[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1398 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1398

Expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the continued gross 
 violations of political, civil, and human rights of the Syrian people 
     by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, calling on the 
    Government of Syria to immediately and unconditionally release 
 prisoners of conscience and other political prisoners, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 2008

Mr. Ackerman submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the continued gross 
 violations of political, civil, and human rights of the Syrian people 
     by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, calling on the 
    Government of Syria to immediately and unconditionally release 
 prisoners of conscience and other political prisoners, and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic systematically violates the 
        most basic political, civil, and human rights of its citizens and 
        persons within its jurisdiction;
Whereas the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
        2007 states that the Syrian ``government's respect for human rights 
        worsened, and it continued to commit serious abuses. There were 
        significant limitations on citizens' right to change their government. 
        In a climate of impunity, there were instances of arbitrary or unlawful 
        deprivation of life, and members of the security forces tortured and 
        physically abused prisoners and detainees. Security forces arbitrarily 
        arrested and detained individuals, while lengthy pretrial and 
        incommunicado detention remained serious problems'';
Whereas the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
        2007 further states that, ``Beginning in 2005 and continuing throughout 
        the year, the government increasingly violated citizens' privacy rights 
        and increased already significant restrictions on freedoms of speech, 
        press, assembly, and association, amidst an atmosphere of government 
        corruption and lack of transparency. Security services disrupted 
        meetings of human rights organizations and detained an increasing number 
        of activists, organizers, and other regime critics'';
Whereas the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
        2007 also states with regard to Syria that ``throughout the year, the 
        government sentenced to prison several high-profile members of the human 
        rights community. Violence and societal discrimination against women 
        continued. The government discriminated against minorities, particularly 
        the Kurds, and severely restricted workers' rights'';
Whereas in 2007, the Government of Syria held in custody between 1,500 and 3,000 
        political prisoners and refused to release information regarding numbers 
        or names of people in detention on political or security-related 
        charges;
Whereas on April 28, 2007, Syrian political prisoners Anwar al-Bunni, Aref 
        Dalila, Mahmoud Issa, Michael Kilo, Kamal al-Labwani, and Faik al-Mir 
        coauthored a letter from Damascus Central Prison calling on the 
        international community to exert ``continued effort and perseverance to 
        compel the Syrian authorities to respect human rights and the 
        international laws and treaties which it has ratified'' and to release 
        all political prisoners;
Whereas on May 13, 2007, prominent political reformers Michel Kilo and Mahmoud 
        Issa were charged with ``weakening the national morale'' and each was 
        sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for signing a petition calling for 
        Syria to recognize Lebanon's sovereignty and for the extension of human 
        rights within Syria;
Whereas on May 10, 2007, human rights activist Kamal al-Labwani was sentenced to 
        12 years imprisonment on politically motivated charges of damaging 
        Syrian security for a trip he took abroad in 2005, sponsored by the 
        Department of State's International Visitor Program, during which he met 
        with European and American officials, including staff of the House of 
        Representatives;
Whereas on April 24, 2007, the Damascus Criminal Court charged Anwar al-Bunni, 
        widely regarded as Syria's leading human rights lawyer, with ``spreading 
        false news that weakened the Nation'' and sentenced him to 5 years 
        imprisonment for his long-running civil rights advocacy and for signing 
        the same petition as Michel Kilo and Mahmoud Issa;
Whereas the Syrian authorities continue to restrict access to the Internet and 
        punish bloggers, including Karim Arbaji, who was arrested on June 7, 
        2007, and Tarek Bayasi, who was tried on February 18, 2008;
Whereas on June 17, 2007, the Syrian Supreme State Security Court sentenced 
        Husam Ali Mulhim, Omar Ali Abdullah, Ayham Saqr, Alam Fakhour, and Diab 
        Sirieyeh to 5 years in prison, and Tarek Ghorani and Maher Ibrahim to 7 
        years in prison, because of their involvement with a prodemocracy 
        student group;
Whereas economics professor Aref Dalila was arrested as part of the Government 
        of Syria's crackdown on civil society in 2001 for his critiques of 
        official corruption, and he continues to serve out a 10-year jail 
        sentence in solitary confinement despite suffering from diabetes and 
        heart disease;
Whereas Faik al-Mir was detained and charged with treason for exercising his 
        right to freedom of expression by visiting and offering his condolences 
        to the family of a prominent Lebanese individual who was assassinated 
        after calling for an end to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon in 2005;
Whereas the key members of Syria's largest opposition coalition, the Damascus 
        Declaration for Democratic Change, remain in jail, having been arrested 
        following successful internal elections on December 1, 2007, in defiance 
        of strict security measures imposed on the members, including former 
        Member of Parliament Riad Seif, Dr. Fidaa Al-Horani, Ahmad Tomei, Akram 
        al-Bounni, Ali al-Abdallah, Yasser al-Eiti, Jabr al-Shoofi, Walid al-
        Bounni, Muhammad Hajji Darweesh, Marwan al-Ish, Fayiz Sarah, and Talal 
        Abu Dan;
Whereas former Member of Parliament Riad Seif, the elected Secretary General of 
        the Damascus Declaration National Council, is known to suffer from 
        prostate cancer and has been denied access to adequate medical 
        treatment;
Whereas Dr. Fidaa al-Horani, one of the leading female physicians in Syria and 
        the elected Chairwoman of the Damascus Declaration National Council, is 
        known to suffer from a heart condition and has been denied access to 
        adequate medical treatment;
Whereas political prisoners in Syria, which include these individuals and many 
        others, are often subject to physical abuse, torture, or inhumane 
        holding conditions;
Whereas Government of Syria routinely arrests and detains political activists 
        and holds them, without charge, at undisclosed locations, without any 
        public report as to their whereabouts and health;
Whereas the Government of Syria has inadequately complied with requests for 
        access and fact-finding inquiries from United Nations special 
        rapporteurs seeking to monitor the conditions of prisoners and human 
        rights defenders in Syria;
Whereas these high-profile political prisoners are indicative of a broad trend 
        whereby independent political, civil, and human rights activists are 
        systematically arrested or intimidated into self-censorship due to the 
        harsh tactics of the Government of Syria;
Whereas the Government of Syria has forced scores of political, civil, and human 
        rights activists to flee the country for fear for their lives and 
        freedom, and continues to harass and threaten the family members and 
        friends of activists, dissidents, and exiles;
Whereas Syrian authorities frequently prevent independent political, civil, and 
        human rights activists from leaving the country or subject them to 
        onerous travel restrictions so as to prevent them from carrying out 
        their activities abroad;
Whereas the 1963 Emergency Law remains in effect, authorizing the Government of 
        Syria to conduct preventive arrests and overriding constitutional and 
        penal code provisions against arbitrary arrest and detention, including 
        the need to obtain warrants;
Whereas Syrian authorities continue to hold in its jails nationals from other 
        countries, including individuals from Lebanon and Jordan, without 
        charging them with a crime, access to legal counsel, or even 
        acknowledging their existence;
Whereas Syrian authorities have continued to harass regionally-based journalists 
        who reported information critical of the state, including banning or 
        hindering journalists from reentering the country and failing to respond 
        to requests for accreditation;
Whereas the Government of Syria has prohibited all Kurdish-language 
        publications, has arrested journalists who have written in favor of 
        greater Kurdish rights, and has prohibited the publication of books and 
        other materials in Kurdish;
Whereas on March 21, 2008, Syrian authorities opened fire on unarmed Kurdish 
        civilians in the city of Qamishly who were celebrating the Kurdish 
        holiday of Nowruz, killing 3 young men and wounding 8 others;
Whereas the Government of Syria continues to deny the right of citizenship to 
        over 300,000 Kurds, which keeps them from holding national ID cards, 
        pursuing postsecondary education, seeking government jobs and contracts, 
        and owning, inheriting, and bequeathing property; and
Whereas the Baathist Syrian regime has consistently denied the people of Syria 
        their most basic political, civil, and human rights, including freedom 
        of thought and expression, freedom of association and assembly, freedom 
        of movement, and the protection of their persons and property under the 
        rule of law: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns and deplores--
                    (A) the consistent pattern of gross violations of 
                the most basic political, civil, and human rights of 
                the Syrian people by the Government of the Syrian Arab 
                Republic, including freedom of thought and expression, 
                freedom of association and assembly, freedom of 
                movement, and the protection of persons and property 
                under the rule of law; and
                    (B) the arbitrary arrest and unjust conviction and 
                imprisonment of prisoners of conscience (among whom are 
                Anwar al-Bunni, Aref Dalila, Mahmoud Issa, Michael 
                Kilo, Kamal al-Labwani, Faik al-Mir, Riad Seif, Dr. 
                Fidaa al-Horani, Ahmad Tomei, Akram al-Bounni, Ali al-
                Abdallah, Yasser al-Eiti, Jabr al-Shoofi, Walid al-
                Bounni, Muhammad Hajji Darweesh, Marwan al-Ish, Fayiz 
                Sarah, and Talal Abu Danand), calls for the immediate 
                and unconditional release of all political prisoners, 
                and calls for the dropping of all politically-motivated 
                charges;
            (2) calls urgently for the Government of Syria--
                    (A) to ensure that all torture and mistreatment of 
                prisoners cease immediately;
                    (B) to allow political prisoners prompt and regular 
                access to their lawyers, doctors, and families;
                    (C) to allow impartial international monitors 
                unfettered access to these prisoners;
                    (D) to lift the state of emergency that has been 
                imposed for over 44 years;
                    (E) to cease obstructing and denying human rights 
                organizations, civil society associations, and 
                political parties the ability to organize and operate 
                freely;
                    (F) to allow individuals to exercise their 
                fundamental political, civil, and human rights, and to 
                engage in the full range of peaceful political and 
                civil activities; and
                    (G) to cease from harassing the family members and 
                friends of political, civil, and human rights activists 
                and dissidents, and to allow for the safe return of 
                exiled opposition members;
            (3) reminds the Government of Syria that on August 23, 
        1976, it acceded to the International Covenant of Civil and 
        Political Rights and is obligated to guarantee the civil and 
        political rights of persons in its territory;
            (4) expresses its support for the people of Syria in their 
        struggle for freedom, respect for their political, civil and 
        human rights, democratic self-governance, and the establishment 
        of the rule of law; and
            (5) calls on the President and the Secretary of State to--
                    (A) consider pursuing further actions at the United 
                Nations to draw attention to the Government of Syria's 
                deplorable record on human rights and the plight of 
                Syrian political prisoners and prisoners of conscience 
                including, but not limited to, publicizing Syria's 
                noncompliance with United Nations special rapporteurs, 
                pursuing a resolution condemning Syria before the 
                Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee of the 
                United Nations General Assembly, or pursuing a 
                resolution to establish a country-specific United 
                Nations special rapporteur charged with monitoring the 
                human rights situation in Syria;
                    (B) make the legal status and humanitarian needs of 
                Anwar al-Bunni, Aref Dalila, Mahmoud Issa, Michael 
                Kilo, Kamal al-Labwani, Faik al-Mir, Riad Seif, Dr. 
                Fidaa al-Horani, Ahmad Tomei, Akram al-Bounni, Ali al-
                Abdallah, Yasser al-Eiti, Jabr al-Shoofi, Walid al-
                Bounni, Muhammad Hajji Darweesh, Marwan al-Ish, Fayiz 
                Sarah, Talal Abu Danand, and other political prisoners 
                an ongoing item of concern in bilateral relations with 
                Syria, and call for their immediate release;
                    (C) support, encourage, and reach out to 
                dissidents, activists, and nonviolent democratic 
                opposition in Syria and assist them in their efforts to 
                create a democratic Syria; and
                    (D) make political, civil, and human rights, 
                particularly the freedom of thought and expression, the 
                freedom of assembly and association, the freedom of 
                movement, and the protection of persons and property 
                under the rule of law a priority in bilateral relations 
                with Syria.
                                 <all>