[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 12 (Thursday, February 10, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S636-S637]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 81--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE CONGRESS 
     THAT THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA SHOULD 
  IMMEDIATELY RELEASE RABIYA KADEER, HER SECRETARY, AND HER SON, AND 
       PERMIT THEM TO MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES IF THEY SO DESIRE

  Mr. ROTH (for himself, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Edwards, Mr. 
Crapo, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Thomas, and Mrs. Feinstein) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 81

       Whereas Rabiya Kadeer, a prominent ethnic Uighur from the 
     Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of the People's 
     Republic of China, her secretary, and her son were arrested 
     on August 11, 1999, in the city of Urumqi;
       Whereas Rabiya Kadeer's arrest occurred outside the Yindu 
     Hotel in Urumqi as she was attempting to meet a group of 
     congressional staff staying at the Yindu Hotel as part an 
     official visit to China organized under the auspices of the 
     Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Program of the 
     United States Information Agency;
       Whereas Rabiya Kadeer's husband Sidik Rouzi, who has lived 
     in the United States since 1996 and works for Radio Free 
     Asia, has been critical of the policies of the People's 
     Republic of China toward Uighurs in Xinjiang;
       Whereas according to an Amnesty International press release 
     of August 16, 1999, ``It appears as though the accusations 
     against Kadeer and her son Ablikim Abdyirim may relate to her 
     attempts to meet a visiting delegation from the United States 
     [Congress] and her communications with her husband Sidik 
     Rouzi, . . .'';
       Whereas reports indicate that Ablikim Abdyirim was sent to 
     a labor camp on November 26 for 2 years without trial for 
     ``supporting Uighur separatism,'' and Rabiya Kadeer's 
     secretary was recently sentenced to 3 years in a labor camp;
       Whereas Rabiya Kadeer has 5 children, 3 sisters, and a 
     brother living in the United States, in addition to her 
     husband, and Kadeer has expressed a desire to move to the 
     United States;
       Whereas the People's Republic of China stripped Rabiya 
     Kadeer of her passport long before her arrest;
       Whereas reports indicate that Kadeer's health may be at 
     risk and that she may be sentenced to 10 or more years in 
     prison;
       Whereas repeated requests to the Government of the People's 
     Republic of China by Members of Congress and congressional 
     staff for an explanation of the nature of the charges against 
     Rabiya Kadeer, her secretary, and her son, for an update on 
     the state of Kadeer's health, and for details of any legal 
     proceedings against those arrested, have gone unanswered 
     since August 1999;
       Whereas the People's Republic of China signed the 
     International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on 
     October 5, 1998;
       Whereas that Covenant requires signatory countries to 
     guarantee their citizens the right to legal recourse when 
     their rights have been violated, the right to liberty and 
     freedom of movement, the right to presumption of innocence 
     until guilt is proven, the right to appeal a conviction, 
     freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, freedom of 
     opinion and expression, and freedom of assembly and 
     association;
       Whereas that Covenant forbids torture, inhuman or degrading 
     treatment, and arbitrary arrest and detention;
       Whereas the first Optional Protocol to the International 
     Covenant on Civil and Political Rights enables the Human 
     Rights Committee, set up under that Covenant, to receive and 
     consider communications from individuals claiming to be 
     victims of violations of any of the rights set forth in the 
     Covenant; and
       Whereas in signing that Covenant on behalf of the People's 
     Republic of China, Ambassador Qin Huasun, Permanent 
     Representative of the People's Republic of China to the 
     United Nations, said the following: ``To realize human rights 
     is the aspiration of all humanity. It is also a goal that the 
     Chinese Government has long been striving for. We believe 
     that the universality of human rights should be respected . . 
     . As a member state of the United Nations, China has always 
     actively participated in the activities of the organization 
     in the field of human rights. It attaches importance to its 
     cooperation with agencies concerned in the U.N. system . . 
     .'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress calls on the Government of the 
     People's Republic of China--
       (1) immediately to release Rabiya Kadeer, her secretary, 
     and her son; and
       (2) to permit Kadeer, her secretary, and her son to move to 
     the United States, if they so desire.

  Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of myself and 
Senators Murray, Bingaman, Edwards, Crapo, Dodd, Thomas, and Feinstein 
to submit a concurrent resolution stating the sense of Congress that 
China immediately release Rabiya Kadeer, her secretary and her son. On 
August 11, 1999 Ms. Kadeer was arrested on her way to a meeting with a 
group of Congressional staff visiting China under the auspices of a 
U.S. Information Agency program. Later, two of the sons and her 
secretary were detained as well.
  One son has since been sentenced to 2 years at hard labor and her 
secretary, 3 years. And we have received credible reports that in the 
aftermath of the

[[Page S637]]

Chinese New Year's celebrations, she herself faces imminent trial and 
sentencing.
  The crimes she is accused of committing remain unclear, despite 
letters from a number of us on Capitol Hill, and despite a series of 
requests to Chinese officials stretching back to August. Our attempts 
at quiet diplomacy, perhaps unsurprisingly, have failed. And so, with 
her trial and sentencing about to take place, it is vital that we try a 
different tack. That is why I am offering this resolution.
  Ms. Kadeer is a prominent member of an ethnic minority group in China 
called Uighurs. These people are Turkic-speaking Moslems, and they form 
the largest ethnic group in China's northwestern-most province.
  A few years back, Ms. Kadeer was lauded by the PRC for her promotion 
of business enterprises among women and for contributing to the 
economic and social development of her province. To honor her efforts, 
she was named by authorities to the China People's Political 
Consultative Congress and as a delegate to the United Nations World 
Conference on Women held in Beijing.
  But Ms. Kadeer began to fall out of favor with officials in Beijing 
after her husband emigrated to the United States in 1997 and became a 
commentator for Voice of America. Soon thereafter, her passport was 
seized and the assets of an organization she founded to improve 
opportunities for Moslem businesswomen were frozen. Then, in 1998, Ms. 
Kadeer lost her position in the Consultative Congress.
  Perhaps that is why five of Ms. Kadeer's children, three sisters and 
a brother are now living in the United States, in addition to her 
husband. And perhaps that is why Ms. Kadeer has expressed a desire to 
move to the United States herself.
  That desire, for the moment, has been quashed. Last summer, as she 
was on her way to the hotel where the Congressional staff delegation 
was waiting to meet her, Kadeer was arrested. The arrest is troubling 
enough, but the fact that it took place as she was attempting to have a 
simple conversation with staffers who work for the United States 
Congress, I believe, requires that we take a firm stand.
  Let's not forget that the PRC signed the International Covenant on 
Civil and Political Rights in 1998. Among other things, that Covenant 
requires signatories to guarantee their citizens the right to liberty 
and freedom of movement; the right to presumption of innocence until 
guilt is proven; freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; freedom 
of opinion and expression; and freedom of assembly and association. It 
also forbids torture, inhumane or degrading treatment, and arbitrary 
arrest and detention.
  In signing that Covenant on behalf of the PRC, China's Permanent 
Representative to the United Nations said, and I quote, ``To realize 
human rights is the aspiration of all humanity. It is also a goal that 
the Chinese Government has long been striving for. We believe that the 
universality of human rights should be respected * * *.''
  Well, I don't think China has respected the human rights of Rabiya 
Kadeer, her son or her secretary. That's why this resolution calls on 
China to release them and give them the chance to move to the United 
States, if they wish. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to support 
this resolution and move for its earliest possible passage as Ms. 
Kadeer's fate will soon be determined by a country that offers her 
little or no chance of a fair trial.

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