[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 42 Referred in House (RFH)]

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107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 42


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 20, 2001

          Referred to the Committee on International Relations

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas the Taleban militia took power in Afghanistan in 1996, and now rules 
        over 90 percent of the country;
Whereas, under Taleban rule, most political, civil, and human rights are denied 
        to the Afghan people;
Whereas women, minorities, and children suffer disproportionately under Taleban 
        rule;
Whereas, according to the United States Department of State Country Report on 
        Human Rights Practices, violence against women and girls in Afghanistan 
        occurs frequently, including beatings, rapes, forced marriages, 
        disappearances, kidnapings, and killings;
Whereas Taleban edicts isolate Muslim and non-Muslim minorities, and will 
        require the thousands of Hindus living in Taleban-ruled Afghanistan to 
        wear identity labels on their clothing, singling out these minorities 
        for discrimination and harsh treatment;
Whereas Taleban forces have targeted ethnic Shiite Hazaras, many of whom have 
        been massacred, while those who have survived, are denied relief and 
        discriminated against for their religious beliefs;
Whereas non-Muslim religious symbols are banned, and earlier this year Taleban 
        forces obliterated 2 ancient statues of Buddha, claiming they were 
        idolatrous symbols;
Whereas Afghanistan is currently suffering from its worst drought in 3 decades, 
        affecting almost one-half of Afghanistan's 21,000,000 population, with 
        the impact severely exacerbated by the ongoing civil war and Taleban 
        policies denying relief to needy areas;
Whereas the Taleban has systematically interfered with United Nations relief 
        programs and workers, recently closing a new hospital and arresting 
        local workers, closing United Nations World Food Program bakeries 
        providing much needed food, and closing offices of the United Nations 
        Special Mission to Afghanistan in 4 Afghan cities;
Whereas, as a result of those policies, there are more than 25,000,000 persons 
        who are internally displaced within Afghanistan, and this year, contrary 
        to past practice, the Taleban rejected a United Nations call for a 
        cease-fire in order to bring assistance to the internally displaced;
Whereas, as a result of Taleban policies, there are now more than 2,200,000 
        Afghan refugees in Pakistan, and 500,000 more refugees are expected to 
        flee in the coming months unless some form of relief is forthcoming;
Whereas Pakistan has closed its borders to Afghanistan, and has announced that 
        Pakistani and United Nations officials will begin screening refugees in 
        June with a view toward forcibly repatriating all those who are found to 
        be staying illegally in Pakistan;
Whereas the Taleban leadership continues to give safe haven to terrorists, 
        including Osama bin Laden, and is known to host and provide training 
        ground to other terrorist organizations; and
Whereas the people of Afghanistan are the greatest victims of the Taleban, and 
        in recognition of that fact, the United States has provided $124,000,000 
        in relief to the people of Afghanistan this year: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) condemns the harsh and discriminatory policies of the 
        Taleban toward Muslims, Hindus, women, and all other 
        minorities, and the attendant destruction of religious icons;
            (2) urges the Taleban to immediately reopen United Nations 
        offices and hospitals and allow the provision of relief to all 
        the people of Afghanistan;
            (3) commends President George W. Bush and his 
        administration for their recognition of these urgent issues and 
        encourages President Bush to continue to respond to those 
        issues;
            (4) recognizes the burdens placed on the Government of 
        Pakistan by Afghan refugees, and calls on that Government to 
        facilitate the provision of relief to these refugees and to 
        abandon any plans for forced repatriation; and
            (5) calls on the international community to increase 
        assistance to the Afghan people and consider granting asylum to 
        at-risk Afghan refugees.

            Passed the Senate June 19, 2001.

            Attest:



                                                    GARY SISCO,

                                                             Secretary.