[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 187 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 187

        Expressing the sense of Congress concerning Uzbekistan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 22, 2005

Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself and Mr. Ackerman) submitted the following 
     concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
        Expressing the sense of Congress concerning Uzbekistan.

Whereas, on May 13 and 14, 2005, the Government of Uzbekistan brutally 
        suppressed an uprising in the eastern city of Andijon, in which hundreds 
        of civilians, many of them children, were reportedly killed;
Whereas following the May 2005 violence--

    (1) the Government of Uzbekistan has reportedly sealed off outside 
access to Andijon and has refused to open the area to a full and 
independent investigation into the violence; and

    (2) Uzbek authorities have reportedly arrested human rights defenders 
and opposition activists in Andijon and have threatened others with arrest 
or criminal charges to deter demonstrations against the government;

Whereas, in June 2005, the United States, the European Union, NATO's North 
        Atlantic Council, the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, 
        and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe called for a 
        credible independent international inquiry into the recent violence in 
        Andijon and urged the Government of Uzbekistan to prosecute those 
        responsible for civilian deaths;
Whereas Uzbek law enforcement and security ministries have been implicated by 
        witnesses as having been involved in the deadly crackdown in Andijon;
Whereas these Uzbek ministries have reportedly received training and equipment 
        from counterterrorism programs run by the United States;
Whereas United States security assistance to the Government of Uzbekistan, 
        provided by several United States agencies, has been intended in part to 
        improve the abilities of soldiers and law enforcement officers from the 
        Uzbek intelligence service, military, and national law enforcement 
        service;
Whereas, in July 2004, after a Department of State review of democratization in 
        Uzbekistan, former Secretary of State Colin Powell determined that the 
        Government of Uzbekistan was not fulfilling the terms of a 2002 
        Strategic Partnership Framework agreement that mandated ``substantial 
        and continuing progress'' on democratization, and Secretary Powell did 
        not certify Uzbekistan as eligible to receive certain United States 
        assistance;
Whereas by continuing to suppress human rights and to deny citizens peaceful, 
        democratic means of expressing their convictions, the Government of 
        Uzbekistan risks fueling popular support for violent and extremist 
        movements, thus undermining the goals of the Global War on Terror;
Whereas President George W. Bush, in his Inaugural Address, stated that the 
        United States ``will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler 
        and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always 
        wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend 
        that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome 
        humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at 
        the mercy of bullies. We will encourage reform in other governments by 
        making clear that success in our relations will require the decent 
        treatment of their own people''; and
Whereas Congress has repeatedly expressed its desire to see deeper reform in 
        Uzbekistan and has conditioned certain United States assistance to the 
        Government of Uzbekistan on its progress in meeting human rights and 
        democracy commitments made to the United States: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),  
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Government of Uzbekistan should take immediate 
        steps to comply with calls for an independent international 
        inquiry into the violence in Andijon and the prosecution of 
        those individuals responsible for civilian deaths;
            (2) the Government of Uzbekistan should accelerate 
        democratic reforms and fulfill its human rights obligations 
        by--
                    (A) releasing from prison all individuals jailed 
                for peaceful political activism or the nonviolent 
                expression of their political or religious beliefs;
                    (B) fully investigating any credible allegations of 
                torture and prosecuting those individuals responsible;
                    (C) permitting the free and unfettered functioning 
                of independent media outlets, independent political 
                parties, and nongovernmental organizations, whether 
                officially registered or not;
                    (D) permitting the free exercise of religious 
                beliefs and ceasing the persecution of members of 
                religious groups and denominations not registered with 
                the government;
                    (E) holding free, transparent, competitive, and 
                fair elections; and
                    (F) making publicly available documentation of 
                their revenues and expenditures and punishing those 
                individuals engaged in official corruption; and
            (3) the President, the Secretary of State, and the 
        Secretary of Defense should--
                    (A) condition diplomatic engagement with and 
                security assistance to the Government of Uzbekistan 
                based on Uzbekistan's compliance with calls for an 
                independent international inquiry into the violence in 
                Andijon, and the prosecution of those individuals 
                responsible for civilian deaths;
                    (B) continue to raise at the highest levels with 
                the Government of Uzbekistan the concern of the United 
                States for greater respect for human rights and 
                democratic freedoms in Uzbekistan and related 
                conditions for United States assistance;
                    (C) take into account the progress achieved by the 
                Government of Uzbekistan in upholding human rights and 
                civil liberties and implementing political reforms when 
                determining the allocation of United States assistance 
                for and the nature of United States political and 
                military engagement with Uzbekistan;
                    (D) ensure that United States assistance does not 
                benefit the security forces of Uzbekistan that have 
                been implicated in violations of human rights and, in 
                particular, the violence in Andijon; and
                    (E) support those individuals, nongovernmental 
                organizations, and media outlets in Uzbekistan working 
                to establish a more open society and a transparent, 
                democratic system of government.
                                 <all>