[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 83 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 83

Urging the appropriate representative of the United States to the 61st 
session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to introduce a 
  resolution calling upon the Government of the People's Republic of 
   China to end its human rights violations in China, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 3, 2005

Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Pence, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Burton 
of Indiana, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Wolf, Mrs. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, 
Mr. Chabot, Mr. Payne, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Harris, Mr. Engel, 
   Mr. Kirk, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Akin, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Udall of New 
 Mexico, Mr. Berman, Mr. Rohrabacher, and Mr. Price of North Carolina) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Urging the appropriate representative of the United States to the 61st 
session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to introduce a 
  resolution calling upon the Government of the People's Republic of 
   China to end its human rights violations in China, and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 
        Geneva, Switzerland, is the preeminent international forum for 
        examining, monitoring, and publicly reporting on human rights situations 
        in specific countries and on major phenomena of human rights violations 
        worldwide;
Whereas, according to the Department of State, the United States Commission on 
        International Religious Freedom, and international human rights 
        organizations, the Government of the People's Republic of China 
        continues to commit numerous and serious human rights abuses against the 
        Chinese people;
Whereas, according to the Department of State, in late 2004 the Chinese 
        Government launched a new campaign against dissident writers, 
        commentators, and religious activists, in which many were harassed, 
        detained, and imprisoned;
Whereas the Chinese Government attempts to control and regulate religious groups 
        and, according to the Department of State, government repression of some 
        unregistered religious groups increased during the past year, and 
        included the destruction of facilities, the disruption of services, and 
        the harassment and detention of leaders and congregants;
Whereas Catholics who remain faithful to the Pope and in communion with Rome, 
        rather than joining the government-controlled Catholic Patriotic 
        Association, face continuing restrictions, including difficulties 
        holding worship services, obtaining building permits for churches, and 
        training clergy;
Whereas, according to the Department of State, Chinese officials beat and abused 
        a number of Catholic priests and lay leaders during 2004, and they 
        continue to detain Bishop Su Zhimin, Bishop An Shuxin, Bishop Zhang 
        Weizhu, Father Cui Xing, and Father Wang Quanjun, among others;
Whereas, according to the Department of State, Chinese officials intensified 
        their pressure against Protestant house churches during 2004, and 
        detained numerous leaders and congregants, including Liu Fengang, Xu 
        Yonghai, and Zhang Shengqi, who were sentenced in August 2004 to 1- to 
        3-year terms for sending reports of Government persecution of house 
        churches to overseas organizations;
Whereas, according to the Department of State, during 2004 Chinese authorities 
        in the Tibet Autonomous Region committed serious human rights abuses, 
        including extrajudicial killing, torture, arbitrary arrest, lengthy 
        detention for peaceful expression of political or religious views, and 
        repression of religious freedom;
Whereas the whereabouts of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the boy identified by the Dalai 
        Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama and detained by Chinese authorities ten 
        years ago, when he was 6 years old, are still unknown;
Whereas the Chinese Government has used the international war on terror as a 
        pretext for a harsh crackdown on Uighurs in Xinjiang, including those 
        expressing peaceful political dissent and independent Muslim religious 
        leaders;
Whereas, according to the Department of State, Chinese authorities continue to 
        restrict Muslim religious activity, teaching, and worship in Xinjiang, 
        including reported prohibitions on the participation and religious 
        education of minors;
Whereas the Chinese Government continued its brutal campaign to eradicate the 
        Falun Gong spiritual movement and, according to the Department of State, 
        tens of thousands of practitioners remain incarcerated in prisons, 
        extrajudicial reeducation-through-labor camps, and psychiatric 
        facilities;
Whereas since the 1999 beginning of the crackdown on Falun Gong, hundreds of 
        Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured and beaten to death by 
        Chinese authorities, with some death estimates reaching as high as 
        2,000;
Whereas the Government of China continues to impose a coercive birth limitation 
        policy that relies on the threat of job loss and punitive fines, and 
        which has included the use of forced abortion and forced sterilization;
Whereas this coercive birth limitation policy has led to sex-selective abortion, 
        the abandonment and infanticide of baby girls, and a disproportionate 
        number of male children in China, which has already led to the reported 
        abduction and trafficking of women as ``brides'' in some areas, and 
        which will have serious and detrimental sociological impacts on China 
        for years to come;
Whereas trafficking in persons remains a serious problem within China, and 
        reports persist of complicity by local officials in trafficking, alien 
        smuggling, and prostitution involving trafficked women;
Whereas Chinese authorities have been responsible for extrajudicial killings, 
        the torture and mistreatment of prisoners leading to numerous deaths in 
        custody, arbitrary arrest and detention, and the routine violation of 
        legal protections and due process for defendants, including in death 
        penalty cases;
Whereas organs taken from executed prisoners without meaningful consent are the 
        main source of organs used in transplants in China, for both foreign and 
        Chinese patients;
Whereas Chinese authorities hold an estimated 300,000 persons in ``reeducation-
        through-labor'' camps and other forms of detention not subject to 
        judicial review;
Whereas contrary to its obligations as a party to the 1951 United Nations 
        Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the Chinese Government 
        continues to deny the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
        (UNHCR) access to North Koreans inside China, and during the past year 
        deported several thousand back to North Korea, where many of them were 
        subjected to persecution and some were executed upon their return, as 
        provided in North Korean law;
Whereas the Chinese Government has arrested and detained foreign journalists, 
        missionaries, and activists for providing food, shelter, transportation, 
        and other assistance to North Koreans who have fled into China;
Whereas during 2004 the Chinese Government increased its pervasive monitoring of 
        the Internet, restricted the information available to Chinese users, and 
        detained and imprisoned numerous individuals responsible for 
        disseminating political, religious, and social views on the Internet 
        that officials deemed objectionable;
Whereas 16 years after the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen 
        Square, many protesters remain in prison and no independent 
        investigations have taken place regarding the massacre that occurred 
        during those demonstrations;
Whereas the Chinese Government continues to criminalize all independent trade 
        union activity and detained a number of labor activists during 2004, 
        including Chen Kehai, Zhao Yong, and Zhu Guo;
Whereas the United States has not yet sought to schedule a new round of its 
        bilateral human rights dialogue with China due to a lack of sufficient 
        concrete results from the last round in December 2002;
Whereas in March 2004 the Chinese Government announced the suspension of 
        bilateral human rights dialogue with the United States because of the 
        decision by the United States to table a resolution on China at the 60th 
        Session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva;
Whereas the People's Republic of China has signed the International Covenant on 
        Civil and Political Rights, but has yet to take the necessary steps to 
        make the treaty legally binding;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China is a party to the 1951 
        United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 
        1967 Protocol;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China is a party to the 
        United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, 
        Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and
Whereas the Constitution and laws of the People's Republic of China purport to 
        provide for fundamental human rights, however, the protections of these 
        rights are often ignored in practice: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),  
That--
            (1) it is the sense of Congress that--
                    (A) the United States Government should continue to 
                insist that the People's Republic of China respect the 
                fundamental human rights of its citizens;
                    (B) as a forum dedicated solely to human rights 
                concerns, the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 
                Geneva, Switzerland, is an appropriate venue for the 
                United States and other countries to raise the 
                situation of human rights inside China, without regard 
                to ancillary strategic considerations;
                    (C) the failure of the United Nations Human Rights 
                Commission to formally recognize human rights 
                violations as extensive as those occurring in China 
                reflects poorly on the ability of the Commission to 
                fulfill its core purposes;
                    (D) at the 61st Session of the United Nations Human 
                Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland, the 
                appropriate representative of the United States should 
                introduce a resolution detailing the human rights 
                situation within the People's Republic of China and 
                urging the Government of China to abide by 
                internationally recognized human rights standards;
                    (E) the United States Government should take the 
                lead in organizing multilateral support to obtain 
                passage by the Commission of such a resolution and 
                should draft the resolution in such a way as to 
                highlight specific human rights abuses;
                    (F) all countries with representatives at the 61st 
                Session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission 
                should support passage of such a resolution and resist 
                efforts by representatives of the People's Republic of 
                China to oppose the consideration or passage of such a 
                resolution; and
                    (G) United States Government officials and 
                officials from other governments should continue to 
                speak out in international fora and elsewhere against 
                the Chinese Government's suppression of religious and 
                political freedoms, its persecution of Tibetans, Falun 
                Gong practitioners, Catholics, Protestants, and Uighur 
                Muslims, its unjust arrest and detention of religious 
                leaders and political dissidents, its harsh prison 
                conditions, its coercive family planning policies, and 
                its forced return of North Korean refugees; and
            (2) Congress urges the Government of the People's Republic 
        of China--
                    (A) to take the necessary measures to stop the 
                persecution of all religious practitioners and to 
                safeguard fundamental human rights;
                    (B) to stop the forced return of North Korean 
                refugees, to allow the United Nations High Commissioner 
                for Refugees access to North Koreans inside China, and 
                to work with the United Nations High Commissioner for 
                Refugees to develop a viable solution to the 
                humanitarian crisis involving North Korean refugees;
                    (C) to end its coercive one-child per family policy 
                and ensure that no national, provincial, or local 
                government officials subject women to forced abortions 
                or sterilizations;
                    (D) to immediately hold an open and transparent 
                investigation into the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy 
                demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, to release all the 
                prisoners held in connection with that event, and to 
                pay compensation to the families who lost their loved 
                ones;
                    (E) to release from detention all prisoners of 
                conscience, persons held because of their religious 
                activities, and persons of humanitarian concern;
                    (F) to release the 11th Panchen Lama identified by 
                Dalai Lama and allow him to undertake his rightful 
                role;
                    (G) to allow the Chinese people to freely and 
                openly practice their religious beliefs and organize 
                their religious communities according to the dictates 
                of conscience, free from government coercion;
                    (H) to adhere to the provisions and guidelines of 
                the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
                Rights, the United Nations Convention Against Torture 
                and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading 
                Treatment or Punishment, and the 1951 Convention 
                Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 
                Protocol; and
                    (I) to allow, immediately and without restrictions, 
                visits to China by the United States Commission on 
                International Religious Freedom, the United Nations 
                Special Rapporteurs on Religious Intolerance and 
                Torture, and the International Committee of the Red 
                Cross.
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