[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3545 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3545

  To limit assistance to the Government of Uzbekistan, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 2005

  Mr. Delahunt (for himself and Mr. Doggett) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, 
and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary and Armed Services, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To limit assistance to the Government of Uzbekistan, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Uzbekistan Freedom Promotion Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Department of State's 2004 Country Reports on Human 
        Rights Practices for Uzbekistan states the following:
                    (A) ``Uzbekistan is an authoritarian state with 
                limited civil rights . . . President Islam Karimov and 
                the centralized executive branch that serves him 
                dominated political life and exercised nearly complete 
                control over the other branches . . . The Government is 
                highly centralized and is ruled by President Karimov 
                and the executive branch through sweeping decree 
                powers, primary authority for drafting legislation, and 
                control of government appointments, most of the 
                economy, and the security forces.''.
                    (B) ``On December 26, [2004,] elections were held 
                for seats in the lower chamber of the Supreme Assembly 
                (Oliy Majlis) that fell significantly short of 
                international standards for democratic elections . . . 
                Citizens could not exercise the right to change their 
                government peacefully . . . The law makes it extremely 
                difficult for opposition parties to organize, nominate 
                candidates, and campaign.''.
                    (C) ``Police and, to a lesser extent, NSS [National 
                Security Service] forces tortured, beat, and harassed 
                persons . . . Members of the security forces 
                responsible for documented abuses were rarely punished 
                . . . Police, prison officials, and the NSS allegedly 
                used suffocation, electric shock, rape, and other 
                sexual abuse; however, beating was the most commonly 
                reported method of torture.''.
                    (D) ``The number of persons in prison for political 
                or religious reasons--primarily persons the Government 
                believed were associated with extremist Islamist 
                political groups, but also members of the secular 
                opposition and human rights activists--was estimated to 
                be between 5,000 and 5,500.''.
                    (E) ``The Government severely restricted freedom of 
                speech and the press, and an atmosphere of repression 
                stifled public criticism of the Government.''.
                    (F) ``The Government continued to deny registration 
                to several independent domestic human rights groups and 
                increased pressure on unregistered groups . . . The 
                Government denied the registration applications of two 
                opposition political parties. The Government harassed 
                and abused members of domestic human rights groups.''.
                    (G) ``The Government restricted freedom of religion 
                and harassed individuals suspected of belonging to 
                extremist groups; several hundred were arrested. The 
                Government limited the activities of minority 
                religions.''.
                    (H) ``The public generally did not have access to 
                Government information, and information normally 
                considered in the public domain, such as prosecutions 
                for corruption or official malfeasance, were seldom 
                reported.''.
            (2) On May 13, 2005, security forces of the Government of 
        Uzbekistan conducted a brutal and indiscriminate assault on 
        thousands of demonstrators and onlookers in the city of 
        Andijan, which resulted in hundreds of deaths and many more 
        injuries.
            (3) The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights 
        of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
        (OSCE) stated in its ``Preliminary Findings on the Events in 
        Andijan, Uzbekistan, 13 May 2005'' that many of the protestors 
        ``spoke about social and economic problems (lack of 
        transparency, corruption in the government, unfair trials, 
        abuse by police, unemployment, taxation, etc) . . . this also 
        attracted others to the square''.
            (4) The Government of Uzbekistan has imprisoned dozens of 
        individuals who participated in peaceful demonstrations and 
        continues to engage in widespread arrests in the aftermath of 
        the May 13, 2005, assault.
            (5) The Government of Uzbekistan has consistently denied 
        that a massacre in Andijan took place, expelled local and 
        foreign journalists from the region, and has refused to open 
        the area to a full and independent investigation into the 
        violence.
            (6) Following the massacre in Andijan, hundreds of Uzbek 
        citizens fled to neighboring Kyrgyzstan, which faces pressure 
        from the Uzbek Government to quickly return them, despite well-
        grounded concerns that they may be arrested and tortured upon 
        their return, and where, although protected as refugees under 
        international law, they have been targeted by Uzbek authorities 
        for illegal repatriation and face continued threat from Uzbek 
        security services operating in southern Kyrgyzstan.
            (7) In June 2005, the United States, the European Union 
        (EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United 
        Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the 
        Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe called for 
        a credible independent international inquiry into the recent 
        violence in Andijan and urged the Government of Uzbekistan to 
        prosecute those responsible for civilian deaths.
            (8) A July 12, 2005, report by the United Nations High 
        Commissioner for Human Rights states that ``consistent, 
        credible eyewitness testimony strongly suggests that grave 
        human rights violations, mostly of the right to life, were 
        committed by Uzbek military and security forces . . . It is not 
        excluded--judging from the accounts of the eyewitnesses 
        interviewed--that the incidents amounted to a mass killing . . 
        .'' in Andijan and reiterates a call for an independent 
        international probe.
            (9) 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 accordingly, he did not certify 
        Uzbekistan as eligible to receive certain United States 
        assistance.
            (10) 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.
            (11) President George W. Bush, in his second 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.''.
            (12) 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.
            (13) After expressions of concern by representatives of the 
        Administration and Congress about the massacre at Andijan, the 
        Government of Uzbekistan has restricted the use of the airbase 
        at Karshi-Khanabad by United States military forces.
            (14) On July 5, 2005, the Government of Uzbekistan joined 
        the Governments of the Russian Federation, the People's 
        Republic of China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan in 
        calling on countries involved in Coalition operations in 
        Afghanistan to set a deadline for ending their use of airfields 
        and other military presence in Central Asia.
            (15) On July 7, 2005, the Government of Uzbekistan 
        indicated that it was reconsidering the use by the United 
        States of the Karshi-Khanabad airbase.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress the actions of the Government of 
Uzbekistan in general and in the case of the Andijan massacre 
specifically--
            (1) are reprehensible, totalitarian, and unbecoming of an 
        ally of the United States;
            (2) are counterproductive to the United States goals of 
        promoting freedom and democracy; and
            (3) justify an end to United States assistance for, and an 
        increase in restrictions on, the Government of Uzbekistan until 
        it accelerates democratic reforms and fulfills its human rights 
        obligations.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF UZBEKISTAN.

    (a) Amendment.--Chapter 1 of part III of the Foreign Assistance Act 
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2353 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating the second section 620G (as added by 
        section 149 of Public Law 104-164 (110 Stat. 1436)) as section 
        620J; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 620K. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF UZBEKISTAN.

    ``(a) Limitation.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
assistance under this Act or any other provision of law, other than 
assistance under the provisions of law described in subsection (b), may 
be provided to the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan for a 
fiscal year only if the President transmits to the appropriate 
congressional committees a certification described in subsection (c) 
for the fiscal year.
    ``(b) Provisions of Law Excluded.--The provisions of law described 
in this subsection are the following:
            ``(1) Title IV of chapter 2 of part I of this Act (relating 
        to insurance, reinsurance, guarantees or other assistance 
        provided by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation).
            ``(2) Section 661 of this Act (relating to assistance 
        provided by the Trade and Development Agency).
            ``(3) Title V of the FREEDOM Support Act, sections 1424 and 
        1501(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
        Year 1997, and any other provision of law that authorizes the 
        provision of non-proliferation assistance to foreign countries.
            ``(4) Any provision of law that authorizes activities of 
        the United States and Foreign Commercial Service.
            ``(5) The Export-Import Bank Act of 1945.
            ``(6) Any provision of law that authorizes the provision of 
        humanitarian assistance.
    ``(c) Certification.--A certification described in this subsection 
is a certification that contains a determination of the President 
that--
            ``(1) the Government of Uzbekistan has permitted and is 
        fully cooperating with and supporting an independent 
        international inquiry into the violence in Andijan, Uzbekistan, 
        has ceased pressuring the Government of Kyrgyzstan to return 
        the refugees who fled after the massacre, and is prosecuting 
        those individuals responsible for civilian deaths or injuries 
        in the violence; and
            ``(2) the Government of Uzbekistan has accelerated 
        democratic reforms and fulfilled 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 of Uzbekistan;
                    ``(E) holding internationally-observed, free, 
                transparent, competitive, and fair elections; and
                    ``(F) making publicly available documentation of 
                its revenues and expenditures and prosecuting those 
                individuals engaged in official corruption.
    ``(d) Definition.--In this section, the term `appropriate 
congressional committees' means--
            ``(1) the Committee on International Relations and the 
        Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; 
        and
            ``(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee 
        on Appropriations of the Senate.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The limitation on assistance to the Government 
of Uzbekistan under section 620K of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, 
as added by subsection (a), applies with respect to assistance for the 
Government of Uzbekistan for fiscal year 2006 and subsequent fiscal 
years.

SEC. 5. RESTRICTION ON VISAS.

    A visa may not be issued to any official of the Government of 
Uzbekistan who is credibly alleged to have ordered, acquiesced to, or 
participated in human rights abuses or corruption unless the Secretary 
of State certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the 
issuance of the visa is in the national security interests of the 
United States.

SEC. 6. FREEZING OF ASSETS.

    (a) In General.--The President shall seek to identify and freeze 
the financial assets and other economic resources in the United States 
of any official of the Government of Uzbekistan, and their family 
members, who is credibly alleged to have ordered, acquiesced to, or 
participated in human rights abuses, including the massacre in Andijan.
    (b) Lifting of Restrictions.--The President shall, on a case-by-
case basis, lift the freezing of financial assets or other economic 
resources of any official or individual under this section if the 
President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that 
the official or individual has been properly investigated and cleared 
of any wrongdoing and that the Government of the United States is 
confident that the investigation was properly conducted, transparent, 
and free of political influence.

SEC. 7. MUNITIONS EXPORT LICENSES.

    The President shall prohibit the export to Uzbekistan of any item, 
including the issuance of a license for the export of any item under 
section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778), on the 
United States Munitions List or Commerce Control List or any dual use 
item under the Export Administration Regulations unless the President 
certifies to the appropriate congressional committees and the 
Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the 
Senate that the Government of Uzbekistan meets the requirements of 
paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 620K(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act 
of 1961, as added by section 4 of this Act.

SEC. 8. EMERGENCY REFUGEE ADMISSION.

    The President shall expedite admission to the United States of any 
national of Uzbekistan who is under threat of severe penalty as a 
result of participating in pro-democracy activities, including those 
citizens of Uzbekistan who have fled to Kyrgyzstan, and should 
encourage other governments to accept Uzbek refugees for resettlement.

SEC. 9. PLAN TO MOVE UNITED STATES MILITARY OPERATIONS.

    Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional 
committees and the Committees on Armed Services of the House of 
Representatives and the Senate a plan to move all existing United 
States military operations in Uzbekistan to facilities outside that 
country.

SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on International Relations and 
                the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
            (2) Commerce control list.--The term ``Commerce Control 
        List'' means the list maintained under part 774 of title 15, 
        Code of Federal Regulations.
            (3) Dual use.--The term ``dual use'' means, with respect to 
        goods or technology, those goods or technology that are 
        specifically designed or developed for civil purposes but which 
        also may be used or deployed in a military or proliferation 
        mode. Such term does not include purely commercial items.
            (4) Export administration regulation.--The term ``Export 
        Administration Regulations'' means those regulations contained 
        in sections 730 through 774 of title 15, Code of Federal 
        Regulations (or successor regulations).
            (5) Item.--The term ``item'' means any good or technology, 
        defense article or defense service subject to the export 
        jurisdiction of the United States under law or regulation.
            (6) United states munitions list.--The term ``United States 
        Munitions List'' means the list referred to in section 38(a)(1) 
        of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778(a)(1)).
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