[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 365 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 365

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 


Whereas, since November 2005, the Beijing Judicial Bureau has shut down the law 
        firm and suspended the license of Mr. Gao Zhisheng, one of China's best 
        known lawyers and legal rights defenders;
Whereas Mr. Gao has represented citizens of China in lawsuits against various 
        local and administrative governmental bodies of the People's Republic of 
        China over corruption, land seizures, police abuse, and violations of 
        religious freedom;
Whereas Mr. Gao wrote 3 open letters to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen 
        Jiabao condemning the methods employed by the Government of China in 
        implementing its ban on ``evil cults'', such as the Falun Gong and an 
        additional letter documenting severe persecution of Christians in 
        Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region;
Whereas Mr. Gao's law practice filed a petition to appeal the verdict against 
        Cai Zhuohua, who was found guilty of ``illegal business practices'' 
        based upon his distribution of Bibles and religious material;
Whereas Mr. Gao's home has been constantly monitored by agents from the Ministry 
        of State Security and Mr. Gao was prevented by the Public Security 
        Ministry from meeting with the representatives of the United Nations 
        Special Rapporteur on Torture during his November 2005 visit to Beijing;
Whereas agents of the Public Security Bureau of China, numbering between 10 and 
        20, have consistently monitored the activities and whereabouts of Mr. 
        Gao, his wife, and his daughter since late November 2005;
Whereas, on November 10, 2005, an open letter, signed by 138 organizations 
        worldwide, was submitted to President Bush calling on him to voice 
        support of Mr. Gao and his legal practice during the President's 
        November 2005 visit to China;
Whereas other human rights lawyers, collectively known as ``rights defenders'', 
        or Wei Quan, have also faced harassment, arrest, and detention for their 
        consistent and vigorous activities to defend the fundamental rights of 
        the people of China, contrary to measures within the law of China 
        protecting human rights and rights of lawyers;
Whereas Mr. Chen Guangcheng, a blind human rights lawyer who has exposed cases 
        of violence against women, including forced abortion and forced 
        sterilization perpetrated by authorities of China under the 1-child 
        policy, was beaten on October 10, 2005, and currently remains under 
        house arrest;
Whereas law professor and People's Political Consultative Congress Delegate, Xu 
        Zhiyong, who advocates on behalf of petitioners filing grievances with 
        the Central government in Beijing, was also beaten on October 10, 2005, 
        when meeting with Chen Guangcheng;
Whereas Mr. Yang Maodong (also known as Guo Feixiong), a lawyer representing 
        villagers in Taishi village who attempted to oust their village head in 
        peaceful elections, has been arbitrarily detained repeatedly and remains 
        under consistent surveillance by security agents;
Whereas Mr. Tang Jingling, a Guangdong based lawyer also working on the Taishi 
        village elections case, has been fired from his law firm and was beaten 
        on February 2, 2006, after attempting to meet with Yang Maodong;
Whereas, on February 28, 2006, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and 
        AIDS (also known as ``UNAIDS'') office in China expressed concern 
        regarding the disappearance of Mr. Hu Jia, an activist who worked to 
        organize the legal defense of AIDS patients in Henan Province, and who 
        has been placed in detention and has not been permitted to contact his 
        friends and family since February 16, 2006;
Whereas, according to the Department of State 2005 Country Reports on Human 
        Rights Practices, lawyers who aggressively tried to defend their clients 
        continued to face serious intimidation and abuse by police and 
        prosecutors, and some of these lawyers were detained;
Whereas the Constitution of China states that the courts shall, in accordance 
        with the law, exercise judicial power independently, without 
        interference from administrative organs, social organizations, and 
        individuals, but in practice, the judiciary is not independent and it 
        receives policy guidance from both the Government of China and the 
        Communist Party, whose leaders use a variety of means to direct courts 
        on verdicts and sentences, particularly in politically sensitive cases;
Whereas the Criminal Procedure Law of China gives suspects the right to seek 
        legal counsel, but defendants in politically sensitive cases frequently 
        find it difficult to find an attorney;
Whereas the Lawyers Law of the People's Republic of China states that a lawyer 
        may ``accept engagement by a criminal suspect in a criminal case to 
        provide him with legal advice and represent him in filing a petition or 
        charge or obtaining a guarantor pending trial'';
Whereas according to Article 306 of the Criminal Law of China, defense attorneys 
        can be held responsible if their clients commit perjury, and prosecutors 
        and judges in such cases have wide discretion in determining what 
        constitutes perjury;
Whereas according to the All-China Lawyers Association, since 1997 more than 500 
        defense attorneys have been detained on similar charges, and such cases 
        continued during the last year despite promises made by the Government 
        of China to amend Article 306;
Whereas the State Department's 2005 Annual Report on Human Rights states that 
        China's human rights record ``remained poor'', that authorities of China 
        quickly moved to suppress those who openly expressed dissenting 
        political views, and that writers, religious activists, dissidents, 
        lawyers, and petitioners to the Central Government were particularly 
        targeted;
Whereas directly following their August 2005 visit to China, the United States 
        Commission on International Religious Freedom found that--

    (1) the Government of China actively seeks to control and suppress the 
activities of unregistered religious organizations;

    (2) China has outlawed unregistered religious organizations and 
provides severe penalties for engaging in unregistered religious 
activities;

    (3) leaders of unregistered Protestant organizations have come under 
increased pressure to register their churches and affiliate with one of the 
government approved organizations, and those who refuse, for theological or 
other reasons, are subject to harassment, detention, arrest, and closing of 
their religious facilities;

    (4) groups determined by the Government of China to be ``evil cults'', 
such as Falun Gong, are brutally suppressed; and

    (5) practitioners of Falun Gong have experienced severe persecution, 
including arrests, numerous detentions, torture, irregular trials, 
imprisonment, and subjection to the reeducation through labor system, 
whereby accused criminals are subject to up to 3 years detention;

Whereas despite questions raised by the Government of the United States and 
        others about the charges made against Pastor Cai Zhuohua, the Government 
        of China sentenced Pastor Cai and other members of his family to 3 years 
        in prison for ``illegal business practices'' for their printing and 
        distribution of religious materials;
Whereas, according to China's Regulations on Religious Affairs, promulgated in 
        March 2005, any religious organization that carries out activities 
        without registering with the government is subject to civil punishment 
        and to criminal prosecution;
Whereas since the promulgation of the Regulations on Religious Affairs, the 
        Government of China has stepped up its efforts to eliminate unregistered 
        religious activity, with raids on ``house church'' Christian groups in 
        several provinces, resulting in detention of hundreds of leaders of the 
        house church, dozens of whom remain in custody; and
Whereas the Government of China has, on several occasions, stated a commitment 
        to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but 
        has delayed ratification since signing the document in 1998: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That--
            (1) Congress--
                    (A) commends ``rights defense'' lawyers and 
                activists of China for their courage and integrity, and 
                expresses moral support for this grass-roots ``rights 
                defense'' movement in China;
                    (B) urges the Government of the People's Republic 
                of China, at all levels, to cease its harassment of Mr. 
                Gao Zhisheng, overturn the suspension of his license to 
                practice law, and restore his legal right to represent 
                the clients of his choosing as protected by China's own 
                Constitution, its Criminal Procedure Law, and its 
                Lawyers Law;
                    (C) urges the Government of the People's Republic 
                of China to repeal Article 306 of the Criminal Code of 
                China, which provides penalties for lawyers whose 
                clients are accused of perjury and has been used to 
                curtail the active legal defense of individuals accused 
                of political crimes;
                    (D) urges the Government of the People's Republic 
                of China to undertake measures to further amend the 
                Lawyers Law to ensure lawyers' rights to investigate 
                charges brought against their clients, to provide a 
                vigorous defense of their clients, and to remain free 
                of harassment and intimidation throughout the course of 
                representing clients, including clients who are charged 
                with offenses related to political or religious 
                activities;
                    (E) urges the Government of the People's Republic 
                of China to respect fully the universality of the right 
                to freedom of religion or belief and other human 
                rights;
                    (F) urges the Government of the People's Republic 
                of China to ratify and implement in law the 
                International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 
                and to adopt such legislative or other measures as may 
                be necessary to give effect to the rights recognized in 
                the Covenant;
                    (G) urges the Government of the People's Republic 
                of China to amend or repeal Article 300 of the Criminal 
                Code of China so it is consistent with international 
                law, and to halt its crackdown on spiritual movements;
                    (H) urges the Government of the People's Republic 
                of China to halt arrests, harassment, and intimidation 
                of leaders of unregistered religious organizations on 
                the basis that their organizations violated the law by 
                not registering with the Government of China;
                    (I) urges the Government of the People's Republic 
                of China to Amend the Regulations on Religious Affairs 
                to conform more closely with the internationally 
                recognized freedom of thought, conscience, religion or 
                belief and allow all religious believers in China to 
                practice their religion without interference from the 
                government or from government sponsored ``patriotic 
                religious associations'';
                    (J) urges the Government of the People's Republic 
                of China to release Pastor Cai Zhuohua, his wife, and 
                others imprisoned with him, and to allow Pastor Cai to 
                resume religious activities and to resume leadership of 
                his congregation in Beijing; and
                    (K) urges the Government of the People's Republic 
                of China to invite the Special Rapporteur of the 
                Commission on Human Rights on freedom of religion or 
                belief to China as promised according to an agreement 
                between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and 
                the Department of State of China in March 2005; and
            (2) it is the sense of Congress that--
                    (A) the Government of the United States should 
                support democracy and human rights programs that 
                strengthen protection of basic rights and freedoms, and 
                should initiate programs to train lawyers, judges, 
                academics, and students in China about international 
                human rights law, to inform citizens of China about 
                international human rights norms, and to build 
                organizations and associations to promote these 
                priorities;
                    (B) the Government of the United States should seek 
                grant proposals and fund programs to promote legal 
                protections and cultural awareness of the right to the 
                freedom of religion or belief commensurate to ongoing 
                rule of law programs funded by the Human Rights and 
                Democracy Fund for Chinese workers, women, and public 
                interest law training; and
                    (C) the President should raise the issue of the 
                Government of China's harassment, arrest, detention, 
                and persecution of rights defense lawyers and activists 
                and the need for the Government of China to respect the 
                basic human rights of its citizens and the rule of law 
                during his planned meeting with Chinese President Hu 
                Jintao in April 2006.

            Passed the House of Representatives April 26, 2006.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
109th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                            H. CON. RES. 365

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

    Urging the Government of China to reinstate all licenses of Gao 
Zhisheng and his law firm, remove all legal and political obstacles for 
    lawyers attempting to defend criminal cases in China, including 
 politically sensitive cases, and revise law and practice in China so 
              that it conforms to international standards.