[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 112 (Thursday, June 29, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S3863]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 211--CONDEMNING THE VIOLENCE AND PERSECUTION IN 
                                CHECHNYA

  Mr. TOOMEY (for himself, Mr. Markey, Ms. Murkowski, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. 
Collins, Mr. Coons, Mr. Lankford, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Tillis, Mr. 
Brown, Mr. Rubio, Ms. Warren, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Portman, 
Mr. Merkley, Mr. Young, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Heller, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. 
Cassidy, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Casey, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Franken, Mr. 
Whitehouse, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
Booker, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Harris, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. 
Hassan, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Udall, and Mr. Reed) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                              S. Res. 211

       Whereas, on April 1, 2017, the Russian newspaper Novaya 
     Gazeta reported that authorities in Chechnya, a republic of 
     the Russian Federation, had abducted, detained, and tortured 
     over 100 men due to their actual or suspected sexual 
     orientation;
       Whereas multiple independent and first-hand accounts have 
     subsequently corroborated the Novaya Gazeta report, and 
     describe a campaign of persecution by Chechen officials 
     against men due to their actual or suspected sexual 
     orientation;
       Whereas, as a result of this persecution, at least three 
     deaths have been reported and many individuals have been 
     forced to flee Chechnya;
       Whereas Chechen officials have denied the existence of such 
     persecution, including through a statement by the spokesman 
     for Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov that ``You cannot arrest or 
     repress people who don't exist in the republic.'';
       Whereas the same spokesman for Ramzan Kadyrov has also 
     stated that ``If such people existed in Chechnya, law 
     enforcement would not have to worry about them, as their own 
     relatives would have sent them to where they could never 
     return,'' and credible reports indicate that Chechen 
     authorities have encouraged families to carry out so-called 
     ``honor killings'' of relatives due to their actual or 
     suspected sexual orientation;
       Whereas Chechnya is a constituent republic of the Russian 
     Federation and subject to its laws, and Ramzan Kadyrov was 
     installed as the leader of Chechnya by Russian President 
     Vladimir Putin;
       Whereas Chechen authorities have a long history of 
     violating the fundamental human rights of their citizens, 
     including through extrajudicial executions, forced 
     disappearances, and torture of government critics;
       Whereas Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed reports 
     of persecution in Chechnya and termed them ``phantom 
     complaints'';
       Whereas Russia's Human Rights Ombudsman, Tatyana 
     Moskalkova, has also claimed that such reports should not be 
     believed because formal complaints have not been registered 
     with the appropriate authorities;
       Whereas the Russian Federation is a participating State of 
     the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and a 
     signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and 
     thus has agreed to guarantee the fundamental human rights of 
     all of its citizens;
       Whereas, on April 7, 2017, the United States Department of 
     State issued a statement saying ``We categorically condemn 
     the persecution of individuals based on their sexual 
     orientation'' and urging the Government of the Russian 
     Federation to take steps to ensure the release of all those 
     wrongfully detained in Chechnya, and to conduct a credible 
     investigation of the reports; and
       Whereas, on April 17, 2017, United States Ambassador to the 
     United Nations Nikki Haley issued a statement saying 
     ``Chechen authorities must immediately investigate these 
     allegations, hold anyone involved accountable, and take steps 
     to prevent future abuses. We are against all forms of 
     discrimination, including against people based on sexual 
     orientation. When left unchecked, discrimination and human 
     rights abuses can lead to destabilization and conflict.'': 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the violence and persecution in Chechnya and 
     calls on Chechen officials to immediately cease the 
     abduction, detention, and torture of individuals on the basis 
     of their actual or suspected sexual orientation, and hold 
     accountable all those involved in perpetrating such abuses;
       (2) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to 
     protect the human rights of all its citizens, condemn the 
     violence and persecution, investigate these crimes in 
     Chechnya, and hold accountable all those involved in 
     perpetrating such abuses;
       (3) calls on the United States Government to continue to 
     condemn the violence and persecution in Chechnya, demand the 
     release of individuals wrongfully detained, and identify 
     those individuals whose involvement in this violence 
     qualifies for the imposition of sanctions under the Sergei 
     Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 (Public Law 
     112-208; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note) or the Global Magnitsky Human 
     Rights Accountability Act (Public Law 114-328); and
       (4) affirms that the rights to freedom of assembly, 
     association, and expression and freedom from extrajudicial 
     detention and violence are universal human rights that apply 
     to all persons, and that countries that fail to respect these 
     rights jeopardize the security and prosperity of all their 
     citizens.

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