[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 169 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 169

Requesting a statement under section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance 
     Act of 1961 with respect to violations of human rights by the 
                      Government of Saudi Arabia.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 11, 2019

 Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. 
   Van Hollen, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Wyden, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. Kaine) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Requesting a statement under section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance 
     Act of 1961 with respect to violations of human rights by the 
                      Government of Saudi Arabia.

Whereas, on December 13, 2018, the Senate unanimously agreed to Senate Joint 
        Resolution 69, 115th Congress, stating that the Senate ``believes Crown 
        Prince Mohammed bin Salman is responsible for the murder of Jamal 
        Khashoggi'', a United States resident and renowned journalist;
Whereas the President has not met his obligation to determine whether any 
        foreign person, including the highest ranking officials in the 
        Government of Saudi Arabia, is responsible for the gross violation of 
        Mr. Khashoggi's internationally recognized human rights;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia has yet to publicly identify the 11 
        individuals indicted in connection with the killing of Mr. Khashoggi, 5 
        of whom will reportedly face the death penalty if convicted;
Whereas, on March 12, 2018, the Government of Saudi Arabia formally charged 10 
        women's rights activists on charges of supporting ``hostile elements'', 
        after being detained since May 2018 with no charges brought;
Whereas reputable human rights nongovernmental organizations allege that 
        authorities of the Government of Saudi Arabia have tortured at least 4 
        of the 10 women's rights activists including the leader of the 
        successful movement to grant women the rights to drive in Saudi Arabia, 
        Aziza al-Yousef;
Whereas Samar Badawi, who was awarded the International Women of Courage Award 
        by the Secretary of State in 2012 for her efforts to reform the 
        discriminatory male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia, is also among 
        the group of 10 women's rights activists facing charges;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia has detained not fewer than 120 peaceful 
        advocates, including blogger Raif Badawi and human rights lawyer Waleed 
        Abu al-Khair, part of a disturbing pattern of human rights violations by 
        that Government detailed in 59 pages of the 2018 Country Reports on 
        Human Rights Practices of the Department of State;
Whereas the 2018 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices highlight human 
        rights violations by the Government of Saudi Arabia, including--

    (1) executions for nonviolent offenses;

    (2) forced renditions;

    (3) forced disappearances;

    (4) torture of prisoners and detainees by government agents;

    (5) arbitrary arrest and detention;

    (6) arrest and detention of political prisoners;

    (7) restrictions on the freedoms of peaceful assembly, association, and 
movement;

    (8) severe restrictions of religious freedom;

    (9) citizens' lack of ability and legal means to choose their 
government through free and fair elections;

    (10) trafficking in persons;

    (11) violence and official discrimination against women; and

    (12) criminalization of consensual same-sex sexual activity;

Whereas the 2018 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices also reference an 
        August 2018 study, commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner 
        for Human Rights, which--

    (1) found that the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia was 
responsible for the majority of the civilian casualties in Yemen that the 
United Nations was able to verify from March 2015 to June 2018; and

    (2) concluded that the coalition's repeated failures to avoid civilian 
casualties and exercise the proportionate use of military force violate 
international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes;

Whereas that study also--

    (1) found that the military coalition restricted the flow of food, 
medical supplies, and fuel through Yemen's critical ports of Hudaydah and 
Mokha, and forced the closure of Sana'a International Airport; and

    (2) stated, ``Given the severe humanitarian impact that the de facto 
blockades have had on the civilian population and in the absence of any 
verifiable military impact, they constitute a violation of the 
proportionality rule of international humanitarian law.'';

Whereas section 620I(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378-
        1(a)), states that no assistance shall be furnished under that Act or 
        the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) to any country 
        ``when it is made known to the President that the government of such 
        country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the 
        transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance'';
Whereas subsection (a)(2) of section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
        (22 U.S.C. 2304) states that ``no security assistance may be provided to 
        any country the government of which engages in a consistent pattern of 
        gross violations of internationally recognized human rights''; and
Whereas subsection (d)(1) of that section defines the term ``gross violations of 
        international recognized human rights'' to include ``torture or cruel, 
        inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention 
        without charges and trial, causing the disappearance of persons by the 
        abduction and clandestine detention of those persons, and other flagrant 
        denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of person'': Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) it is the sense of the Senate that--
                    (A) the President should fully comply with the 
                Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act 
                (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328; 22 
                U.S.C. 2656 note) by issuing a determination, in 
                response to the request submitted to the President on 
                October 10, 2018, under section 1263(d) of that Act, 
                with respect to the involvement of high-ranking 
                officials of the Government of Saudi Arabia, including 
                Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in the killing of 
                Jamal Khashoggi; and
                    (B) the United States should call upon the 
                Government of Saudi Arabia--
                            (i) to release all peaceful human rights 
                        activists, journalists, and religious 
                        minorities held in detention by that 
                        Government; and
                            (ii) to take actions that reverse that 
                        Government's gross violation of internationally 
                        recognized human rights; and
            (2) pursuant to section 502B(c)(1) of the Foreign 
        Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1)), the Senate 
        requests the Secretary of State to submit to Congress, in 
        unclassified form, but with a classified annex if necessary, a 
        statement with respect to Saudi Arabia setting forth--
                    (A) the matters described in subparagraphs (A), 
                (B), and (C) of such section; and
                    (B) pursuant to subparagraph (D) of such section--
                            (i) information on the involvement of the 
                        highest-ranking officials in the Government of 
                        Saudi Arabia, including Crown Prince Mohammed 
                        bin Salman, in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi;
                            (ii) information on the measures the 
                        Government of Saudi Arabia is taking to 
                        alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Yemen by 
                        increasing access for Yemenis to food, fuel, 
                        medicine, and medical evacuation, including 
                        through the appropriate use of Yemen's Red Sea 
                        ports, including the port of Hudaydah, the 
                        airport in Sana'a, and external border 
                        crossings with Saudi Arabia;
                            (iii) information on actions the Government 
                        of Saudi Arabia is taking to reduce the risk of 
                        harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure 
                        resulting from military operations of that 
                        Government in Yemen, including by--
                                    (I) complying with applicable 
                                agreements and laws regulating defense 
                                articles purchased or transferred from 
                                the United States; and
                                    (II) taking appropriate steps to 
                                avoid disproportionate harm to 
                                civilians and civilian infrastructure; 
                                and
                            (iv) information on each incident for which 
                        the Joint Incidents Assessment Team in Yemen 
                        has reached a conclusion.
                                 <all>