[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 64 (Wednesday, May 11, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2890-S2891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 180--EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATIONS 
    AND UNIVERSAL FREEDOMS IN SYRIA AND CONDEMNING THE HUMAN RIGHTS 
                     VIOLATIONS BY THE ASSAD REGIME

  Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Kirk, Mr. 
Casey, Mr. McCain, Mr. Coons, Mr. Graham, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Kyl, Mr. 
Isakson, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Barrasso, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. 
Durbin, and Mr. Hoeven) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 180

       Whereas, in March 2011, large-scale peaceful demonstrations 
     began to take place in Syria;
       Whereas the Government of Syria, led by President Bashar 
     al-Assad, responded to protests by launching a violent 
     crackdown, committing human rights abuses, and violating its 
     international obligations, including the International 
     Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the United 
     Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman 
     or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
       Whereas demonstrations have now spread to more than a dozen 
     towns and cities across all parts of Syria;
       Whereas demonstrators initially demanded political reform, 
     but under violent attack by the Government of Syria, have 
     increasingly demanded a change in the Syrian regime;
       Whereas Insan, a respected international nongovernmental 
     organization, has documented more than 600 deaths since 
     demonstrations began in Syria, and reported that ``arbitrary 
     detained and enforceable disappearance in the country easily 
     exceeds 8,000 people'';
       Whereas the Government of Syria has deployed tanks and 
     snipers against civilian population centers, including the 
     cities of Daraa and Baniyas, and the Damascus suburbs of 
     Douma, Harasta, Saqba, and Zabadani;
       Whereas the Government of Syria has cut off civilian 
     population centers from access to food, water, electricity, 
     mobile and land lines, Internet, and medical services;
       Whereas several respected international human rights 
     organizations, including Human Rights Watch and the Damascus 
     Center for Human Rights Studies, have documented a nationwide 
     campaign of arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances of 
     activists, protesters, and their family members, by the 
     Government of Syria;
       Whereas the International Crisis Group, an independent 
     international nongovernmental organization, reported on May 
     3, 2011, that there is ``ongoing, credible evidence'' in 
     Syria of ``abundant instances of excessive and indiscriminate 
     state violence. . . including arbitrary arrests, torture and 
     firing into peaceful crowds'';
       Whereas the International Crisis Group has also reported a 
     ``determined and cynical attempt to exploit and exacerbate'' 
     sectarian tensions by the Government of Syria;
       Whereas, despite sectarian provocations by the Government 
     of Syria, demonstrations have maintained a message of 
     national unity and solidarity;
       Whereas, on April 15, 2011, the United Nations Special 
     Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Christof Heyns, 
     stated that live ammunition has been used by the Syrian 
     regime against demonstrators ``in clear violation of 
     international law'';
       Whereas international organizations, including Amnesty 
     International and Human Rights Watch, have documented 
     evidence that peaceful protestors detained by Government of 
     Syria security forces are being subjected to torture, 
     including with electro-shock devices, cables, sticks, and 
     whips, and are being held in overcrowded cells, deprived of 
     sleep, food, and water for days at a time;
       Whereas international non-governmental organizations, 
     including the International Committee on the Red Cross and 
     Human Rights Watch, have reported that Government of Syria 
     security forces have prevented injured protesters from 
     accessing hospitals and have denied medical personnel and 
     humanitarian relief organizations access to those in need of 
     medical attention;
       Whereas the Government of Iran is providing material 
     support to assist the Government of Syria in its efforts to 
     suppress peaceful protestors, including the transfer of 
     equipment to help security forces crack down on protests and 
     curtail and monitor protesters' use of the Internet, cell 
     phones, and text-messaging;
       Whereas the White House Press Secretary has repeatedly 
     condemned the Government of Syria's brutal crackdown, 
     including on May 6, 2011, when he stated, ``The Syrian 
     government continues to follow the lead of its Iranian ally 
     in resorting to brute force and flagrant violations of human 
     rights in suppressing peaceful protests.'';
       Whereas the Department of State has repeatedly condemned 
     the Government of Syria's brutal crackdown, including on May 
     6, 2011, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned 
     ``in the strongest possible terms'' the Government of Syria's 
     continued use of force and intimidation against peaceful 
     protestors and pledged to ``hold to account senior Syrian 
     officials and others responsible for the reprehensible human 
     rights abuses'';
       Whereas, on April 29, 2011, President Obama issued an 
     Executive Order authorizing targeted sanctions against 
     individuals and organizations responsible for the human 
     rights abuses in Syria;
       Whereas President Obama on April 29, 2011, designated 3 
     individuals pursuant to the Executive Order issued that same 
     day: Mahir al-Assad, the brother of Syrian President Bashar 
     al-Assad and brigade commander in the Syrian Army's 4th 
     Armored Division; Atif Najib, the former head of the 
     Political Security Directorate for Daraa Province and a 
     cousin of Bashar al-Assad; and Ali Mamluk, director of 
     Syria's General Intelligence Directorate;
       Whereas, on May 6, 2011, envoys of the European Union's 27 
     nations agreed to impose sanctions on the Government of Syria 
     for the human rights abuses it is perpetrating, including 
     asset freezes and visa bans on 13 members of the Government 
     of Syria and an arms embargo on the country;
       Whereas, on April 29, 2011, the United Nations Human Rights 
     Council passed Resolution S-16/1, which condemns the Syrian 
     regime for its human rights abuses and establishes a mandate 
     for an international inquiry led by the Office of the United 
     Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate all 
     alleged violations of international human rights law in Syria 
     ``with a view to avoiding impunity and ensuring full 
     accountability'';
       Whereas the Government of Syria, prior to March 2011, had a 
     well-documented track record of human rights abuses against 
     its own citizens and violations of international agreements 
     and international law;
       Whereas, in February 1982, the Syrian army, under the 
     orders of then-Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, killed at 
     least 10,000 civilians in the city of Hama in an effort to 
     quell an uprising there;
       Whereas, according to the Department of State's most recent 
     Human Rights Country Report, published on April 8, 2011, the 
     Government of Syria commits unlawful killings against 
     civilians; has severely and systematically restricted basic 
     freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, and 
     religion; is responsible for ongoing politically motivated 
     arrests, detentions, and disappearances; lacks an independent 
     judiciary system; and maintains prisons where torture and 
     physical abuse are widespread and where detainees lack access 
     to food, proper clothing, and medical treatment;
       Whereas the Department of State has designated Syria since 
     1979 as a ``state sponsor of terrorism'' and according to the 
     Department of State's most recent ``Country Reports on 
     Terrorism,'' published in August 2010, the Government of 
     Syria provides ``political and material support to Hizballah 
     in Lebanon and allowed Iran to resupply this organization 
     with weapons'';
       Whereas the Government of Syria's transfer of weapons to 
     Hizballah in Lebanon is in violation of United Nations 
     Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006), which established an 
     arms embargo requiring all states to prevent the supply of 
     arms and weapons to militias and terrorists in Lebanon;
       Whereas the Government of Syria has violated the 
     territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon in 
     contravention of United Nations Security Council resolutions, 
     including Resolution 425 (1978), Resolution 520 (1982), and 
     Resolution 1701 (2006);
       Whereas Syria, as a party to the Treaty of the Non-
     Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, is legally bound to declare 
     all its nuclear activity to the International Atomic Energy 
     Agency (IAEA) and to place such activity under the monitoring 
     of the IAEA;
       Whereas the IAEA issued a report on February 25, 2011, 
     criticizing Syria's implementation of the NPT Safeguards 
     Agreement, concluding that ``Syria has not cooperated with 
     the Agency since June 2008'' in connection with the Agency's 
     investigation of the Dair Alzour site and 3 other locations'' 
     and warning that ``the Agency has not been able to make 
     progress towards resolving the outstanding issues related to 
     those sites'';
       Whereas it has been widely reported that the Government of 
     Syria was developing a covert nuclear program, in violation 
     of its international obligations under the NPT, until that 
     site was bombed by Israel in September 2007; and

[[Page S2891]]

       Whereas, on December 12, 2003, Congress passed the Syria 
     Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 
     2003 (Public Law 108-175) in order to, among other purposes, 
     hold the Government of Syria accountable for its actions and 
     as expression of support consistent with these aims: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) expresses solidarity and support for the people of 
     Syria as they seek to exercise universal rights and pursue 
     peaceful democratic change;
       (2) strongly condemns and deplores the human rights abuses 
     of the Government of Syria, including the use of arbitrary 
     and lethal violence and deployment of military forces against 
     peaceful demonstrators;
       (3) strongly condemns and deplores the Government of 
     Syria's extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, 
     torture, and arbitrary and mass arrests against civilians in 
     Syria;
       (4) strongly condemns and deplores the deliberate cut-off 
     of water, electricity, food, telecommunications, and other 
     basic services to civilian population centers in Syria;
       (5) strongly condemns the Government of Iran for assisting 
     the Government of Syria in its campaign of violence and 
     repression against the people of Syria;
       (6) warns that international crimes are being committed by 
     the Government of Syria against its people, for which the 
     responsible officials must be held accountable;
       (7) finds that the Government of Syria, led by Bashar al-
     Assad, through its campaign of violence and gross human 
     rights abuses, has lost legitimacy and expresses support for 
     the people of Syria to determine their future for themselves;
       (8) commends President Obama for authorizing targeted 
     sanctions on human rights abusers in Syria, including United 
     States visa bans and asset freezes, and using that authority 
     to designate 3 individuals;
       (9) urges the President to act swiftly to expand the list 
     of sanctioned persons to include all individuals responsible 
     for gross human rights abuses in Syria, including Bashar al-
     Assad;
       (10) urges the President to speak out directly, and 
     personally, to the people of Syria about the situation in 
     their country;
       (11) urges the President to work, in conjunction with 
     international partners, to ensure access of humanitarian 
     relief organizations, medical workers, and international 
     media to affected areas of Syria, and to impose consequences 
     on the Government of Syria and its leaders if access by these 
     organizations continues to be impeded;
       (12) urges the President to work, in conjunction with 
     international partners, to ensure access by the people of 
     Syria to accurate news and information, as well as 
     information and social networking technologies;
       (13) urges the President to continue to work with the 
     European Union, the Government of Turkey, the Arab League, 
     the Gulf Cooperation Council, and other allies and partners 
     to bring an end to human rights abuses in Syria, hold the 
     perpetrators accountable, and support the aspirations of the 
     people of Syria;
       (14) encourages United States officials, including through 
     the United States Embassy in Damascus, to engage with civil 
     society in Syria, including human rights and democracy 
     activists, political dissidents, and opposition leaders;
       (15) urges the President to work with our allies and 
     partners at the United Nations Security Council to condemn 
     and hold accountable human rights abusers in Syria and to 
     support the human rights of the people of Syria; and
       (16) urges the United Nations Human Rights Council--
       (A) to swiftly implement United Nations Human Rights 
     Council Resolution S-16/1 and to ensure that the 
     international investigation into violations by the Government 
     of Syria of international human rights law called for in the 
     resolution is undertaken immediately; and
       (B) reinforce the crucial need for the United Nations 
     General Assembly to reject Syria's candidacy for membership 
     on the Human Rights Council and terminate the consideration 
     of Syria's candidacy.

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