[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 244 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 244

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the Government of Saudi 
Arabia's lack of protection of internationally recognized human rights 
         and the absence of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 15, 2003

 Mr. Rohrabacher (for himself and Mr. Lantos) submitted the following 
     concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the Government of Saudi 
Arabia's lack of protection of internationally recognized human rights 
         and the absence of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia.

Whereas the Department of State has concluded that human rights conditions 
        remain poor in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and that religious freedom 
        does not exist in that country;
Whereas the Commission on International Religious Freedom concurs that religious 
        freedom does not exist in Saudi Arabia and has concluded that the 
        Government of Saudi Arabia forcefully limits the public practice or 
        expression of religion to the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam;
Whereas security forces of the Government of Saudi Arabia continue to abuse and 
        torture detainees and prisoners, including those individuals held on 
        account of their religious beliefs or practices;
Whereas the way religious law is interpreted and enforced in Saudi Arabia 
        affects every aspect of the lives of Saudi and foreign women and results 
        in serious violations of their human rights;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia severely limits the freedom of movement 
        of women and discriminates against women in education, employment, 
        access to healthcare, marriage, and inheritance, among other things;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia does not allow for freedom of association 
        and strictly limits freedom of expression and freedom of the press;
Whereas the Saudi religious police, otherwise known as the ``Mutawaa'', 
        arbitrarily raid private homes and exercise broadly defined, vague 
        powers, including the ability to use physical force and detain 
        individuals without due process;
Whereas the Mutawaa intimidate, harass, abuse, and detain citizens and 
        foreigners of both sexes;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia severely restricts non-Wahhabi places of 
        worship and denies non-Wahhabi clerics entry into the country;
Whereas, although the Government of Saudi Arabia has publicly affirmed that all 
        Saudi residents have the liberty to worship in private, for several 
        years and as recently as May 2003, Shi'a clerics have been arrested, 
        imprisoned, and tortured for expressing their religious views and some 
        foreign workers have been arrested, detained, tortured, and deported for 
        worshipping in private;
Whereas offensive and discriminatory language has been found in Saudi 
        Government-sponsored school textbooks, sermons in mosques, and articles 
        and commentary in the media about Jews, Christians, and other non-
        Muslims;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia, which enjoys access to the United States 
        media, refuses to allow the transmission of Radio Sawa, which promotes 
        values of democracy, tolerance, and respect for human rights in Saudi 
        Arabia; and
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia has made public statements pledging 
        political, economic, and educational reforms and the improved treatment 
        of foreign residents, yet no discernible improvements are evident: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) calls on the Government Saudi Arabia--
                    (A) to uphold its international commitments by 
                respecting and protecting the human rights of citizens 
                and foreigners of both sexes in Saudi Arabia;
                    (B) to ratify and fully comply with international 
                human rights instruments and cooperate with United 
                Nations human rights mechanisms, and, in particular, to 
                sign, ratify, and implement the International Covenant 
                on Civil and Political Rights;
                    (C) to implement immediately promised judicial, 
                political, economic, and educational reforms;
                    (D) to permit the establishment of independent 
                nongovernmental organizations to advance human rights 
                and to promote tolerance, and to take action to create 
                an independent human rights commission for the same 
                purposes;
                    (E) to safeguard the freedom of non-Muslims, and of 
                those Muslims who do not follow the Wahhabi 
                interpretation of Islam, to worship in private;
                    (F) to permit non-Wahhabi places of worship, such 
                as churches, to function openly in special compounds or 
                zones for foreigners or in unadorned buildings 
                designated for this purpose; and
                    (G) to permit the broadcasting of Radio Sawa 
                throughout the country; and
            (2) urges the United States Government--
                    (A) in both public and private fora, to raise 
                concerns at the highest levels with the Government of 
                Saudi Arabia regarding its ongoing and repeated human 
                rights violations;
                    (B) to designate Saudi Arabia a ``country of 
                particular concern'' under the International Religious 
                Freedom Act of 1998 for its systematic, ongoing, and 
                egregious violations of religious freedom;
                    (C) to encourage the Government of Saudi Arabia to 
                implement expeditiously its publicly stated plans for 
                judicial, political, economic, and educational reform;
                    (D) to develop and expand specific initiatives and 
                programs in Saudi Arabia to advance human rights, 
                including religious freedom, the rights of women, and 
                the rule of law, through, for example, the Department 
                of State's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), 
                Middle East Democracy Fund (MEDF), and Human Rights and 
                Democracy Fund (HRDF), and through international 
                broadcasting, and other public diplomacy programs; and
                    (E) to report publicly to Congress on its efforts 
                to raise concerns regarding human rights, including 
                religious freedom, with the Government of Saudi Arabia, 
                including the results of those efforts.
                                 <all>