[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 92 (Wednesday, May 26, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3508-S3510]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE RESOLUTION 241--WIDENING THREATS TO FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND
FREE EXPRESSION AROUND THE WORLD, AND REAFFIRMING THE VITAL ROLE THAT A
FREE AND INDEPENDENT PRESS PLAYS IN INFORMING LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL
AUDIENCES ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH CRISES, COUNTERING MISINFORMATION AND
DISINFORMATION, AND FURTHERING DISCOURSE AND DEBATE TO ADVANCE HEALTHY
DEMOCRACIES IN COMMEMORATION OF WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY ON MAY 3, 2021
Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Coons, Mr.
Kaine, Mr. Markey, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Van
Hollen, Mr. Casey, Mr. Cramer, and Mr. Boozman) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.:
S. Res. 241
Whereas, Thomas Jefferson, who championed the necessity of
a free press for a thriving democratic society, wisely
declared, ``Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press,
and that cannot be limited without being lost.'';
Whereas Article 19 of the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in Paris on December 10,
1948, states, ``Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion
and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions
without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.'';
Whereas, in 1993, the United Nations General Assembly
proclaimed the third day of May of each year to be ``World
Press Freedom Day''--
(1) to celebrate the fundamental principles of freedom of
the press;
(2) to evaluate freedom of the press around the world;
(3) to defend the media against attacks on its
independence; and
(4) to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives
while working in their profession;
Whereas the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act of 2009
(Public Law 111-166) expanded the examination of the freedom
of the press around the world in the annual Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices published by the Department of
State;
Whereas, on December 18, 2013, and December 18, 2019, the
United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 68/163 and
Resolution 74/157, respectively, on the safety of journalists
and the problem of impunity, unequivocally condemning all
attacks on, and violence against, journalists and media
workers, including torture, extrajudicial killing, enforced
disappearance, arbitrary detention, and intimidation and
harassment in conflict and nonconflict situations;
Whereas the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution and various State constitutions protect freedom
of the press in the United States;
Whereas the United States Government has used the Global
Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of
title XII of Public Law 114-328) to place targeted visa and
economic restrictions on individuals, including for their
roles in the targeted killings of journalists;
Whereas, in an effort to combat attacks against
journalists, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken recently
announced a new policy allowing the Department of State to
impose visa restrictions on individuals who, acting on behalf
of a foreign government, are believed to have been directly
engaged in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident
activities, including those that suppress, harass, surveil,
threaten, or harm journalists, activists, or other persons
perceived to be dissidents for their work;
Whereas the 2021 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by
Reporters Without Borders, warns that the COVID-19 pandemic
``illustrates the negative factors threatening the right to
reliable information'' and amplifies the many crises that
threaten media freedom and pluralism;
Whereas the Freedom in the World 2021 report, published by
Freedom House, noted that 2020 was an especially hazardous
year for democracy, during which ``less than 20 percent of
the world's population [then lived] in a Free country, the
smallest proportion since 1995'';
Whereas, according to the Committee to Protect
Journalists--
(1) at least 30 journalists were killed in 2020, 21 of whom
were singled out in retaliation for their work, an increase
from 10 murders in 2019;
(2) Mexico, Afghanistan, and the Philippines had the most
retaliatory killings in 2020;
(3) at least 274 journalists were behind bars in relation
to their work on December 1, 2020, marking the fifth
consecutive year that at least 250 journalists were
imprisoned globally;
(4) China, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia were responsible
for nearly half of all jailed journalists worldwide;
(5) journalists around the world have been targeted by
sophisticated spyware products that pose a severe risk to
their safety and the safety of their sources; and
(6) the world's most censored countries include Eritrea,
North Korea, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, China, Vietnam,
Iran, Equatorial Guinea, Belarus, and Cuba;
Whereas the Government of China has unleashed an onslaught
of attacks on press freedom in China and Hong Kong, including
through--
(1) state-sponsored censorship and disinformation campaigns
limiting access to information about the novel coronavirus,
including through its censorship of virus-related keywords on
social media platforms;
(2) attacks on press freedom in Hong Kong, including the
passage of the National Security Law, which poses an
existential threat to the city's tradition of press freedom,
and the arrest and subsequent conviction of Jimmy Lai, owner
of Hong Kong's largest media outlet, Apple Daily, and an
outspoken democracy advocate;
(3) arrests or other repressive actions against independent
journalists and others in mainland China attempting to share
uncensored news or opinion about the COVID-19 outbreak,
including the detention of citizen journalist Chen Qiushi,
who remains incommunicado; and
(4) the detention of journalists critical of the Government
of China, including Chen Jieren, who was sentenced to 15
years in 2020, following 2 years of incommunicado detention,
after blogging about allegations of corrupt local officials;
Whereas Afghanistan remains one of the most dangerous
countries for journalists, with--
(1) militant groups targeting at least 4 journalists for
murder in retaliation for their work in 2020; and
(2) at least 4 media workers killed in early 2021;
Whereas Belarus has witnessed sweeping attacks against the
press since Alexander Lukashenka's fraudulent election in
August 2020, where since the beginning of 2020, nearly 550
journalists and media workers have been harassed, assaulted,
imprisoned, or otherwise retaliated against for their work,
including--
(1) Katsiaryna Barysevich, a physician, and Artsyom
Sarokin, a journalist, who were respectively charged with 6
months and 2 years in a penal colony (on charges of
disclosing medical data and instigating a crime,
respectively) for disclosing information about a protestor
who was killed during a crackdown on demonstrations against
President Lukashenka;
(2) Katerina Borisevich, a journalist charged with 6 months
in prison after contradicting official statements about the
cause of death of a protester; and
(3) Katsiaryna Andreyeva and Daria Chultsova, journalists
sentenced to 2 years in prison (on charges of violating
public order) for filming live coverage of the violent
dispersal of a protest against President Lukashenka;
Whereas Reporters Without Borders asserts that ``press
freedom in [Burma] has been set back ten years in ten days''
after the February 2021 military coup, during which--
(1) at least 40 journalists were arrested, including BBC
journalist Aung Thura and Associated Press journalist Thein
Zaw;
(2) media workers were forced into hiding and confronted
censorship, harassment, internet blocks, beatings,
interrogations, threats, and injuries at the hands of the
military; and
(3) multiple independent media outlets had to cease
operations or close altogether or had their licenses revoked
by the military;
[[Page S3509]]
Whereas Cuba remains a highly restricted environment for
independent media, marked by internet restrictions and
constant harassment of journalists and news outlets,
including--
(1) independent journalist Yoel Suarez, who was summoned to
a police station in March 2021 for the second time in 2
months as a result of his work;
(2) Iliana Hernandez, who was charged with illegally
possessing journalistic equipment in January 2020;
(3) Luz Escobar, a journalist who was repeatedly barred by
security forces from leaving her home;
(4) an official notice from the Cuban Ministry of Labor and
Social Security in February reiterating the longstanding
government policy that bars independent ``journalists
activities'' and the independent publishing of ``edition of
newspapers, tabloids and magazines in any format''; and
(5) a March 2020 raid on the office of the Instituto Cubano
por la Libertad de Expression y Prensa (ICLEP) publication
Paginas Villarenas, during which Cuban Government authorities
confiscated equipment and detained multiple journalists;
Whereas Egypt's restrictions on the media have accelerated
under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi since 2013, with at
least 27 journalists imprisoned during 2020, including--
(1) Esraa Abdelfattah, who has attempted multiple hunger
strikes to protest her torture and mistreatment while
detained;
(2) Shimaa Samy, who was detained on charges of joining a
terrorist organization, spreading false news, and misusing
social media for his work;
(3) Hisham Abdel Aziz, an Al Jazeera journalist on the
verge of losing his eyesight following untreated glaucoma
while in prison; and
(4) Mahmoud Abou Zeid, who was released after 5 years in
prison, but remains subject to a 5-year probation term that
requires him to spend the hours of 6:00 p.m. through 6:00
a.m. at a police station every night;
Whereas assaults on press freedom in El Salvador imperil
its fragile democracy and include both verbal attacks on
journalists by political leaders and use of state power to
intimidate independent media, such as--
(1) the ongoing criminal investigation against outlet El
Faro, which was launched after it reported damaging
information about the administration; and
(2) the online attacks and threats to journalists from the
outlet Revista Factum, which has been banned from press
conferences at the presidential residence;
Whereas, according to Reporters Without Borders and Freedom
House, Indian authorities have recently imposed internet and
communication blackouts, detained and charged journalists
covering political demonstrations, and called for the
temporary blockage of journalists and media accounts on
Twitter;
Whereas Iran remains a hostile environment for the press,
where media workers are subjected to summons, arrests, and
unjust sentences, including--
(1) investigative journalist Ruhollah Zam, who was executed
on December 4, 2020, after being disappeared in October 2019
and charged with ``corruption on earth'' for his reporting;
(2) freelance journalist Fariborz Kalantari, who was
sentenced on February 7, 2021, to 7 years in prison and 74
lashes for using his telegram channel to circulate articles
about corruption charges brought against the ex-Vice
President's brother; and
(3) editor of weekly Agrin Rozh, Mahmoud Mahmoudi, who was
arrested by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence in
Sanandaj after issuing an open letter calling for the release
of detained Kurdish activists;
Whereas Reporters Without Borders reported that Mexico was
the world's deadliest country for journalists outside of a
war zone in 2020, where reporters covering stories on
political corruption and organized crime are frequently
assaulted and murdered, including--
(1) Ruben Pat, a local news website editor who was gunned
down on the street after requesting urgent protection when
one of his reporters, Jose Guadalupe Chan Dzib, was murdered;
and
(2) Mario Leonel Gomez Sanchez, a journalist who was
murdered in the southern state of Chiapas after covering
cases of increased violence and alleged corruption
implicating municipal officials;
Whereas on March 1, 2021 the Day of the Journalist in
Nicaragua, 470 journalists from around the world signed a
letter denouncing years of persecution of journalists in
Nicaragua, which has included news outlets forced to close
and individual journalists being threatened, harassed, sued,
surveilled, jailed, and forced into exile, including--
(1) Miguel Angel Gahona, who was shot in April 2018 while
filming riots; and
(2) Miguel Mora, Director of 100% Noticias, and journalist
Lucia Pineda, who were arrested in April 2018 and
subsequently tortured;
Whereas Honduras remains one of the Western Hemisphere's
deadliest countries for journalists, where those working for
opposition media or who are outspoken critics of the
government are subjected to harassment, intimidation, and
death threats by the country's security forces and its
affiliates, including--
(1) freelance journalist Luis Alonzo Almendares, who was
killed by 2 unidentified individuals in Comayagua in
September 2020; and
(2) radio journalist Pedro Arcangel Canelas, who was shot
and killed in the rural department of Olancho in December
2020;
Whereas media workers face heightened dangers in Russia,
where more than 210 rights infractions took place during
protests following the arrest of opposition leader Alexander
Navalny in January and February 2021, and wide-spread
harassment, censorship, and state-driven retaliation are
commonplace, including in the cases of--
(1) Sergei Smirnov, who was sentenced to 25 days in jail
after sharing a joke on Twitter that called for ``rallies in
support of Navalny'';
(2) Dmitry Nikitin, who was detained while covering a
protest;
(3) Elena Kostyuchenko, a journalist detained after
covering a protest in Sochi;
(4) Ivan Kleimenov, a freelance photographer who was
severely beaten by police with a stun gun while covering a
protest, and consequently sentenced to 10 days in jail;
(5) Ivan Safronov, a former investigative journalist
arrested in July 2020 on politically motivated charges of
treason; and
(6) Svetlana Prokopieva, a correspondent for Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty and Echo of Moscow, who was found guilty
of ``inciting terrorism'' and fined 500,000 rubles after
reporting on the suicide of a 17-year-old inside a Federal
Security Service building;
Whereas in the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, Ukrainian
journalists and bloggers have repeatedly been threatened,
arrested, and tortured for resisting Russian occupation, such
as the detention of Crimean journalist Vladyslav Yesipenko
and Crimean Tatar journalists Osman Arifmemetov, Rustem
Sheikhaliev, and Remzi Bekirov;
Whereas the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
has concluded that the murder of Washington Post journalist
and American resident Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018 was
approved by Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman;
Whereas the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia maintains an especially
hostile environment towards journalists through systematic
and arbitrary arrests, torture and inhumane or degrading
treatment, lengthy pre-trial detentions, political
persecution, and conditional release restrictions, which
inhibit reporters and columnists from traveling or returning
to their professional work post-detention, including--
(1) Maha Al-Rafidi Al-Qahtani, a journalist and writer
arrested in September 2019, held in solitary confinement, and
physically abused while in prison;
(2) Redha Al-Boori, a writer and journalist detained for
almost 2 years in an unknown location;
(3) Khadija Al-Harbi, a Saudi feminist writer and online
commentator arrested alongside her husband, journalist and
blogger Thumar Al-Marzouqi, while in the late stages of
pregnancy; and
(4) Saleh Al-Shehi, a noted anti-corruption columnist
sentenced to 5 years in prison in 2018 for ``insulting the
royal court'', who died 3 weeks after his release from
prison;
Whereas the battle for a free press continues to be fought
in Southeast Asia, where-
(1) Bangladeshi journalists have repeatedly been arrested
and charged under the Digital Security Act, some of whom have
been subjected to torture and one of whom died in custody;
(2) Steven Gan, the Editor-in-Chief of the news
organization Malaysiakini, was interrogated after readers
left comments criticizing Malaysia's judiciary on a
Mayalysiakini article reporting on a court's lifting of a
coronavirus lockdown;
(3) Filipino-American journalist Maria Ressa has been
targeted by the Filipino Government's aggressive campaign
against independent media after her reporting on President
Duterte's ``war on drugs'';
(4) Thum Ping Tjin, founder and director of New Naratif, a
democracy-focused media organization, was detained by
Singaporean police after being accused of publishing
unauthorized and ``illegal'' paid advertisements on Facebook
during the July election campaign; and
(5) Vietnamese journalists Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong
Thuy, and Le Huu Minh Tuan were each sentenced to more than
10 years in prison;
Whereas press freedom continues to face challenges in sub-
Saharan Africa, including in--
(1) Ethiopia, where journalist Lucy Kassa was questioned by
unidentified men on her reporting of the Government of
Ethiopia's armed conflict with the Tigray People's Liberation
Front and whose house was ransacked;
(2) Cameroon, where journalist Samuel Wazizi was arrested
for his reporting and held incommunicado for nearly one year
before the government announced that he had died in custody;
(3) Ghana, where Manasseh Azure Awuni received death
threats as a result of his reporting on the Ghanaian
election;
(4) Nigeria, where the press faces a ``climate of permanent
violence'' and journalists, including Omoyele Sowore, have
been ``spied on, attacked, arbitrarily arrested, or even
killed'';
(5) South Sudan, where reporter Bullen Alexander was
detained without cause for 4 days while covering the
University of Juba's student protests and Christopher Allen
was killed with impunity and without investigation while
reporting on the civil war; and
(6) Zimbabwe, where journalist and filmmaker Hopewell
Chin'ono was abducted
[[Page S3510]]
from his home and sentenced 45 days with an iron leg chain
for his live-streaming of protests and investigative
reporting;
Whereas the Turkish Journalists' Association reported
that--
(1) in 2020--
(A) 1 out of every 4 Turkish journalists was subjected
to physical violence;
(B) 1 out of every 2 Turkish journalists were
threatened; and
(C) 1 out of every 5 Turkish journalists faced trial
(often on fabricated terrorism charges); and
(2) Turkey is maintaining its standing as--
(A) 1 of the world's most oppressive environments for
press freedom; and
(B) 1 of the world's leading jailers of journalists;
Whereas the Government of Venezuela continues to target
independent media outlets, attacking freedom of expression
and severely limiting Venezuelan access to accurate
information with at least 7 different media outlets targeted
in 2021, including an incident in January 2021 where
government officials entered the studio of the independent
news station Venezolanos por la Informacion in Caracas
without a warrant, seized their work equipment, and
threatened the journalists with arrest if they continued to
report;
Whereas, under the auspices of the United States Agency for
Global Media, the United States Government provides financial
assistance to several editorially independent media outlets,
including Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,
Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and the
Middle East Broadcast Networks--
(1) which report and broadcast news, information, and
analysis in critical regions around the world; and
(2) whose journalists regularly face harassment, fines, and
imprisonment for their work; and
Whereas the freedom of the press--
(1) is a key component of democratic governance, activism
in civil society, and socioeconomic development; and
(2) enhances public accountability, transparency, and
participation in civil society and democratic governance:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) declares that a free press--
(A) is a central component of free societies, democratic
governance, and contributes to an informed civil society, and
government accountability;
(B) helps expose corruption, and enhances public
accountability and transparency of governments at all levels;
and
(C) disseminates information essential to improving public
health and safety;
(2) expresses concerns about threats to press freedom and
freedom of expression around the world;
(3) recognizes and commends journalism's role in providing
trusted, accurate, and timely information and in holding
governments and leaders accountable to citizens;
(4) is dismayed that, under cover of the COVID-19 pandemic,
many governments have restricted the work of journalists
reporting on the public health crisis and on peaceful
protests on a variety of issues;
(5) pays tribute to journalists who made tremendous
sacrifices, including the loss of their lives, in the pursuit
of truth and justice;
(6) condemns all actions around the world that suppress
freedom of the press;
(7) calls for the unconditional and immediate release of
all imprisoned journalists;
(8) reaffirms the centrality of freedom of the press to
efforts of the United States Government to support democracy,
mitigate conflict, and promote good governance domestically
and around the world; and
(9) calls on the President and the Secretary of State--
(A) to preserve and build upon the leadership of the United
States on issues relating to freedom of the press, on the
basis of the protections afforded the American people under
the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States;
(B) to transparently investigate and bring to justice the
perpetrators of attacks against journalists; and
(C) to promote the respect and protection of freedom of the
press around the world.
____________________