[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13369]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 586--SUPPORTING DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND CIVIL 
                           LIBERTIES IN EGYPT

  Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself and Mr. McCain) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 586

       Whereas the Governments of the United States and Egypt have 
     long shared a strong bilateral working relationship;
       Whereas the people and the Government of Egypt play an 
     important role in global and regional politics, including 
     with respect to the Middle East peace process, as well as in 
     North and East Africa;
       Whereas Egypt has been and continues to be an intellectual 
     and cultural center of the Arab world;
       Whereas respect for democracy, human rights, and civil 
     liberties are fundamental principles of the United States and 
     critical to our national security objectives;
       Whereas, in his June 4, 2009, speech in Cairo, Egypt, 
     President Barack Obama noted, ``[G]overnments that protect 
     [human] rights are ultimately more stable, successful and 
     secure. Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go 
     away'';
       Whereas the United States National Security Strategy, 
     released in May 2010, states, ``And we reject the notion that 
     lasting security and prosperity can be found by turning away 
     from universal rights--democracy does not merely represent 
     our better angels, it stands in opposition to aggression and 
     injustice, and our support for universal rights is both 
     fundamental to American leadership and a source of our 
     strength in the world.'';
       Whereas the authorities in Egypt continue to harass, 
     intimidate, arbitrarily detain, and engage in violence 
     against peaceful demonstrators, journalists, human rights 
     activists, and bloggers;
       Whereas, despite President Hosni Mubarak's pledge in 2005 
     that Egypt's controversial emergency law would only be used 
     to fight terrorism and that he planned to abolish the state 
     of emergency and adopt new antiterrorism legislation as an 
     alternative, in May 2010 the Government of Egypt again 
     extended the emergency law, which has been in place 
     continuously since 1981, for another two years, giving police 
     broad powers of arrest and allowing indefinite detention 
     without charge;
       Whereas in renewing the emergency law, the Government of 
     Egypt asserted that the law would be used only in drug and 
     terrorism cases and it would release all emergency law 
     detainees in other cases, a pledge it has made in the past 
     but failed to fulfill;
       Whereas, in response to the emergency law extension, 
     Secretary Hillary Clinton released a statement noting, ``This 
     extension is regrettable given the pledge made by the 
     government to the Egyptian people in 2005. We are confident 
     that Egypt can draft and adopt effective counterterrorism 
     legislation that conforms to international standards for 
     civil liberties and due process. And the United States urges 
     Egypt to complete this legislation on an urgent basis and to 
     rescind the State of Emergency within the coming months.'';
       Whereas opposition lawmakers and human rights and democracy 
     activists have protested the extended emergency law because 
     of concerns that it would continue to be used to silence 
     critics and stifle dissent;
       Whereas the Department of State's 2009 Human Rights Report 
     notes with respect to Egypt, ``The government's respect for 
     human rights remained poor, and serious abuses continued in 
     many areas. The government limited citizens' right to change 
     their government and continued a state of emergency that has 
     been in place almost continuously since 1967.'';
       Whereas Human Rights Watch reports that ``[h]uman rights 
     violations in Egypt are widespread and routine, including 
     arbitrary detention, torture, and unfair trials before state 
     security and military courts . . . State Security 
     Intelligence (SSI), a bureau of the Ministry of Interior, 
     polices the political sphere and considers any exercise of 
     freedom of assembly a security threat, frequently beating and 
     arresting peaceful demonstrators'';
       Whereas the independence of the judiciary in Egypt 
     continues to be undermined through exceptional parallel court 
     systems, executive administrative orders overriding judicial 
     decisions, and politically motivated lawsuits;
       Whereas past elections in Egypt, including the June 2010 
     elections to the Shura Council (the lower house of 
     parliament), have seen irregularities at polling and counting 
     stations, security force intimidation and coercion of voters, 
     and obstruction of peaceful political rallies and 
     demonstrations;
       Whereas excessive use of force by security forces in Egypt 
     is occurring in violation of Egypt's obligations to protect 
     fundamental human rights and may undermine the country's 
     long-term stability;
       Whereas political reform in Cairo would significantly 
     enhance the leadership of Egypt throughout the Middle East 
     and Africa and could help ensure constructive political 
     engagement in these regions for years to come; and
       Whereas, in April 2010, a bipartisan ``Working Group on 
     Egypt'' wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Clinton, 
     ``[W]ith three sets of elections coming up over the next 
     eighteen months, Egypt now has the opportunity to energize a 
     process of political, economic, and social reform. If the 
     government responds to demands for responsible political 
     change, Egypt can face the future as a more democratic nation 
     with greater domestic and international support. If, on the 
     other hand, the opportunity for reform is missed, prospects 
     for stability and prosperity in Egypt will be in doubt.'': 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That, the Senate--
       (1) reaffirms that respect for basic human rights is a 
     fundamental value of the United States and that providing 
     unconditional support for governments that do not respect 
     those basic human rights undermines the credibility of the 
     United States and creates tensions, including in the Muslim 
     world, that can be exploited;
       (2) recognizes that, while the Government of Egypt faces 
     legitimate security threats, genuine political reform in that 
     country will help to counter extremism while also solidifying 
     prospects for stability and prosperity;
       (3) encourages the Government of Egypt to promptly honor 
     its commitment to permanently repeal the state of emergency, 
     which is a significant obstacle to consolidation of the rule 
     of law in Egypt;
       (4) calls on the Government of Egypt--
       (A) to take all steps necessary to ensure that upcoming 
     elections are free, fair, transparent, and credible, 
     including granting independent international and domestic 
     electoral observers unrestricted access to polling and 
     counting stations and instructing its security forces not to 
     engage in violence;
       (B) to end all arbitrary detention, torture, and other 
     forms of harassment against media professionals, human rights 
     defenders and activists, and opposition figures, fully 
     respect freedom of expression and association, and release 
     all individuals detained for peaceful expression as well as 
     those detained under the emergency law for issues unrelated 
     to drug or terrorism allegations; and
       (C) to lift legislative restrictions on freedoms of 
     assembly, association, and expression in advance of the 2010 
     elections;
       (5) urges the President and the Secretary of State--
       (A) to make respect for basic human rights and democratic 
     freedoms a priority in the ongoing relationship and dialogue 
     between the Governments of the United States and Egypt, and 
     to focus on the importance of these issues, including free 
     and fair elections, during all bilateral meetings; and
       (B) to broaden the engagement of the United States 
     Government with the people of Egypt and support efforts in 
     the country to help promote human rights and democratic 
     reform, including by providing appropriate funding to 
     international and domestic election observers, as well as to 
     civil society organizations for democracy and governance 
     activities;
       (6) emphasizes the importance of ensuring and strengthening 
     the independence of the judiciary in Egypt; and
       (7) recalls that pursuant to the laws of the United States, 
     organizations implementing United States assistance for 
     democracy and governance activities, and the specific nature 
     of that assistance, shall not be subject to the prior 
     approval of the Government of Egypt.

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