[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 111 (Tuesday, June 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3017-S3019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE UNITED STATES SHOULD
CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE PEOPLE OF NICARAGUA IN THEIR PEACEFUL EFFORTS
TO PROMOTE THE RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY AND THE DEFENSE OF HUMAN
RIGHTS, AND USE THE TOOLS UNDER UNITED STATES LAW TO INCREASE POLITICAL
AND ECONOMIC PRESSURE ON THE GOVERNMENT OF DANIEL ORTEGA
Mr. GARDNER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 471, S. Res. 525.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 525) expressing the sense of the
Senate that the United States should continue to support the
people of Nicaragua in their peaceful efforts to promote the
restoration of democracy and the defense of human rights, and
use the tools under United States law to increase political
and economic pressure on the government of Daniel Ortega.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign
Relations, with amendments and an amendment to the preamble, as
follows:
(The parts of the resolution intended to be stricken are shown in
boldface brackets and the parts of the resolution intended to be
inserted are shown in italics.
(The part of the preamble intended to be inserted is shown in
italic.)
=========================== NOTE ===========================
On page S3017, June 16, 2020, third column, the following
appears: There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to
consider the resolution, which had been reported from the
Committee on Foreign Relations, with an amendment, as follows:
(The parts of the resolution intended to be stricken are shown in
boldface brackets and the parts of the resolution intended to be
inserted are shown in italic.)
The online Record has been corrected to read: There being no
objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution, which
had been reported from the Committee on Foreign Relations, with
amendments and an amendment to the preamble, as follows: (The
parts of the resolution intended to be stricken are shown in
boldface brackets and the parts of the resolution intended to be
inserted are shown in italic.) (The part of the preamble intended
to be inserted is shown in italic.)
========================= END NOTE =========================
S. Res. 525
Whereas the government of Daniel Ortega has concentrated
power and brought about the progressive deterioration of
democratic conditions in Nicaragua;
Whereas recent elections in Nicaragua, including the 2016
presidential election, have been marred by irregularities and
characterized by significant restrictions on the
participation of opposition political parties and the absence
of credible international and local electoral observers;
Whereas Nicaraguan security forces, paramilitary, police,
and other actors working under the direction of the Ortega
regime committed gross violations of human rights and acts of
repression, resulting in more than 325 deaths, over 2,000
injuries, and at least 800 arbitrary detentions during the
peaceful protests that took place in 2018, according to the
Organization of American States;
Whereas a report by the Interdisciplinary Group of
Independent Experts, appointed by the Organization of
American States Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,
determined that the Ortega regime used deliberate, lethal
force against protesters and committed acts of torture that
meet the international legal standard of crimes against
humanity;
[[Page S3018]]
Whereas an estimated 82,000 Nicaraguans fled the country
between April 2018 and October 2019, according to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;
Whereas the Government and people of Costa Rica have
graciously accepted nearly 70,000 Nicaraguans, including
enrolling children in public primary schools, allowing access
to legal employment, and making efforts to strengthen the
capacity of Costa Rica's asylum system;
Whereas the Ortega government failed to comply with its
commitment to release all political prisoners, releasing just
392 people, of which 286 were released to house arrest with
charges still pending;
Whereas Nicaragua's Civic Alliance for Justice and
Democracy alleges that there remain over 150 political
prisoners held in Nicaraguan prisons as of November 29, 2019;
Whereas a United States citizen and Navy veteran, 57-year-
old Eddy Montes, was shot and killed while in the custody of
the Nicaraguan police at La Modelo Prison on May 16, 2019;
Whereas the Government of Nicaragua has failed in its
national response to prevent the spread and transmission of
COVID-19, including through its refusal to implement COVID-19
precautions or allow widespread testing for local
transmission;
Whereas, on May 8, 2020, according to Amnesty
International, over a dozen people who remain in detention
after being arrested for participating in the 2018 protests
have now demonstrated symptoms consistent with COVID-19;
Whereas the government of Daniel Ortega has severely
restricted freedom of the press by closing five local
television stations, attacking independent radio stations,
arbitrarily detaining journalists, and arbitrarily
restricting print supplies from entering the country;
Whereas, beginning on November 14, 2019, Nicaraguan police
conducted attacks on churches throughout the country, cut
water to hunger strikers barricaded inside a church in
Masaya, and arrested 13 people attempting to bring them
water;
Whereas doctors, lawyers, academics, and other
professionals in Nicaragua face persecution and, in some
cases torture, based on suspicion of aiding or sympathizing
with protestors;
Whereas the Ortega regime has violated the economic and
political rights of indigenous communities, Afro-descendent
populations, rural campesinos, land rights defenders, and
individuals living in the Caribbean Autonomous Regions of
Nicaragua;
Whereas, on November 27, 2018, Executive Order 13851 was
issued, which blocks the property of certain persons involved
in the Nicaraguan crisis, and its application was expanded by
the Office of Foreign Asset Control of the Department of the
Treasury on September 4, 2019;
Whereas the bipartisan Nicaragua Human Rights and
Anticorruption Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-335; commonly
referred to as the ``NICA Act'') was signed into law on
December 20, 2018, imposing restrictions on lending to the
Nicaraguan government by international financial institutions
and requiring the President to sanction non-United States
persons implicated in egregious human rights abuses and
corruption in Nicaragua;
Whereas the NICA Act expresses the support of Congress for
a negotiated solution to the Nicaraguan crisis and includes
an annual certification to waive sanctions if the Ortega
government takes steps to restore democratic governance and
uphold human rights;
Whereas, in the absence of such steps, the Department of
State and the Department of the Treasury have imposed
targeted sanctions on Nicaraguan officials and entities,
including First Lady and Vice President Rosario Murillo,
Daniel Ortega's sons, Rafael Ortega Murillo and Laureano
Ortega Murillo, and Nicaragua's Banco Corporativo (Bancorp);
Whereas, in June 2019, the Government of Canada imposed
sanctions on 12 members of the Government of Nicaragua
engaged in gross and systemic human rights violations; and
Whereas, in advance of any future election, the Government
of Nicaragua urgently needs to undertake electoral reforms,
including the appointment of independent new magistrates to
the Supreme Electoral Council, the restoration of a 50
percent plus one threshold for the presidential election, the
establishment of a second round of voting if the electoral
threshold is not reached, the establishment of a detailed
electoral calendar, and stronger observation by political
parties: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) calls on the Government of Nicaragua to immediately
release all political prisoners without conditions and cease
all acts of violence, repression, and intimidation against
dissenting voices in Nicaragua;
(2) urges the Ortega government to respect Nicaraguans'
constitutional rights and implement the electoral reforms
mentioned above in order to permit the holding of free, fair,
and transparent elections;
(3) encourages the United States Government to align United
States sanctions with diplomatic efforts to advance electoral
reforms that could lead to free, fair, and transparent
elections in Nicaragua;
(4) expresses full support for the people of Nicaragua,
Nicaraguan independent media, and Nicaraguan civil society
organizations that are working for a peaceful return to
democratic order in Nicaragua;
(5) supports the efforts of the United States Government to
apply pressure on the Ortega government in order to hold
accountable those actors involved in human rights abuses,
acts of significant corruption, and the undermining of
democratic institutions in Nicaragua;
(6) urges the international community to hold the Ortega
government accountable for human rights abuses and to
restrict its access to foreign financing unless or until it
allows for free, fair, and transparent elections monitored by
credible international and local electoral [observers; and]
observers;
(7) urges the United States Government to investigate and
hold accountable those responsible for the death of Eddy
Montes, a United States citizen and Navy veteran, who was
shot and killed while in the custody of the Nicaraguan police
at La Modelo Prison on May 16, [2019.] 2019; and
(8) urges the Ortega government to implement measures
consistent with public health guidance to limit the spread of
coronavirus in Nicaragua.
Mr. GARDNER. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported
amendments to the resolution be agreed to; that the resolution, as
amended, be agreed to; that the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and
that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the
table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendments were agreed to.
The resolution (S. Res. 525), as amended, was agreed to.
The committee-reported amendment to the preamble was agreed to.
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, reads as
follows
S. Res. 525
Whereas the government of Daniel Ortega has concentrated
power and brought about the progressive deterioration of
democratic conditions in Nicaragua;
Whereas recent elections in Nicaragua, including the 2016
presidential election, have been marred by irregularities and
characterized by significant restrictions on the
participation of opposition political parties and the absence
of credible international and local electoral observers;
Whereas Nicaraguan security forces, paramilitary, police,
and other actors working under the direction of the Ortega
regime committed gross violations of human rights and acts of
repression, resulting in more than 325 deaths, over 2,000
injuries, and at least 800 arbitrary detentions during the
peaceful protests that took place in 2018, according to the
Organization of American States;
Whereas a report by the Interdisciplinary Group of
Independent Experts, appointed by the Organization of
American States Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,
determined that the Ortega regime used deliberate, lethal
force against protesters and committed acts of torture that
meet the international legal standard of crimes against
humanity;
Whereas an estimated 82,000 Nicaraguans fled the country
between April 2018 and October 2019, according to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;
Whereas the Government and people of Costa Rica have
graciously accepted nearly 70,000 Nicaraguans, including
enrolling children in public primary schools, allowing access
to legal employment, and making efforts to strengthen the
capacity of Costa Rica's asylum system;
Whereas the Ortega government failed to comply with its
commitment to release all political prisoners, releasing just
392 people, of which 286 were released to house arrest with
charges still pending;
Whereas Nicaragua's Civic Alliance for Justice and
Democracy alleges that there remain over 150 political
prisoners held in Nicaraguan prisons as of November 29, 2019;
Whereas a United States citizen and Navy veteran, 57-year-
old Eddy Montes, was shot and killed while in the custody of
the Nicaraguan police at La Modelo Prison on May 16, 2019;
Whereas the Government of Nicaragua has failed in its
national response to prevent the spread and transmission of
COVID-19, including through its refusal to implement COVID-19
precautions or allow widespread testing for local
transmission;
Whereas, on May 8, 2020, according to Amnesty
International, over a dozen people who remain in detention
after being arrested for participating in the 2018 protests
have now demonstrated symptoms consistent with COVID-19;
Whereas the government of Daniel Ortega has severely
restricted freedom of the press by closing five local
television stations, attacking independent radio stations,
arbitrarily detaining journalists, and arbitrarily
restricting print supplies from entering the country;
Whereas, beginning on November 14, 2019, Nicaraguan police
conducted attacks on churches throughout the country, cut
water to hunger strikers barricaded inside a church in
Masaya, and arrested 13 people attempting to bring them
water;
Whereas doctors, lawyers, academics, and other
professionals in Nicaragua face persecution and, in some
cases torture, based on suspicion of aiding or sympathizing
with protestors;
[[Page S3019]]
Whereas the Ortega regime has violated the economic and
political rights of indigenous communities, Afro-descendent
populations, rural campesinos, land rights defenders, and
individuals living in the Caribbean Autonomous Regions of
Nicaragua;
Whereas, on November 27, 2018, Executive Order 13851 was
issued, which blocks the property of certain persons involved
in the Nicaraguan crisis, and its application was expanded by
the Office of Foreign Asset Control of the Department of the
Treasury on September 4, 2019;
Whereas the bipartisan Nicaragua Human Rights and
Anticorruption Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-335; commonly
referred to as the ``NICA Act'') was signed into law on
December 20, 2018, imposing restrictions on lending to the
Nicaraguan government by international financial institutions
and requiring the President to sanction non-United States
persons implicated in egregious human rights abuses and
corruption in Nicaragua;
Whereas the NICA Act expresses the support of Congress for
a negotiated solution to the Nicaraguan crisis and includes
an annual certification to waive sanctions if the Ortega
government takes steps to restore democratic governance and
uphold human rights;
Whereas, in the absence of such steps, the Department of
State and the Department of the Treasury have imposed
targeted sanctions on Nicaraguan officials and entities,
including First Lady and Vice President Rosario Murillo,
Daniel Ortega's sons, Rafael Ortega Murillo and Laureano
Ortega Murillo, and Nicaragua's Banco Corporativo (Bancorp);
Whereas, in June 2019, the Government of Canada imposed
sanctions on 12 members of the Government of Nicaragua
engaged in gross and systemic human rights violations; and
Whereas, in advance of any future election, the Government
of Nicaragua urgently needs to undertake electoral reforms,
including the appointment of independent new magistrates to
the Supreme Electoral Council, the restoration of a 50
percent plus one threshold for the presidential election, the
establishment of a second round of voting if the electoral
threshold is not reached, the establishment of a detailed
electoral calendar, and stronger observation by political
parties: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) calls on the Government of Nicaragua to immediately
release all political prisoners without conditions and cease
all acts of violence, repression, and intimidation against
dissenting voices in Nicaragua;
(2) urges the Ortega government to respect Nicaraguans'
constitutional rights and implement the electoral reforms
mentioned above in order to permit the holding of free, fair,
and transparent elections;
(3) encourages the United States Government to align United
States sanctions with diplomatic efforts to advance electoral
reforms that could lead to free, fair, and transparent
elections in Nicaragua;
(4) expresses full support for the people of Nicaragua,
Nicaraguan independent media, and Nicaraguan civil society
organizations that are working for a peaceful return to
democratic order in Nicaragua;
(5) supports the efforts of the United States Government to
apply pressure on the Ortega government in order to hold
accountable those actors involved in human rights abuses,
acts of significant corruption, and the undermining of
democratic institutions in Nicaragua;
(6) urges the international community to hold the Ortega
government accountable for human rights abuses and to
restrict its access to foreign financing unless or until it
allows for free, fair, and transparent elections monitored by
credible international and local electoral observers;
(7) urges the United States Government to investigate and
hold accountable those responsible for the death of Eddy
Montes, a United States citizen and Navy veteran, who was
shot and killed while in the custody of the Nicaraguan police
at La Modelo Prison on May 16, 2019; and
(8) urges the Ortega government to implement measures
consistent with public health guidance to limit the spread of
coronavirus in Nicaragua.
____________________