[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 31 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 31

   Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to human rights in 
                             Central Asia.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 26, 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 with respect to human rights in 
                             Central Asia.

Whereas the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, 
        Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are providing the United States with 
        important assistance in the war in Afghanistan, including military 
        basing, overflight rights, and the facilitation of humanitarian relief;
Whereas America's victory over the Taliban in Afghanistan in turn provided 
        important benefits to these Central Asian countries, removing a regime 
        that threatened their security, and significantly weakening the Islamic 
        Movement of Uzbekistan, a terrorist organization that had previously 
        staged armed raids from Afghanistan into the region;
Whereas the United States has consistently urged the countries of Central Asia 
        to open their political systems and economies and to respect human 
        rights, both before and since the attacks against the United States that 
        occurred on September 11, 2001;
Whereas Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are 
        members of the United Nations and the Organization for Security and 
        Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), both of which confer a range of human 
        rights obligations on their members;
Whereas, although the United States recognizes that there are marked differences 
        among the social structures of these Central Asian countries and their 
        commitments to democratic and economic reform, according to the 
        Department of State's Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 
        the governments of such countries, to differing degrees, restrict 
        freedom of speech and association, restrict or ban the activities of 
        human rights organizations and other nongovernmental organizations, 
        harass or prohibit independent media, harass or imprison political 
        opponents, practice arbitrary detention and arrest, and engage in 
        torture and extrajudicial executions;
Whereas in March 2004, the United Nations announced the deployment of an 
        international human rights expert in Kazakhstan as its regional adviser 
        for Central Asia in order to provide advice and training to government 
        officials and policy makers, nongovernmental organizations, United 
        Nations agencies, and other international organizations;
Whereas in April 2004, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 
        decided to limit its investment in Uzbekistan due to the lack of 
        progress in human rights, following the expiration of the one-year 
        deadline the Bank had set for the Uzbek Government to meet specific 
        human rights benchmarks as a condition for further engagement;
Whereas in July 2004, after a Department of State review of democratization in 
        Uzbekistan, Secretary of State Colin Powell decided 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 decided not to certify 
        Uzbekistan as eligible to receive United States assistance;
Whereas, by continuing to suppress human rights and to deny citizens peaceful, 
        democratic means of expressing their convictions, the countries of 
        Central Asia risk fueling popular support for violent and extremist 
        movements, thus undermining the goals of the Global War on Terrorism;
Whereas President Bush has made the defense of ``human dignity, the rule of law, 
        limits on the power of the state, respect for women and private property 
        and free speech and equal justice and religious tolerance'' strategic 
        goals of United States foreign policy in the Islamic world, arguing that 
        ``a truly strong nation will permit legal avenues of dissent for all 
        groups that pursue their aspirations without violence''; and
Whereas Congress has expressed its desire to see deeper reform in the countries 
        of Central Asia in resolutions and other legislation, most recently 
        conditioning assistance to Uzbekistan on its progress in meeting human 
        rights and democracy commitments 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 Governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, 
        Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan should accelerate democratic 
        reforms and fulfill their human rights obligations, including, 
        where appropriate, by--
                    (A) releasing from prison all individuals jailed 
                for peaceful political activism or the nonviolent 
                expression of their political or religious beliefs, 
                including Felix Kulov in Kyrgyzstan;
                    (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 state;
                    (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;
            (2) the President, the Secretary of State, and the 
        Secretary of Defense should--
                    (A) continue to raise at the highest levels with 
                the governments of the countries of Central Asia 
                specific cases of political and religious persecution, 
                and urge greater respect for human rights and 
                democratic freedoms at every diplomatic opportunity;
                    (B) continue to take progress in meeting the goals 
                outlined in paragraph (1) into account when determining 
                the level and frequency of United States diplomatic 
                engagement with the governments of the countries of 
                Central Asia, the allocation of United States 
                assistance for such countries, and the nature of United 
                States military engagement with such countries;
                    (C) ensure that the provisions of the annual 
                foreign operations, export financing and related 
                programs appropriations Act continue to be fully 
                implemented to ensure that United States assistance 
                does not benefit the security forces of Central Asian 
                countries that are implicated in violations of human 
                rights;
                    (D) follow the recommendations of the United States 
                Commission on International Religious Freedom by 
                designating Turkmenistan a ``Country of Particular 
                Concern'' under the International Religious Freedom Act 
                of 1998 and by making clear that Uzbekistan risks a 
                similar designation if conditions in that country do 
                not improve;
                    (E) urge the Government of Turkmenistan to respect 
                the right of imprisoned opposition leader Boris 
                Shikmuradov to due process and a fair trial and to 
                release democratic activists and their family members 
                from prison;
                    (F) urge the Government of the Russian Federation 
                not to extradite to Turkmenistan members of that 
                country's political opposition and to condition future 
                bilateral relations with the Government of Turkmenistan 
                on concrete, verifiable improvements in human rights 
                and encourage political and economic reforms;
                    (G) work with the Government of Kazakhstan to 
                create a political climate free of intimidation and 
                harassment, including releasing political prisoners and 
                permitting the return of political exiles, most notably 
                Akezan Kazegeldin, and to reduce official corruption, 
                including by urging the Government of Kazakhstan to 
                cooperate with the ongoing Department of Justice 
                investigation, and if convicted independent journalist 
                Sergey Duvanov decides to appeal his verdict, to ensure 
                that due process will be strictly followed in 
                accordance with Kazakhstani law and international 
                standards of justice;
                    (H) work with the Government of Uzbekistan to 
                address the serious concerns about systemic torture 
                documented in the reports of the United Nations Special 
                Rapporteur on Torture and to implement recommendations 
                made in the report;
                    (I) work with the Government of Kyrgyzstan to 
                introduce changes in the recently adopted constitution 
                that would address concerns about protections for human 
                rights and balance of powers; and
                    (J) support, through United States assistance 
                programs, those individuals, nongovernmental 
                organizations, and media outlets in the countries of 
                Central Asia working to establish more open societies, 
                to support the victims of human rights abuses, and to 
                expose official corruption; and
            (3) United States assistance to the governments of the 
        countries of Central Asia, made possible by their cooperation 
        in the war in Afghanistan, can be sustained only if there is 
        substantial and continuing progress toward meeting the goals 
        outlined in paragraph (1).
                                 <all>