[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 224 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 224

Recognizing the 5th anniversary of the death of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, 
 and commemorating his legacy and commitment to democratic values and 
                              principles.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 19, 2017

Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Cruz, 
and Mr. Merkley) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                 to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the 5th anniversary of the death of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, 
 and commemorating his legacy and commitment to democratic values and 
                              principles.

Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1952 and became a 
        nonviolent critic of the communist government as a teenager, resulting 
        in 3 years of imprisonment in 1969 at a work camp in Cuba, formerly 
        known as ``Isla de Pinos'';
Whereas, in 1987, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas founded the Christian Liberation 
        Movement that called for peaceful civil disobedience against the rule of 
        the Communist Party of Cuba and advocated for civil liberties;
Whereas, in 1992 and 1997, attempts by Oswaldo Paya Sardinas to run as a 
        candidate for the National Assembly of People's Power were rejected by 
        Cuban authorities;
Whereas, in 1998, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas and other leaders of the Christian 
        Liberation Movement established the Varela Project in order to circulate 
        a legal proposal to advocate for democratic political reforms within 
        Cuba, including the establishment of freedom of association, freedom of 
        speech, freedom of the press, free elections, freedom to start private 
        businesses, and amnesty for political prisoners;
Whereas, in 2002, the Varela Project delivered a petition to the National 
        Assembly of People's Power with 11,020 signatures from Cuban citizens 
        calling for a referendum on safeguarding basic freedoms, an end to one-
        party rule, and citing Article 88 of the Constitution of Cuba that 
        allows Cuban citizens to propose laws if the proposal is made by at 
        least 10,000 Cuban citizens who are eligible to vote;
Whereas, in 2003, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas redelivered the petition to the National 
        Assembly of People's Power with an additional 14,384 signatures, 
        establishing the biggest nonviolent campaign to oppose the Communist 
        Party of Cuba;
Whereas, in March 2003, the crackdown on Cuban dissidents by the Government of 
        Cuba, referred to as the ``Black Spring'', led to the imprisonment of 75 
        individuals, including 25 members of the Varela Project and 40 members 
        of the Christian Liberation Movement, and the formation of the Ladies in 
        White movement by the wives of the imprisoned activists;
Whereas, in 2007, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas called on the National Assembly of 
        People's Power to grant amnesty to nonviolent political prisoners and to 
        allow Cubans to travel freely without a government permit;
Whereas, in 2009, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas developed a Call for the National 
        Dialogue;
Whereas petitions and calls by Oswaldo Paya Sardinas to the National Assembly of 
        People's Power were repeatedly dismissed and disparaged by the 
        Government of Cuba;
Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, his family, and friends endured years of 
        harassment and intimidation for the peaceful political activism of 
        Oswaldo Paya Sardinas;
Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas has been formally recognized in the past for his 
        dedication to the promotion of human rights and democracy, including by 
        receiving the Homo Homini Award in 1999, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom 
        of Thought in 2002, the W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award from the 
        United States National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in 
        2003, and being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Vaclav Havel, the 
        former President of the Czech Republic, in 2005;
Whereas, on July 22, 2012, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas and Harold Cepero, a fellow 
        pro-democracy activist, died in a troubling car crash in Granma 
        Province, Cuba, after being followed by government agents;
Whereas the Government of Cuba has failed to conduct a credible investigation 
        into the car crash that led to the death of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas;
Whereas the trial and conviction of Angel Carromero, a youth leader of the 
        People's Party who was visiting Cuba and driving the car at the time of 
        the crash, did not include testimony from key witnesses, and did not 
        resolve questions about whether another car was involved or whether Mr. 
        Carromero was coerced by the Government of Cuba into signing a false 
        statement of guilt;
Whereas, in 2012, the United States Senate unanimously passed Senate Resolution 
        525, 112th Congress, agreed to July 24, 2012, honoring the life and 
        legacy of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas;
Whereas, in 2013, a number of United States Senators and the United States 
        Department of State called for an impartial, third-party investigation 
        by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of 
        American States into the circumstances surrounding the death of Oswaldo 
        Paya Sardinas;
Whereas, in 2013, Angel Carromero spoke in detail during an interview with the 
        Washington Post about being hit by another car during the crash, being 
        mistreated and coerced by Cuban authorities following the crash, and 
        being made the ``scapegoat'' by the Government of Cuba for the death of 
        Oswaldo Paya Sardinas;
Whereas the dissidents of the ``Black Spring'' have been released from prison, 
        but many political prisoners remain imprisoned in Cuba despite trials 
        that failed to meet international due process standards; and
Whereas the 2016 Human Rights Report on Cuba by the United States Department of 
        State cited ongoing human rights abuses by the Government of Cuba, 
        namely ``the abridgement of the ability of citizens to choose their 
        government; the use of government threats, physical assault, 
        intimidation, and violent government-organized counter protests against 
        peaceful dissent; and harassment and detentions to prevent free 
        expression and peaceful assembly.'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes and commemorates the legacy of Oswaldo Paya 
        Sardinas on the 5th anniversary of his death on July 22, 2017;
            (2) honors the commitment of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas to 
        democratic values and principles;
            (3) calls on the Government of Cuba to allow an impartial, 
        third-party investigation into the circumstances surrounding 
        the death of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas;
            (4) urges the United States to continue to support policies 
        and programs that promote respect for human rights and 
        democratic principles in Cuba in a manner that is consistent 
        with the aspirations of the Cuban people;
            (5) urges the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of 
        the Organization of American States to continue reporting on 
        human rights issues in Cuba, and to request a visit to Cuba in 
        order to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of 
        Oswaldo Paya Sardinas; and
            (6) calls on the Government of Cuba to cease violating 
        human rights and to begin providing democratic political 
        freedoms to Cuban citizens, including freedom of association, 
        freedom of speech, freedom of the press, free elections, 
        freedom to start private businesses, and amnesty for political 
        prisoners.
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