[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 230 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 230

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 23, 2003

 Mr. Lugar (for himself, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Biden, Mr. Dodd, 
   and Mr. Brownback) submitted the following resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign 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;
Whereas Chinese authorities are ignoring repeated requests from the United 
        States Congress to release her; and
Whereas President Bush is planning to attend the APEC Conference in October 
        2003, in Thailand and is planning to have meetings with the Chinese 
        President, Hu Jintao, at the Conference: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) condemns and deplores the detention of Rebiya Kadeer 
        and calls for her immediate and unconditional release;
            (2) urges President Bush to take urgent steps to secure the 
        release of Rebiya Kadeer as soon as possible; and
            (3) urges President Bush to demand Rebiya Kadeer's 
        immediate release when he meets with Chinese President Hu 
        Jintao at the APEC Conference.
                                 <all>