[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 754 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 754

 Commending the courage, bravery, and resolve of the fathers, mothers, 
  sons, and daughters of Cuba, who, 3 years ago, stood in the face of 
    brutal harassment, beatings, and torture to protest against the 
Communist Cuban regime, demanding access to their fundamental rights to 
                      life, dignity, and freedom.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              July 9, 2024

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Commending the courage, bravery, and resolve of the fathers, mothers, 
  sons, and daughters of Cuba, who, 3 years ago, stood in the face of 
    brutal harassment, beatings, and torture to protest against the 
Communist Cuban regime, demanding access to their fundamental rights to 
                      life, dignity, and freedom.

Whereas July 11, 2024, marks 3 years since the historic, pro-democracy 
        demonstration in Cuba when thousands of courageous Cubans took to the 
        streets in more than 40 cities, across all provinces, to demand access 
        to their freedoms and civil liberties and call for an end to communism, 
        censorship, and the oppression imposed by the totalitarian Cuban regime;
Whereas, in an attempt to silence the Cuban people and prevent future protests 
        from taking place, the Cuban dictatorship responded with a wave of 
        terror, repression, and criminalization and detained and persecuted more 
        than 1,400 protestors, including women and children;
Whereas, in a crude and savage effort to silence the Cuban people, the Communist 
        regime cut internet connectivity and mobile services throughout Cuba, 
        which hindered the Cuban people from organizing and hid from the outside 
        world images and videos of the oppressive and brutal crackdown by the 
        regime;
Whereas totalitarian regimes such as Communist China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, 
        and Nicaragua surveil and repress their citizens in a similar manner to 
        the Cuban regime, with China, according to reports, even establishing an 
        electronic eavesdropping facility in Cuba to spy on Americans and 
        citizens of China abroad;
Whereas the ongoing imprisonment of Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, a Cuban human 
        rights and democracy activist who has worked tirelessly to advocate for 
        fundamental civil liberties for the Cuban people, has suffered from the 
        tactics of the brutal, despotic regime in Cuba, which aims to silence 
        anyone who would dare speak out against its cruelty and barbarity;
Whereas, according to Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia's family in January 2022, since 
        his unlawful arrest on July 11, 2021, he had been subjected to months of 
        solitary confinement, physical and psychological torture, and inhumane 
        treatment from Cuban operatives, resulting in dire health conditions;
Whereas Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia suffers from severe headaches, breathing 
        problems, mouth bleeding, malnutrition, vision loss, and bouts of 
        coughing with an inability to sleep, can barely sit in a chair properly, 
        and shows physical signs of repeated torture;
Whereas, 3 years into his ongoing and unjust imprisonment by the Communist 
        regime, Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia continues to be subjected to evil, 
        inhumane treatment and has not had contact with his family;
Whereas, like Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, 3 years after the historic 
        demonstration, an unknown number of protesters remain in prison, 
        including minors, many are being held without access to or communication 
        with family members, international human rights organizations, or legal 
        counsel, and some have even been disappeared;
Whereas, in an effort to intimidate Cubans from daring to protest again, the 
        Cuban regime has held mass sham ``trials'' that lack any semblance of 
        due process and has imposed disproportionate prison terms of up to 25 
        years for ill-defined charges such as ``public disorder, contempt, or 
        violence such as rock-throwing,'' according to media reports;
Whereas the brutal and illegitimate Communist regime is terrified of the brave 
        and resilient men and women of Cuba who stand resolute in speaking out 
        against the regime's humanitarian crimes and efforts to persecute, 
        kidnap, torture, and eventually kill anyone who stands up against its 
        tyranny;
Whereas unilateral concessions to the Cuban regime in the form of weakened 
        economic sanctions have effectively rewarded malicious governance, 
        leading to more despicable and resolute repression of the Cuban people;
Whereas the corruption and failures of Cuba's closed, Communist economy, in 
        which many industries are run by the Cuban military, have failed the 
        people of Cuba; and
Whereas the international community should stand in solidarity with the Cuban 
        people in condemning the human rights atrocities committed by the 
        brutal, illegitimate, totalitarian, Communist regime and should demand 
        freedom and democracy for the men, women, and children of Cuba: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) commends the bravery, courage, and resolve of the 
        members of the pro-democracy movement and all freedom activists 
        in Cuba for risking their lives to bring freedom to the Cuban 
        people;
            (2) condemns the repression of the hundreds of pro-
        democracy activists and political prisoners, including 
        children, that the Cuban regime is unjustly detaining and 
        subjecting to physical and psychological torture, and calls for 
        their immediate and unconditional release;
            (3) condemns the Cuban regime's brutal, totalitarian 
        dictatorship and demands an end to the suffering of the men, 
        women, and children of Cuba and the impunity of the regime's 
        human rights abusers;
            (4) calls for the international community to stand with the 
        Cuban people and speak out against Cuba's repressive acts and 
        infringement on fundamental freedoms, such as expression, 
        belief, and assembly; and
            (5) urges the Biden administration to put democracy, human 
        rights, and civil liberties at the core of its Cuba policy by 
        ceasing to provide unilateral concessions to the oppressive 
        Cuban regime and by reimposing sanctions on the Cuban regime 
        until all conditions in United States law for removing 
        sanctions are met.
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