[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 178 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 178

 Concerning the tenth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre of 
            June 4, 1989, in the People's Republic of China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 18, 1999

    Ms. Pelosi (for herself, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Porter, Mr. 
Gephardt, Mr. Cox, Mr. Bonior, Mr. Gilman, Mr. Gejdenson, Mr. Smith of 
      New Jersey, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Wu, Mr. 
  Abercrombie, Mr. Schaffer, Mr. Shays, Mr. Waxman, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. 
 Horn, Mr. McGovern, and Mr. Clay) submitted the following resolution; 
     which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Concerning the tenth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre of 
            June 4, 1989, in the People's Republic of China.

Whereas the United States was founded on the democratic principle that 
        all men and women are created equal and entitled to the 
        exercise of their basic human rights;
Whereas freedom of expression and assembly are fundamental human rights 
        that belong to all people and are recognized as such under the 
        United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the 
        International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
Whereas the death of the former General Secretary of the Communist 
        Party of the People's Republic of China, Hu Yaobang, on April 
        15, 1989, gave rise to peaceful protests throughout China 
        calling for the establishment of a dialogue with government and 
        party leaders on democratic reforms, including freedom of 
        expression, freedom of assembly, and the elimination of 
        corruption by government officials;
Whereas after that date thousands of prodemocracy demonstrators 
        continued to protest peacefully in and around Tiananmen Square 
        in Beijing until June 3 and 4, 1989, until Chinese authorities 
        ordered the People's Liberation Army and other security forces 
        to use lethal force to disperse demonstrators in Beijing, 
        especially around Tiananmen Square;
Whereas nonofficial sources, a Chinese Red Cross report from June 7, 
        1989, and the State Department Country Reports on Human Rights 
        Practices for 1989, gave various estimates of the numbers of 
        people killed and wounded in 1989 by the People's Liberation 
        Army soldiers and other security forces, but agreed that 
        hundreds, if not thousands, of people were killed and thousands 
        more were wounded;
Whereas 20,000 people nationwide suspected of taking part in the 
        democracy movement were arrested and sentenced without trial to 
        prison or reeducation through labor, and many were reportedly 
        tortured;
Whereas human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch, Human Rights in 
        China, and Amnesty International have documented that hundreds 
        of those arrested remain in prison;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China continues to 
        suppress dissent by imprisoning prodemocracy activists, 
        journalists, labor union leaders, religious believers, and 
        other individuals in China and Tibet who seek to express their 
        political or religious views in a peaceful manner; and
Whereas June 4, 1999, is the tenth anniversary of the date of the 
        Tiananmen Square massacre: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) expresses sympathy to the families of those killed as a 
        result of their participation in the democracy protests of 
        1989, as well as to the families of those who have been killed 
        and to those who have suffered for their efforts to keep that 
        struggle alive during the past decade;
            (2) commends all citizens of the People's Republic of China 
        who are peacefully advocating for democracy and human rights; 
        and
            (3) condemns the ongoing and egregious human rights abuses 
        by the Government of the People's Republic of China and calls 
        on that government to--
                    (A) reevaluate the official verdict on the June 4, 
                1989, Tiananmen prodemocracy activities and order 
                relevant procuratorial organs to open formal 
                investigations on the June fourth event with the goal 
                of bringing those responsible to justice;
                    (B) establish a June Fourth Investigation 
                Committee, the proceedings and findings of which should 
                be accessible to the public, to make a just and 
                independent inquiry into all matters related to June 4, 
                1989;
                    (C) release all prisoners of conscience, including 
                those still in prison as a result of their 
                participation in the peaceful prodemocracy protests of 
                May and June 1989, provide just compensation to the 
                families of those killed in those protests, and allow 
                those exiled on account of their activities in 1989 to 
                return and live in freedom in the People's Republic of 
                China;
                    (D) put an immediate end to harassment, detention, 
                and imprisonment of Chinese citizens exercising their 
                legitimate rights to the freedom of expression, freedom 
                of association, and freedom of religion; and
                    (E) demonstrate its willingness to respect the 
                rights of all Chinese citizens by proceeding quickly to 
                ratify and implement the International Covenant on 
                Civil and Political Rights which it signed on October 
                5, 1998.
                                 <all>