[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 953 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 953

     Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the 
       Government of the People's Republic of China has violated 
internationally recognized human rights and legal due process standards 
by carrying out executions after trials marred by procedural abuses and 
   by carrying out arbitrary detentions targeting Uyghurs and other 
individuals in Xinjiang in the aftermath of a suppressed demonstration 
             and ensuing mob violence on July 5 to 7, 2009.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 8, 2009

Mr. McGovern (for himself, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Delahunt, and Mr. Smith of New 
 Jersey) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
     Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the 
       Government of the People's Republic of China has violated 
internationally recognized human rights and legal due process standards 
by carrying out executions after trials marred by procedural abuses and 
   by carrying out arbitrary detentions targeting Uyghurs and other 
individuals in Xinjiang in the aftermath of a suppressed demonstration 
             and ensuing mob violence on July 5 to 7, 2009.

Whereas the July 5, 2009, outbreak of mob violence after an initially peaceful 
        demonstration of Uyghurs in Urumqi, Xinjiang, was precipitated by years 
        of institutionalized discriminatory policies by the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China against Uyghurs;
Whereas such policies include the government-promoted mass migration of Han 
        Chinese into Xinjiang, which contributes to the eradication of the 
        Uyghur culture and identity, the Chinese Government's manipulation of 
        the threat of terrorism since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 
        2001, to justify human rights violations against the Muslim Uyghurs, and 
        restrictions of religious and cultural expressions of Uyghurs, including 
        attacks on their cultural heritage by the destruction of cultural items, 
        books, and buildings;
Whereas pursuant to a policy of the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China, government officials recruit young Uyghur men and women to work 
        in factories in the interior of China, and some workers have reported 
        the use of coercion by local officials to gain their participation under 
        exploitative working conditions;
Whereas Uyghurs continue to suffer the consequences of environmental degradation 
        in Xinjiang;
Whereas Uyghurs in Urumqi took to the streets on July 5, 2009, to protest the 
        government handling of a reported mob attack on Uyghur workers by Han 
        workers at a Guangdong factory after graphic images appeared on the 
        Internet depicting the attack, despite reports that the initial protest 
        started out peacefully, a violent confrontation ensued as police 
        authorities cracked down on those protesters;
Whereas some Uyghurs randomly attacked Han Chinese bystanders and members of the 
        Han Chinese community, and destroyed shops and businesses in the city of 
        Urumqi, resulting in deaths;
Whereas following those events, and despite an overwhelming police presence 
        throughout the city at that time, some Han Chinese carried out revenge 
        attacks in Uyghur neighborhoods, randomly attacking Uyghurs and 
        destroying Uyghur property, resulting in deaths;
Whereas in the aftermath of events on July 5, 2009, Chinese authorities 
        initially reported detaining around 700 people in connection with the 
        riots, and later reported hundreds of additional detentions;
Whereas some people detained reportedly had no connection to events on July 5, 
        2009, and family members reported receiving no information on the 
        location of people in detention, and the whereabouts of many of those 
        detainees are still unknown;
Whereas on October 12, 2009, various media outlets reported the commencement of 
        trials without the benefits of any due process, public observers, or 
        court procedures in violation of international legal standards;
Whereas those trials were marred by selection of judges considered ``politically 
        reliable'' and restrictions of the defendants' rights to retain 
        independent legal defense;
Whereas on November 9, 2009, international media outlets reported the execution 
        of 9 individuals who had been sentenced to death, 8 of whom reportedly 
        were Uyghur and 1 Han Chinese; and
Whereas many details about events in July 2009 and subsequent detentions and 
        trials remain unknown in the face of ongoing official controls over the 
        free flow of information from Xinjiang, including an Internet shutdown 
        and restricted phone access: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) strongly condemns any violence against innocent 
        individuals regardless of their ethnicity, gender, or religious 
        beliefs, and recognizes that individuals who have committed 
        crimes must be brought to justice in full compliance with 
        international human rights and legal standards, including 
        independent courts, habeas corpus and due process protections, 
        the free choice of legal defense, and the right to challenge 
        the accuser and any evidence in court;
            (2) recognizes that the government policies of suppression 
        against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, particularly the ``Strike 
        Hard'' campaigns, as well as government policies regarding 
        other ethnic groups within the People's Republic of China have 
        created an atmosphere of ethnic tension in those areas;
            (3) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China to--
                    (A) desist from further executions based on trials 
                that violate international human rights and due process 
                standards;
                    (B) ensure that trials are conducted in an open and 
                transparent manner in accordance with the international 
                obligations of the People's Republic of China;
                    (C) allow international observers and the media to 
                attend those trials;
                    (D) provide a list of all individuals detained or 
                arrested in the aftermath of the July 2009 events in 
                Xinjiang to the International Committee of the Red 
                Cross and the public, and to grant access to those 
                individuals for family members and independent legal 
                counsel; and
                    (E) cease all government-sponsored crackdowns 
                against people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous 
                Region, including against people involved in peaceful 
                protests or religious or political expression; and
            (4) calls on the President of the United States to--
                    (A) unequivocally state the strong opposition of 
                the United States to these legally flawed trials and 
                executions;
                    (B) raise those human rights concerns publicly and 
                in all meetings with Chinese officials;
                    (C) restate the interest of the United States to 
                open United States consulates in Lhasa, Tibet, and in 
                Urumqi, Xinjiang; and
                    (D) as a matter of policy, direct the United States 
                Embassy in Beijing to automatically request permission 
                from the appropriate Chinese authorities for United 
                States Embassy staff to observe trials if credible 
                reasons exist that such trials may not meet 
                internationally recognized human rights and legal 
                standards.
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