[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 271 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 271

Regarding the human rights situation in the People's Republic of China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 9, 2000

 Mr. Wellstone (for himself, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Feingold, 
   and Mr. Brownback) submitted the following resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Regarding the human rights situation in the People's Republic of China.

Whereas the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 
        Geneva, Switzerland, provides a forum for discussing human rights and 
        expressing international support for improved human rights performance;
Whereas in 1999, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 45 urging the United States 
        to introduce and make all necessary efforts to pass a resolution 
        condemning human rights practices of the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China at the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission 
        on Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland;
Whereas the United States thereafter introduced a resolution condemning human 
        rights practices of the Government of the People's Republic of China at 
        the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 
        Geneva, Switzerland;
Whereas this resolution was kept off the agenda of the full Commission by a 
        ``no-action'' motion of the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China, had no cosponsors, and received little support from European and 
        other industrialized nations and did not pass;
Whereas, according to the Department of State and international human rights 
        organizations, the human rights record of the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China has deteriorated sharply over the past year and 
        authorities of the People's Republic of China continue to commit 
        widespread and well-documented human rights abuses in China;
Whereas such abuses stem from an intolerance of dissent and fear of civil unrest 
        on the part of authorities in the People's Republic of China and from a 
        failure to adequately enforce laws in the People's Republic of China 
        that protect basic freedoms;
Whereas such abuses violate internationally accepted norms of conduct enshrined 
        by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
Whereas the People's Republic of China has signed the International Covenant on 
        Civil and Political Rights, but has yet to take the necessary steps to 
        make it legally binding;
Whereas authorities in the People's Republic of China have recently escalated 
        efforts to extinguish expressions of protest or criticism and have 
        detained scores of citizens associated with attempts to organize a legal 
        democratic opposition, as well as religious leaders, academics, and 
        members of minority groups;
Whereas these efforts underscore that the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China continues to commit serious human rights abuses that must be 
        condemned; and
Whereas the United States will again introduce a resolution condemning human 
        rights practices of the Government of the People's Republic of China at 
        the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 
        Geneva, Switzerland, on March 20, 2000: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That (a) the Senate supports the decision of the 
Administration to introduce a resolution at the 56th Session of the 
United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland, calling 
upon the People's Republic of China to end its human rights abuses.
    (b) It is the sense of the Senate that the United States should 
make every effort necessary to pass such a resolution, including 
through initiating high level contact between the Administration and 
representatives of the European Union and other governments, and 
ensuring that the resolution be placed on the full United Nations Human 
Rights Commission's agenda by aggressively enlisting support for the 
resolution and soliciting cosponsorship of it by other governments.
                                 <all>