[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 392 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 392

   Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the prosecution and 
conviction of former President Mohamed Nasheed without due process and 
 urging the Government of the Maldives to take all necessary steps to 
  redress this injustice, to release all political prisoners, and to 
 ensure due process and freedom from political prosecution for all the 
                        people of the Maldives.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 8, 2016

 Mr. Leahy (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Murphy, Mr. McCain, Mr. Reed, 
 Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Peters, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Menendez, 
 Mr. Cardin, Mr. Coons, Mr. Markey, and Mrs. Feinstein) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the prosecution and 
conviction of former President Mohamed Nasheed without due process and 
 urging the Government of the Maldives to take all necessary steps to 
  redress this injustice, to release all political prisoners, and to 
 ensure due process and freedom from political prosecution for all the 
                        people of the Maldives.

Whereas the Maldives is strategically important due to its location, which 
        straddles major trade routes in the Indian Ocean;
Whereas increasing civil rights violations in the Maldives fuel instability and 
        pose a threat to regional security;
Whereas since January 2015, President Abdulla Yameen of the Maldives has 
        increasingly cracked down on dissent within his own party and the 
        political opposition, presided over the erosion of judicial 
        impartiality, and put increasing pressure on civil society;
Whereas the arrest of former President Mohamed Nasheed in March 2015, was widely 
        condemned as politically motivated, and his conviction and sentence of 
        13 years in prison has been condemned by Amnesty International as a 
        ``travesty of justice'';
Whereas in his speech in Sri Lanka on May 2, 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry 
        stated, ``[W]e've seen even now how regrettably there are troubling 
        signs that democracy is under threat in the Maldives where the former 
        President Nasheed has been imprisoned without due process. And that is 
        an injustice that must be addressed soon.''; and
Whereas, on September 14, 2015, in his opening statement at the 30th session of 
        the United Nations Human Rights Council, United Nations High 
        Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad said--

    (1) ``In the Maldives, the rule of law continues to be manipulated for 
political ends.''; and

    (2) in reference to former President Mohamed Nasheed's detention, 
``Given the deeply tainted nature of this case, I urge the Government to 
release him, and to review several hundred pending criminal cases against 
opposition supporters in relation to protests in recent months.'': Now, 
therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) expresses profound concern over the prosecution and 
        conviction of former President Mohamed Nasheed without due 
        process; and
            (2) urges the Government of the Maldives to take all 
        necessary steps--
                    (A) to redress this injustice;
                    (B) to release all political prisoners; and
                    (C) to ensure due process and freedom from 
                political prosecution for all the people of the 
                Maldives.
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