[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 90 (Monday, June 8, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S3876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1827. Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. McCain) submitted an amendment 
intended to be proposed to amendment SA 1463 proposed by Mr. McCain to 
the bill H.R. 1735, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 
for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table, as follows:

       At the end of subtitle G of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1283. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE DETERIORATING SITUATION 
                   IN THE MALDIVES.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The Maldives, despite its small size, is strategically 
     important given its location in the Indian Ocean.
       (2) Increasing human rights violations in the Maldives fuel 
     instability and therefore pose a threat to regional security 
     issues.
       (3) Since January 2015, President Abdulla Yameen has 
     cracked down on dissent both within his own party and in the 
     political opposition.
       (4) The arrest of former President Mohamed Nasheed this 
     year was widely condemned as politically-motivated and his 
     conviction and sentence of 13 years in prison has been 
     condemned by Amnesty International as a ``travesty of 
     justice''.
       (5) United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid 
     Ra'ad described ``flagrant irregularities'' in the trial of 
     President Nasheed, including conflicts of interests by the 
     judges and the court's refusal to allow him to present any 
     defense witnesses.
       (6) On May 1, 2015, tens of thousands of protesters took to 
     the streets in Male, Maldives, and were met with violence, 
     tear gas, and stun guns by security forces. More than 200 
     people were arrested.
       (7) In his speech in Sri Lanka on May 2, 2015, Secretary of 
     State John Kerry said ``[W]e've seen even now how regrettably 
     there are troubling signs that democracy is under threat in 
     the Maldives where the former president Nasheed has been 
     imprisoned without due process. And that is an injustice that 
     must be addressed soon''.
       (8) On June 2, 2015, the Government of the Maldives charged 
     three more leaders of opposition parties with terrorism.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     the Government of the Maldives should immediately release 
     former President Nasheed and all political prisoners in the 
     country, and guarantee human rights for all of the citizens 
     of the Maldives.
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