[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 40 (Thursday, March 18, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1755-S1756]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING THE LIFE OF ORLANDO ZAPATA TAMAYO
Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Con. Res. 54.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will report the concurrent resolution by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 54) recognizing the
life of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who died on February 23, 2010,
in the custody of the Government of Cuba, and calling for a
continued focus on the promotion of internationally
recognized human rights, listed in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, in Cuba.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
concurrent resolution.
Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be
agreed to; a Nelson of Florida amendment to the preamble, which is at
the desk, be agreed to; the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; the
motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or
debate; and any statements related to this measure be printed in the
Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 54) was agreed to.
The amendment (No. 3552) was agreed to, as follows:
Insert after the 15th whereas clause in the preamble the
following:
Whereas, the Department of State reports that the
Government of Cuba has not granted prison visits by the
International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty
International, or Human Rights Watch since 1988;
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, as amended, reads as
follows:
S. Con. Res. 54
Whereas Orlando Zapata Tamayo (referred to in this preamble
as ``Zapata''), a 42-year-old plumber and bricklayer and a
member of the Alternative Republican Movement and the
National Civic Resistance Committee, died on February 23,
2010, in the custody of the Government of Cuba after
conducting a hunger strike for more than 80 days;
Whereas, on February 24, 2010, the Foreign Ministry of Cuba
issued a rare statement on the death of Zapata, stating,
``Raul Castro laments the death of Cuban prisoner Orlando
Zapata Tamayo, who died after conducting a hunger strike.'';
[[Page S1756]]
Whereas Reina Luisa Tamayo has asserted that her son
Orlando Zapata Tamayo was tortured and denied water during
his incarceration and has called ``on the world to demand the
freedom of the other prisoners and brothers unfairly
sentenced so that what happened to my boy, my second child,
who leaves behind no physical legacy, no child or wife, does
not happen again'';
Whereas Zapata began a hunger strike on December 9, 2009,
to demand respect for his personal safety and to protest his
inhumane treatment by the prison authorities in Cuba;
Whereas according to his supporters, Zapata was denied
water during stages of his hunger strike at Kilo 8 Prison in
Camaguey, was then transferred to Havana's Combinado del Este
prison, and was finally admitted to the Hermanos Ameijeiras
Hospital on February 23, 2010, in critical condition, where
he was administered fluids intravenously and died hours
later;
Whereas, on February 25, 2010, Freedom House condemned the
Government of Cuba for ``the deplorable prison conditions,
torture, and lack of medical attention that led to the death
of political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo'';
Whereas Zapata was arrested in 2003 on charges of contempt
for authority, public disorder, and disobedience, and was
initially sentenced to 3 years in prison;
Whereas Zapata was later convicted of additional ``acts of
defiance'' while in prison and was resentenced to a total of
36 years;
Whereas in 2003, Zapata and approximately 75 other
dissidents and peaceful supporters of the Varela Project were
arrested during the ``Black Spring'' and were sentenced to
harsh prison terms;
Whereas more than 25,000 Cubans have signed on to the
Varela Project, which seeks a referendum on civil liberties,
including freedom of speech, amnesty for political prisoners,
support for private business, a new electoral law, and a
general election;
Whereas in 2003, Amnesty International designated Zapata as
a prisoner of conscience;
Whereas the Government of the United States raised the
plight of Zapata during migration talks on February 19, 2010,
and urged the Government of Cuba to provide all necessary
medical care;
Whereas, on February 25, 2010, Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton said in response to the death of Zapata, ``We send
our condolences to his family and we also reiterate our
strong objection to the actions of the Cuban government. This
is a prisoner of conscience who was imprisoned for years for
speaking his mind, for seeking democracy, for standing on the
side of values that are universal, who engaged in a hunger
strike.'';
Whereas following the death of Zapata, the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights reported that at least 50
dissidents were detained or forced to remain in their houses
to prevent them from attending the wake and funeral for
Zapata;
Whereas the Department of State's 2009 Country Report on
Human Rights states that Cuba is a totalitarian state with a
government that continues to deny its citizens basic human
rights and continues to commit numerous serious human rights
abuses;
Whereas the Department of State reports that the Government
of Cuba has not granted prison visits by the International
Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, or Human
Rights Watch since 1988;
Whereas Human Rights Watch states, ``Cuba remains the one
country in Latin America that represses virtually all forms
of political dissent. The government continues to enforce
political conformity using criminal prosecutions, long- and
short-term detention, harassment, denial of employment, and
travel restrictions.''; and
Whereas in a 2008 annual report, the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights reported that ``restrictions on
political rights, on freedom of expression, and on the
dissemination of ideas, the failure to hold elections, and
the absence of an independent judiciary in Cuba combine to
create a permanent panorama of breached basic rights for the
Cuban citizenry'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives
concurring), That Congress--
(1) recognizes the life of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, whose
death on February 23, 2010, highlights the lack of democracy
in Cuba and the injustice of the brutal treatment of more
than 200 political prisoners by the Government of Cuba;
(2) calls for the immediate release of all political
prisoners detained in Cuba;
(3) pays tribute to the courageous citizens of Cuba who are
suffering abuses merely for engaging in peaceful efforts to
exercise their basic human rights;
(4) supports freedom of speech and the rights of
journalists and bloggers in Cuba to express their views
without repression by government authorities and denounces
the use of intimidation, harassment, or violence by the
Government of Cuba to restrict and suppress freedom of
speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and
freedom of the press;
(5) desires that the people of Cuba be able to enjoy due
process and the right to a fair trial; and
(6) calls on the United States to continue policies that
focus on respect for the fundamental tenets of freedom,
democracy, and human rights in Cuba and encourage peaceful
democratic change consistent with the aspirations of the
people of Cuba.
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