are 
        concerned'';
Whereas the United Nations Sub-commission requested that Mexican authorities 
        ``ensure full respect for the international instruments to which Mexico 
        is party'', including attaching the highest priority ``to promoting the 
        action of human rights defenders and guaranteeing their safety'';
Whereas the 1999 edition of the State Department Human Rights Report on Mexico 
        notes that ``continued serious abuses include . . . assaults, 
        harassment, and threats against human rights monitors'';
Whereas foreign observers in southern Mexico are present in indigenous 
        communities at the invitation of those communities and local 
        nongovernmental human rights and civic organizations;
Whereas since 1995, the Mexican Government has expelled over 400 foreigners from 
        the State of Chiapas alone, mainly because of their involvement in human 
        rights observation;
Whereas a Mexican Supreme Court decision of September 1999 found the National 
        Institute of Immigration's deportation of the director of the Mexico 
        Solidarity Network, Tom Hansen, to be illegal, in defiance of which the 
        National Institute of Immigration subsequently re-expelled Mr. Hansen in 
        absentia;
Whereas the Inter-American Court ruled the expulsion of Father Loren Riebe--
        deported June 22, 1995--who had spent 30 years serving in the Diocese of 
        San Cristobal de las Casas, to be illegal in a decision that the Mexican 
        Government refuses to recognize, despite its earlier commitment to abide 
        by it;
Whereas other cases in judicial review include those of--

    (1) Travis Loller, who was sexually assaulted by police in the course 
of her deportation on April 10, 1998;

    (2) Peter Brown, director of the Schools for Chiapas, who was deported 
on July 24, 1998; and

    (3) Kerry Appel, director of the Human Bean Co., expelled in January 
2000;

Whereas 43 foreigners were cited, and most expelled, in January 2000 for 
        visiting the indigenous community of Oventic;
Whereas in 1998 the National Institute of Immigration of Mexico implemented 
        severe restrictions that prevent effective human rights observation in 
        southern Mexico; and
Whereas in January 2000, the National Institute of Immigration implemented 
        additional restrictions on access to visas, including for human rights 
        observation and other unspecified activities, restrictions which fall 
        outside of internationally established norms: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) strongly encourages the Mexican Government to 
        facilitate the presence of foreign human rights observers in 
        Mexico without restrictions that prevent these observers from 
        effectively carrying out human rights observation;
            (2) urges the Department of State and the United States 
        Embassy in Mexico to clarify with Mexican authorities current 
        law concerning human rights observers, entrance requirements, 
        and restrictions on those observers' activities and movements;
            (3) urges the Mexican Government to respect internationally 
        established norms for freedom of transit and freedom of 
        association for foreigners visiting Mexico; and
            (4) urges the Mexican Government, in light of the concerns 
        expressed in this concurrent resolution, to review all of the 
        expulsions of human rights workers since 1994, for the purposes 
        of clarity, consistency, and resolution of outstanding cases.
                                 <all>