[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 717 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 717

     Honoring the life and legacy of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas and his 
contributions to promote democracy and human rights in Cuba on the 10th 
                       anniversary of his death.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 21, 2022

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
     Honoring the life and legacy of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas and his 
contributions to promote democracy and human rights in Cuba on the 10th 
                       anniversary of his death.

Whereas the revolution led by Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1959 started 63 years of 
        an ongoing dictatorship that systematically violates the human rights of 
        the Cuban people, including denying them the basic freedoms of press, 
        religion, assembly, and association;
Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1952 and became a 
        nonviolent critic of the communist regime as a teenager, resulting in 3 
        years of imprisonment in 1969 at a work camp, formerly known as ``Isla 
        de Pinos'', in Cuba;
Whereas Oswaldo Paya Sardinas forewent a chance to escape Cuba in the 1980 
        Mariel boatlift, deciding instead to continue the fight for democracy in 
        Cuba, saying, ``This is what I am supposed to be, this is what I have to 
        do.'';
Whereas, in 1988, 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 and human 
        rights in Cuba;
Whereas, in 1992, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas announced his intention to run for the 
        National Assembly of Popular Power of Cuba and collected hundreds of 
        signatures to support his candidacy, and 2 days before the election, was 
        detained by police at his home and informed by communist party officials 
        to be ineligible to run for office and threatened that ``blood will 
        run'' if he ran;
Whereas, in 1998, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas and other leaders of the Christian 
        Liberation Movement initiated the Varela Project, the largest civil 
        society-led petition in the history of Cuba, in order to circulate a 
        legal proposal to advocate for democratic political change within Cuba, 
        including ``convert[ing] into law, the right of freedom of speech, the 
        freedom of press and freedom of enterprise'';
Whereas, in May 2002, the Varela Project delivered 11,020 signatures from 
        eligible citizens of Cuba to the National Assembly of Popular Power, 
        calling for an end to 4 decades of one-party rule, to which the 
        communist regime responded by beginning its own forced collection of 
        signatures in violation of its own rules to make Cuba's socialist system 
        ``irrevocable'', and an additional 14,000 signatures were added to the 
        Varela Project petition in 2003, and 10,000 more signatures were added 
        in 2016;
Whereas, in March 2003, the crackdown on Cuban dissidents by the communist 
        regime in Cuba, referred to as the ``Black Spring'', led to the 
        imprisonment of 75 individuals, including 40 leaders of the Varela 
        Project and 25 members of the Christian Liberation Movement, and the 
        formation of the Ladies in White movement by the wives of the imprisoned 
        activists;
Whereas, in 2003, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas developed a Call for the National 
        Dialogue, which collected the contributions of thousands of Cubans 
        inside and outside of Cuba;
Whereas, in 2006, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas published the ``Todos Cubanos'' program, 
        produced as a result of the National Dialogue among Cubans, to achieve 
        peaceful changes, to propose a referendum to institutionalize human 
        rights, to ensure that the economic and social rights of the people of 
        Cuba are respected, to ensure that the people of Cuba are not excluded 
        in Cuba, and to establish a rule of law;
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 the people of Cuba to travel freely without a government permit;
Whereas, in 2011, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas denounced the communist regime of Cuba's 
        false liberalization for not recognizing human rights and proposed to 
        directly carry out a Binding Plebiscite to change the system towards 
        democracy and establish a rule of law;
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 regime agents of Cuba;
Whereas the communist regime of Cuba has failed to conduct a credible 
        investigation into the car crash that led to the death of Oswaldo Paya 
        Sardinas;
Whereas, according to a report published in 2015 by the Human Rights Foundation, 
        the best available evidence strongly suggests that the communist regime 
        of Cuba is directly responsible for the deaths of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas 
        and Harold Cepero, evidence that was deliberately ignored by the 
        judiciary system of Cuba;
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 communist regime of Cuba into signing a 
        false statement of guilt;
Whereas, in 2013, a number of United States Senators and the 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 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 Valclav Havel, 
        the former President of the Czech Republic, in 2005;
Whereas, in 2012, the United States Senate unanimously passed Senate Resolution 
        525, 112th Congress, agreed to July 31, 2012, honoring the life and 
        legacy of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas;
Whereas, in 2018, the United States Senate unanimously passed Senate Resolution 
        224, 115th Congress, agreed to April 11, 2018, recognizing the 6th 
        anniversary of the death of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, and commemorating his 
        legacy and commitment to democratic values and principles;
Whereas, in 2021, the United States Senate unanimously passed Senate bill 2045, 
        117th Congress, agreed to July 30, 2021, to designate the area between 
        the intersections of 16th Street, Northwest and Fuller Street, Northwest 
        and 16th Street, Northwest and Euclid Street, Northwest in Washington, 
        District of Columbia, as ``Oswaldo Paya Way'';
Whereas, on July 14, 2022, the City of Miami, Florida agreed to designate the 
        area of LeJeune Avenue, between 11th and 14th streets, as ``Oswaldo Paya 
        Sardinas Way'' on the eve of the 10th anniversary of his death, July 22, 
        2022;
Whereas, throughout his life and since his death, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, his 
        family, and friends endured years of harassment and intimidation from 
        the communist regime of Cuba for his peaceful, political activism; and
Whereas, on July 11, 2021, thousands of people in Cuba raised their voices 
        against the 63-year rule of the communist regime and called for the same 
        freedoms Oswaldo Paya Sardinas dedicated his life to: Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes and honors the life and legacy of Oswaldo 
        Paya Sardinas on the 10th anniversary of his death on July 22, 
        2022;
            (2) offers heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, 
        and loved ones of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas on this painful 
        anniversary;
            (3) in memory of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, calls on the United 
        States to continue policies that promote respect for the 
        fundamental principles of religious freedom, democracy, and 
        human rights in Cuba, in a manner consistent with the 
        aspirations of the people of Cuba;
            (4) 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 issue a favorable decision 
        in the case of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas and Harold Cepero that 
        recognizes evidence which establishes the culpability of the 
        communist regime of Cuba in their deaths;
            (5) calls on the communist regime in Cuba to allow an 
        impartial, third-party investigation into the circumstances 
        surrounding the death of Oswaldo Paya Sardinas; and
            (6) calls on the communist regime in 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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