[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.
____________________