[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 15, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S709-S711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 513--RECOGNIZING THE GROWING THREATS AGAINST WOMEN 
 AND CHILDREN, RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC MINORITIES, AND LGBTQI PERSONS IN 
   AFGHANISTAN AND AGAINST ALLIES OF SUCH INDIVIDUALS, SUCH AS CIVIL 
 SOCIETY LEADERS AND ACTIVISTS, SCHOLARS, FORMER GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, 
  JOURNALISTS, AND MEDIA WORKERS, AND EXPRESSING SOLIDARITY WITH AND 
     REAFFIRMING THE DIRE NEED TO PROTECT VULNERABLE AND MINORITY 
     POPULATIONS AND THEIR ALLIES IN AFGHANISTAN UNDER TALIBAN RULE

  Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Booker, 
Mr. Schatz, Mr. Casey, Ms. Smith, Ms. Warren, and Mr. Blumenthal) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 513

       Whereas the Taliban have a history of prohibiting women 
     from receiving an education and pursuing jobs outside their 
     homes and have publicly executed women who were accused of 
     adultery;
       Whereas a 2001 report by the Department of State noted 
     that, from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban ``perpetrated egregious 
     acts of violence against women'' as part of a ``war against 
     women'';
       Whereas, in some Afghan provinces taken over by the Taliban 
     beginning in May 2021, there are reports that the Taliban 
     have forced women into marriage with Taliban fighters and 
     have led targeted killings against women;
       Whereas United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 
     Michelle Bachelet has expressed concern with the Taliban's 
     contradiction of ``stated commitments,'' their exclusion of 
     women from the public sector, and their restrictions on 
     women, such as not allowing women to appear in public without 
     a male chaperone;
       Whereas, since 2018, the Secretary of State has designated 
     the Taliban as an entity of particular concern for religious 
     freedom pursuant to section 301 of the Frank R. Wolf 
     International Religious Freedom Act (22 U.S.C. 6442a) for 
     having engaged in ``particularly severe violations of 
     religious freedom'';
       Whereas, in October 2021, the United States Commission on 
     International Religious Freedom reported on deteriorating 
     conditions for religious minorities in Afghanistan, noting 
     growing fear among Hazara Shi'a Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, 
     Christians, Ahmadi Muslims, Baha'is, and nonbelievers, and 
     stating, ``Afghans who do not adhere to the Taliban's harsh 
     and strict interpretation of Sunni Islam and adherents of 
     other faiths or beliefs are at grave threat'';
       Whereas the Hazaras constitute approximately 10 to 15 
     percent of the national population in Afghanistan and are 
     considered a minority religious group;
       Whereas the Hazaras specifically, along with other 
     religious and ethnic minorities, have historically been 
     explicitly targeted by the Taliban and have been abused with 
     impunity;
       Whereas Amnesty International reported that on August 30, 
     2021, 13 Hazaras were unlawfully killed in the village of 
     Kahor in the Khider district by Taliban fighters, with one of 
     the victims being a 17-year-old girl;
       Whereas, in 2021, the Taliban forcibly displaced 
     approximately 4,000 Hazaras from their homes and ancestral 
     lands in Daykundi province while a Taliban court expelled 
     approximately 2,000 families from the city of Mazar-e-Sharif;
       Whereas, in 2021, more than 30 instances of violence and 
     threats of violence against Afghan journalists were recorded;
       Whereas activists, journalists, civil society actors, and 
     scholars face threats and intimidation and risk being 
     unlawfully detained or tortured or becoming a victim of 
     targeted killings by the Taliban;
       Whereas adherence to the rule of law and protection of 
     human rights is rapidly deteriorating under the Taliban, 
     which are reportedly targeting judges, prosecutors, lawyers, 
     human rights defenders, journalists, former parliamentarians, 
     and individuals who previously advocated for human rights and 
     the rule of law, particularly women;
       Whereas there are reports of the Taliban conducting house-
     to-house searches and tracking individuals who served the 
     previous authorities and then carrying out targeted revenge 
     killings;
       Whereas, during the previous period of rule of the Taliban, 
     the Taliban reportedly executed Afghan men alleged to have 
     engaged in sexual activity with other men;
       Whereas the current Acting Prime Minister of the Taliban 
     reportedly stated in 1996 that ``homosexuality is a great 
     sin'' and ``some say we should take these sinners to a high 
     roof and throw them down, while others say we should dig a 
     hole beside a wall, bury them, then push the wall down on top 
     of them'';

[[Page S711]]

       Whereas a Taliban judge, Gul Rahim, stated in July 2021 
     that ``[f]or homosexuals, there can only be two punishments: 
     either stoning or he must stand behind a wall that will fall 
     down on him,'' and a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance of 
     Afghanistan noted that LGBT rights would not be respected 
     under the Taliban's interpretation of Sharia law; and
       Whereas, in 2022, many LGBTQI individuals in Afghanistan 
     are forced to live in hiding due to reports of threats and 
     attacks against such individuals in the community: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and 
     with vulnerable groups including women and children, 
     religious and ethnic minorities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, 
     transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) persons, civil 
     society actors, journalists, and other at-risk populations in 
     Afghanistan;
       (2) reaffirms the longstanding commitment of the United 
     States to advance human rights worldwide;
       (3) calls on the Taliban to uphold the protection of 
     universal human rights, including the commitments set forth 
     in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enshrined in 
     the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to 
     which Afghanistan is a party;
       (4) encourages the executive branch to continue to call for 
     the protection of women and children, religious and ethnic 
     minorities, civil society actors, journalists, and LGBTQI 
     persons under Taliban rule;
       (5) calls for the international community to condemn human 
     rights violations committed by the Taliban;
       (6) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to 
     support Afghan civil society, individuals who assisted with 
     the war efforts of the United States and allies of the United 
     States, and individuals who advocate for universal human 
     rights; and
       (7) calls on the United States Government to work closely 
     with the international community and nongovernmental 
     organizations, particularly such organizations based in 
     Afghanistan, to support at-risk Afghan minority populations 
     and other vulnerable communities, including through efforts 
     to stem the growing humanitarian crisis that will 
     disproportionately impact already vulnerable groups.

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