[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2464-S2465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 295--EXPRESSING SOLIDARITY WITH THE CUBAN PEOPLE IN 
DEMANDING FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS, AND COMMENDING THEIR COURAGE IN THE 
                  WAKE OF THE JULY 11, 2021, PROTESTS

  Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. Braun, and Mr. Rubio) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 295

       Whereas the communist dictatorship in Cuba has been 
     responsible for numerous atrocities including the 
     extrajudicial assassinations of innocent civilians and 
     activists by firing squad and other brutal methods, including 
     the Tugboat Massacre of 1994 and the Brothers to the Rescue 
     Shoot-Down of 1996;
       Whereas, in the notorious Black Spring of 2003, the Cuban 
     regime engaged in brutal violence against independent 
     journalists, human rights activists, and others who dared to 
     expose the realities of totalitarian Cuba, which was roundly 
     condemned by international human rights groups;
       Whereas human rights activists such as Pedro Luis Boitel, 
     Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, leader of the Ladies in White 
     Laura Pollan, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Wilman Willar Mendoza, 
     Oswaldo Paya, Harold Cepero, Armando Sosa Fortuny, and 
     Yosvany Arostegui Armenteros died under suspicious 
     circumstances, including while in state custody;
       Whereas Report No. 83/23 published by the Inter-American 
     Commission on Human Rights on June 9, 2023, states that--
       (1) ``there is serious and sufficient evidence to conclude 
     that [agents of the Cuban regime] participated in the death 
     of Mr. Paya and Mr. Cepero'';
       (2) the Cuban regime ``is responsible for the violation of 
     the right established in Article I of the American 
     Declaration to the detriment of Oswaldo Paya and Harold 
     Cepero'';
       (3) ``there was a context of reprisals and human rights 
     violations against human rights defenders and persons who 
     expressed dissent against government policies'';
       (4) Harold Cepero and Oswaldo Paya ``were subjected to 
     various acts of violence, harassment, threats, attempts on 
     their lives, and finally, a car crash that caused their 
     deaths''; and
       (5) ``this case was framed within the contextual elements 
     of state repression of human rights defenders in Cuba'';
       Whereas the report entitled ``Cuba 2022 Human Rights 
     Report'' published by the Department of State notes that 
     ``significant human rights issues [in Cuba] included credible 
     reports of''--
       (1) unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial 
     killings, by the government;
       (2) torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of 
     political dissidents, detainees, and prisoners by security 
     forces;
       (3) harsh and life-threatening prison conditions;
       (4) arbitrary arrests and detentions; political prisoners;
       (5) transnational repression against individuals in another 
     country;
       (6) serious problems with the independence of the 
     judiciary;
       (7) arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy;
       (8) serious restrictions on freedom of expression and 
     media, including violence or threats of violence against 
     journalists, censorship, unjustified arrests or prosecutions 
     of journalists, and enforcement or threat to enforce criminal 
     libel laws to limit expression;
       (9) serious restrictions on internet freedom; substantial 
     interference with the right of peaceful assembly and freedom 
     of association, including overly restrictive laws on the 
     organization, funding, or operation of nongovernmental and 
     civil society organizations;
       (10) severe restrictions on religious freedom;
       (11) restrictions on freedom of movement and residence 
     within the country and on the right to leave the country;
       (12) inability of citizens to change their government 
     peacefully through free and fair elections; serious and 
     unreasonable restrictions on political participation;
       (13) serious government corruption; lack of investigation 
     of and accountability for gender-based violence, including 
     femicide; and
       (14) trafficking in persons, including forced labor; and 
     outlawing of independent trade unions;
       Whereas 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report published by the 
     Department of State lists Cuba as a Tier 3 country, the 
     lowest possible rating, stating that--
       (1) ``there was a government policy or pattern to profit 
     from labor export programs with strong indications of forced 
     labor, particularly in the foreign medical missions' 
     program''; and
       (2) the regime ``continued to deploy Cuban workers to 
     foreign countries using deceptive and coercive tactics'' and 
     ``failed to address trafficking crimes despite an increasing 
     number of allegations from credible NGOs, former 
     participants, and foreign governments of Cuban officials' 
     involvement in abuses'';
       Whereas, in January 2019, Secretary General of the 
     Organization of American States Luis Almagro stated that 
     ``the Cuban dictatorship has failed in access to rights and 
     equity, its productive system has failed, its financial 
     management has failed, its management of the economy has 
     failed and the only way to melt away its social deficiencies 
     is to push its people into exile; it is a system that is 
     incapable of giving dignified and honest work to its people, 
     that is unable to open its youth to enterprise, unable to 
     generate a competitive productive system and unable to 
     achieve solutions for the simplest financial issues'';
       Whereas the Asociacion Sindical Independiente de Cuba 
     (commonly known as ``Independent Trade Union Association of 
     Cuba'' or ``ASIC'') has filed complaints with the 
     International Labour Organization condemning violations of 
     fundamental labor rights, such as freedom of assembly, and 
     repression of labor activist Ivan Hernandez Carrillo, and, in 
     response, the International Labour Organization provided 
     recommendations on March 24, 2021, to address the violations, 
     which Hernandez Carrillo continues to endure in the wake of 
     the July 11, 2021, protests;
       Whereas the 2023 reports entitled ``Freedom on the Net'' 
     and ``Freedom in the World'' published by Freedom House 
     summarized that--
       (1) ``Cuba's one-party communist state outlaws political 
     pluralism, bans independent media, suppresses dissent, and 
     severely restricts basic civil liberties'';
       (2) the government ``continues to dominate the economy 
     despite recent reforms that permit some private-sector 
     activity''; and
       (3) ``the regime's undemocratic character has not changed 
     despite a generational transition in political leadership 
     between 2018 and 2021 that included the introduction of a new 
     constitution'';
       Whereas the United States has long supported the Cuban 
     people through policies that limit hard currency to the 
     oppressive Cuban regime while--
       (1) providing democracy-building support to civil society 
     activists;
       (2) broadcasting outside information to pierce the 
     propaganda of the Cuban regime; and
       (3) permitting virtually unlimited donations of food, 
     medicines, and other necessities through--
          (A) Acts of Congress such as--
            (i) the Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act (22 U.S.C. 1465 
     et seq.);
            (ii) the Television Broadcasting to Cuba Act (22 
     U.S.C. 1465aa et seq.);
            (iii) the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 6001 
     et seq.);
            (iv) the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity 
     (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 6021 et seq.); and
            (v) the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement 
     Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.); and
          (B) executive orders and regulations;
       Whereas numerous activists in Cuba such as members of the 
     Patriotic Union of Cuba, the San Isidro Movement, the 
     Christian Liberation Movement, ASIC, the Ladies in White, the 
     Orlando Zapata Tamayo National Resistance Front, religious 
     organizations, exile groups, and others are demanding freedom 
     for the Cuban people;
       Whereas Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, independent journalist 
     and leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, has been held in 
     solitary confinement since August 14, 2021, and held 
     incommunicado since March 17, 2023, with his health condition 
     unknown, which was condemned by Amnesty International on June 
     6, 2023;
       Whereas artists Maykel Osorbo Castillo Perez and Luis 
     Manuel Otero Alcantara of the San Isidro Movement, who 
     participated

[[Page S2465]]

     in the Grammy-winning ``Patria y Vida'' and were sentenced to 
     9 and 5 years, respectively, have been unjustly imprisoned 
     for 2 years, and Otero Alcantara has engaged in hunger 
     strikes to protest his abhorrent treatment;
       Whereas the Cuban regime has employed so-called 
     ``Committees for the Defense of the Revolution'' to force 
     neighbors to spy and turn against each other, which has 
     spread distrust and fear among the Cuban people and caused an 
     environment that is deleterious to a strong social fabric and 
     thriving civil society;
       Whereas, on July 11, 2021, thousands of courageous 
     protesters gathered throughout Cuba, in every province, to 
     demand ``libertad'' and human rights and to express 
     opposition to dictatorship in Cuba;
       Whereas the Cuban regime reacted to the July 11 protests 
     with violence, arbitrary arrests, often by plain clothes 
     state security operatives, and forced disappearances and by 
     shutting down internet access and calling on supporters of 
     the regime to harass protesters, and prosecuted as many as 
     790 Cubans for peacefully calling for freedom in the 
     protests;
       Whereas Cubalex reported that the Cuban regime prosecuted 
     55 children in the wake of the July 11 protests, imposing 
     prison sentences as long as 23 years, while dozens of 
     children reportedly remain in prison to this day; and
       Whereas, since Fidel Castro illegitimately and violently 
     seized power, hundreds of thousands of Cuban nationals have 
     fled Communist oppression: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) calls for the release of all political prisoners and 
     for the end of acts of repression, arbitrary imprisonments, 
     torture, and other human rights abuses against the Cuban 
     people;
       (2) honors the courageous Cuban people for daring to stand 
     up to the Cuban regime and demanding respect for fundamental 
     freedoms, such as freedom of expression and assembly;
       (3) recognizes the brave prodemocracy and human rights 
     activists, including independent journalists, artists, labor 
     leaders, and religious leaders, who have been persecuted 
     throughout decades of Communist tyranny;
       (A) urges other democracies, regional, and multilateral 
     organizations to affirm that--
       (i) violence against the unarmed people of Cuba will not be 
     tolerated; and
       (ii) human rights abusers will be held accountable for 
     their crimes;
       (4) calls on the European Union--
       (A) to reconsider the failed Political Dialogue and 
     Cooperation Agreement; and
       (B) to place freedom and human rights at the center of the 
     policy toward Cuba;
       (5) expresses solidarity with the longsuffering Cuban 
     people in their demands for a genuine democratic transition; 
     and
       (6) calls on the international community to stand with the 
     people struggling for freedom in Cuba by condemning 
     repression and expressing unequivocal support for the rights 
     to self-governance, human rights, and basic liberties for the 
     Cuban people.

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