[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 981 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 981

    Condemning the violence, persecution, intimidation, and murders 
     committed by the Government of Nicaragua against its citizens.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 3, 2018

  Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Engel, Mr. Cook, Mr. Sires, Mr. 
  Curbelo of Florida, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Miss Gonzalez-Colon of Puerto 
Rico, Mr. Deutch, and Mrs. Torres) submitted the following resolution; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Condemning the violence, persecution, intimidation, and murders 
     committed by the Government of Nicaragua against its citizens.

Whereas Daniel Ortega has taken systematic steps to weaken democratic 
        institutions in Nicaragua since 2006, including by violating the 
        Nicaraguan Constitution through actions such as ignoring presidential 
        term limits;
Whereas Daniel Ortega selected his wife, Rosario Murillo, as his vice-
        presidential candidate in 2016;
Whereas domestic and international observers have repeatedly documented and 
        criticized irregularities in the 2011 and 2016 presidential elections as 
        well as the 2012 and 2017 municipal elections in Nicaragua;
Whereas, on April 18, 2018, students in Nicaragua began to protest the 
        unilateral decision of the Government of Nicaragua to impose reforms on 
        the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute;
Whereas the protests were met with a violent and brutal response from the 
        Nicaraguan National Police, subsequently resulting in a widespread call 
        by the Nicaraguan people for freedom, democracy, electoral reforms, and 
        respect for human rights;
Whereas since April 18, 2018, the Nicaraguan government, the Nicaraguan National 
        Police, or militias controlled by the Nicaraguan government have been 
        responsible for escalating violence, committing murders, and many cases 
        of torture and disappearances;
Whereas to block the dissemination of reports of violence and repression 
        committed against peaceful protesters, the Nicaraguan government shut 
        down the signal of media stations throughout Nicaragua;
Whereas according to press reports, the Nicaraguan government has denied basic 
        medical care to and attempted to poison the food and water of those 
        protesting oppression under the Ortega administration;
Whereas, on the night of April 20, 2018, a pro-government mob set fire to the 
        offices of independent radio station Radio Dario in the city of Leon;
Whereas, on April 20, 2018, Ambassador Michael Kozak, the Acting Principal 
        Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and 
        Labor of the Department of State, said, ``Nicaragua is going in the 
        wrong direction on many fronts and that is one of them, of media 
        freedom. But also on all the basics, I mean, it's a long litany of 
        torture, extrajudicial killing, the elections were a sham . . . the 
        Ortega government has basically shut down a lot of the opposition, a lot 
        of the independent civil society organizations as well as the free 
        media'';
Whereas, on April 21, 2018, Nicaraguan journalist Angel Gahona was shot and 
        killed by pro-government security forces while broadcasting live on 
        Facebook;
Whereas, on April 21, 2018, the Department of State issued a travel advisory for 
        Nicaragua and since then has continued to advise travelers to reconsider 
        travel to Nicaragua due to ongoing violence;
Whereas, on April 22, 2018, the Department of State issued a statement that ``we 
        condemn the violence and the excessive force used by police and others 
        against civilians who are exercising their constitutional right to 
        freedom of expression and assembly'';
Whereas, on April 23, 2018, the Department of State ordered the departure of 
        family members accompanying United States Government personnel in 
        Nicaragua and also authorized the departure of such personnel;
Whereas, on Mother's Day in Nicaragua, May 31, 2018, press reports stated that 
        peaceful marches to support the mothers of the victims of the earlier 
        protests encountered violence from ``the repressive police and shock 
        forces'', leaving 15 dead and nearly 200 injured in the cities of 
        Managua, Esteli and Masaya;
Whereas, on May 31, 2018, the Department of State issued a statement saying that 
        ``those individuals responsible for human rights violations will be held 
        accountable by the international community in international fora'' in 
        response to the violence during the Mother's Day protests;
Whereas, on June 4, 2018, Secretary Pompeo, participating in the Organization of 
        American States General Assembly in the District of Columbia, stated, 
        ``In Nicaragua police and government-controlled armed groups have killed 
        dozens, merely for peacefully protesting'';
Whereas, on June 7, 2018, the Department of State announced visa restrictions 
        against individuals involved in human rights abuses or undermining 
        democracy in Nicaragua;
Whereas, on June 20, 2018, the Department of State announced, ``The United 
        States condemns the ongoing government-sponsored violence and 
        intimidation campaign in Nicaragua, including the June 16 arson attack 
        against the home and business of a family in Managua, killing six, and 
        the further intimidation of the family during the wake'';
Whereas a report from the Asociacion Nicaraguense Pro Derechos Humanos 
        (Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights) states that as of June 25, 
        2018, at least 285 people have been killed, over 1,500 people have been 
        injured, and 156 people continue to be disappeared;
Whereas the Catholic Church has played an important role serving as a mediator 
        between protesters and the Government of Nicaragua, and Catholic bishops 
        and priests have risked their lives trying to prevent more massacres; 
        and
Whereas the United States House of Representatives has sought to reestablish 
        democracy and the rule of law in Nicaragua by passing H.R. 1918, the 
        Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act, on October 3, 2017, by 
        unanimous consent: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the violence, persecution, intimidation, and 
        murders of peaceful protesters by the Government of Nicaragua;
            (2) supports the people of Nicaragua in their pursuit for 
        democracy, including their call for free and fair elections 
        overseen by credible domestic and international observers;
            (3) urges the international community to stand in 
        solidarity with the people of Nicaragua;
            (4) calls on the United States to continue to condemn the 
        atrocities in Nicaragua, demand the release of individuals 
        wrongfully detained, and identify those individuals whose 
        involvement in this violence qualifies for the imposition of 
        sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
        Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of the National 
        Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016; 22 U.S.C. 2656 
        note); and
            (5) affirms that--
                    (A) the rights to freedom of assembly, association, 
                and expression, the freedom of the press, and freedom 
                from extrajudicial detention and violence, are 
                universal human rights that apply to all persons; and
                    (B) countries that fail to respect these rights 
                jeopardize the security and prosperity of all of their 
                citizens.
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