[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 477 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 477

       Calling on the People's Republic of China immediately and 
   unconditionally to release Rebiya Kadeer, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 8, 2003

Mr. Abercrombie submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
              to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
       Calling on the People's Republic of China immediately and 
   unconditionally to release Rebiya Kadeer, and for other purposes.

Whereas Rebiya Kadeer, a prominent businesswoman from Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous 
        Region of the People's Republic of China, was arrested in September 
        1999, while trying to meet United States Congressional staff;
Whereas the Congressional staff was on an official visit to China organized 
        under the auspices of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange 
        Program of the United States Information Agency;
Whereas Rebiya Kadeer was convicted at a secret trial and sentenced on March 10, 
        2000, to 8 years in prison for ``illegally giving state information 
        across the border'';
Whereas the newspapers she was carrying with her at the time of her arrest were 
        all available to the public;
Whereas from 1993 to 1998, Rebiya Kadeer was elected as a member of the 
        Provincial People's Political Consultative Conference in Xinjiang;
Whereas in 1995, Rebiya Kadeer was a delegate to the United Nations Fourth World 
        Conference on Women in Beijing;
Whereas Rebiya Kadeer's health is deteriorating in prison and she is finding it 
        difficult to perform her prison labor due to sickness;
Whereas Rebiya Kadeer is the mother of 10 children;
Whereas the United States Department of State has repeatedly expressed concerns 
        about the continued imprisonment of Rebiya Kadeer;
Whereas United States Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, 
        and Labor, Lorne Craner, visited Xinjiang in December 2002 with the 
        expectation that she would soon be released;
Whereas the day before Secretary Craner's visit to Xinjiang, 3 of Rebiya 
        Kadeer's children were taken into custody and were released later with 
        strict instructions not to talk to anyone about their mother's case;
Whereas Rebiya Kadeer's case was brought up before a hearing of the Senate 
        Foreign Relations Committee on September 11, 2003, by T. Kumar of 
        Amnesty International USA; and
Whereas Chinese authorities are ignoring repeated requests from the United 
        States Congress to release her: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns and deplores the detention of Rebiya Kadeer 
        and calls for her immediate and unconditional release; and
            (2) urges President Bush to take urgent steps to secure the 
        release of Rebiya Kadeer as soon as possible.
                                 <all>