[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 8, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S72-S73]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Political Prisoners

  Mr. President, I come to the floor to address three specific issues. 
One of the first is a matter that I didn't know would actually be part 
of my responsibility as a Senator, but over the years my staff came to 
me and talked to me about political prisoners in far-flung nations 
around the world, men and women literally in jail because they are 
exercising their right to speak, to be journalists, to assemble, to run 
for political office.
  My staff said: They are forgotten. Nobody knows they are there. They 
languish in prisons for months and

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years and sometimes die there. Nobody even mentions their name. Would 
you consider coming to the floor of the Senate and saying something, 
perhaps writing a letter to the Embassy of the country where they are 
being held prisoner?
  I was skeptical as to whether or not that would even be worth the 
effort, but I have learned over the years it is. I have come to the 
Senate floor to raise the cases of political prisoners around the 
world, typically journalists or activists who found themselves jailed 
for defending basic freedoms we take for granted.
  In some cases, with the help of my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle, we have seen the release of some of these prisoners. Others 
still languish.
  I bring their pictures to the floor because mentioning their names is 
important, but seeing them tells a story too. Raif Badawi and Waleed 
Abulkhair, in Saudi Arabia, and interim Venezuelan President Guaido's 
chief of staff Roberto Marrero continue to languish unjustly in prison. 
We continue to press for their release.
  I always thought that trying to secure the release of political 
prisoners was worthwhile because it spoke to our values as Americans. I 
have had a chance to meet some of them after they were released.
  It is an amazing feeling after someone has spent years--literally 
years--in prison and comes to my office in the Capitol and breaks down 
in tears in gratitude. It reminds me that they shouldn't be forgotten, 
and neither should many others.
  Unfortunately, this President is too comfortable with these 
autocratic leaders who imprison people around the world. I wish he 
weren't.
  That brings me to the Philippines, one of our key democratic allies 
in Asia. Over the Christmas break, I thought my friends were joking 
with me when they came to me and said: Well, I guess you will not be 
going to the Philippines soon. I didn't know what they were talking 
about.
  It turns out that in my home State, in Illinois, there are many 
Filipino Americans. It is one of the largest immigrant groups coming to 
our country. What an incredible population Filipino Americans are. As I 
have come to know them, they have strong family values and strong 
religious values, and they are hard-working folks. They open these 
little shops and sit in them for 16 hours or 18 hours a day because 
that is the way an immigrating Filipino sets the stage for their son 
and daughter to have a better life.
  Over the holiday recess, the President of the Philippines, President 
Duterte, announced that he was banning Senator Patrick Leahy of 
Vermont, as well as myself and Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, from 
ever visiting the Philippines. I was kind of shocked to see that. I 
didn't expect that.
  What precipitated this reaction? He also, incidentally, threatened to 
restrict the travel of all Americans to the Philippines. For some time, 
several of us, including Senator Leahy and Senator Markey, have been 
advocating for the release of Filipina Senator Leila de Lima. Senator 
de Lima was a former head of the National Human Rights Commission of 
the Philippines and an internationally recognized human rights champion 
critical of President Duterte's extrajudicial killings.
  What did that lead to? Her arrest and her being sentenced and 
imprisoned for up to 3 years in jail for speaking out against the 
current President of the Philippines.
  Here is a photo of her being taken to court after she was arrested a 
little over 3 years ago.
  Who is behind her release? Not just Senators Leahy, Durbin, and 
Markey and many of our colleagues, but also Amnesty International, the 
Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and the Raoul Wallenberg Center.
  Let me read an excerpt from the letter she sent me.

       As you can imagine, I may be the one currently in 
     detention, but I am not the only victim suffering in this 
     situation . . . so are the victims of extrajudicial killings 
     and their families, so are all defenders of human rights . . 
     . and ultimately, so are all of us all over the world who 
     defend democracy and rule of law.

  Senator Markey has a resolution calling for Senator de Lima's release 
and an end to the harassment of Filipina journalist Maria Ressa, which 
I am proud to cosponsor and hope will pass the Senate soon.
  Last year, Senator Leahy joined me in an amendment to the State and 
Foreign Operations bill, denying U.S. visas to those involved in 
Senator de Lima's politically motivated incarceration. It was our 
little measure in that appropriations bill that led President Duterte 
to ban us from ever traveling to the Philippines. There is an easy and 
honorable way forward. The Duterte regime should stop threatening the 
travel of Filipino Americans and so many others who travel between our 
nations and, instead, ensure a quick and credible trial for Senator de 
Lima or simply do the right thing and release her.
  In the end, her freedom and the end of government harassment of 
journalists like Maria Ressa will be important tests of whether the 
cherished democratic norms we share with our longstanding Filipino 
allies will be respected by President Duterte.