A resolution calling upon the Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, and human rights activists throughout the world to take certain actions in regard to the human rights situation in Cuba.

        [Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 62 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 62

Calling upon the Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights, the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, the European Union, and human rights activists throughout
the world to take certain actions in regard to the human rights
situation in Cuba.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

February 24, 2003

Mr. Ensign (for himself, Mr. Graham of Florida, Mr. Frist, Mr.
Lieberman, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Allen,
Mr. Sessions, Mr. Reid, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Shelby, Mr.
Miller, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Bunning, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Chambliss, and Mr.
Enzi) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations

June 26, 2003

Reported by Mr. Lugar, without amendment

June 27, 2003

Considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION

Calling upon the Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights, the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, the European Union, and human rights activists throughout
the world to take certain actions in regard to the human rights
situation in Cuba.

Whereas the democracies of the Western Hemisphere have approved an Inter-
American Democratic Charter that sets a regional standard regarding
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
Whereas the government of the Republic of Cuba approved and is bound to respect
the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man;
Whereas in 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, and previous years, the government of the
Republic of Cuba declined to reply to the OAS Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights when it sought the government's views on human rights
violations in the Republic of Cuba;
Whereas all countries have an obligation to promote and protect human rights and
fundamental freedoms as stated in the Charter of the United Nations and
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
Whereas the United Nations Commission on Human Rights considered and passed a
resolution in 2002 regarding the situation of human rights in the
Republic of Cuba and called for the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights to send a personal representative to the Republic of Cuba;
Whereas the United States and other countries remain concerned about violations
of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Republic of Cuba,
including the freedoms of expression, association, and assembly, and the
rights associated with the administration of justice;
Whereas, according to the Department of State, Cuban authorities use exile as a
means of repression and continue to harass, threaten, arbitrarily
arrest, detain, imprison, and defame human rights advocates and members
of independent professional associations, including journalists,
economists, doctors, and lawyers with the goal of coercing them into
leaving the country;
Whereas Cuban citizens are routinely jailed solely because their views do not
coincide with those of the government;
Whereas Amnesty International in its 2002 report noted an increase in human
rights violations in the Republic of Cuba, including short-term
arbitrary arrests, threats, summonses, evictions, interrogations, losses
of employment, restrictions on travel, house arrests, and other forms of
harassment directed by the government against political dissidents,
independent journalists, and other activists in an effort to limit their
ability to exercise fundamental freedoms;
Whereas Amnesty International also noted with concern the beginning of a trend
toward the increased use of violence by Cuban authorities in order to
repress dissent;
Whereas Cuban political prisoners are deliberately exposed to harm and poor
conditions as a means of punishment, including beatings, denial of
medical treatment, forced labor against medical advice, unsanitary
eating conditions, and coexistence with inmates carrying highly
infectious diseases;
Whereas peaceful dissidents in the Republic of Cuba, such as Oscar Elias Biscet,
who upon finishing more than 3 years in jail for ``instigation to commit
a crime'' is again in police custody and facing a possible year-long
sentence, are subjected to ongoing harassment and imprisonment;
Whereas many Cubans, such as journalist Bernardo Arevalo Padron, who is
currently in jail serving a 6 year sentence, are routinely jailed under
the charge of ``disrespect'' for making negative statements about the
government of the Republic of Cuba;
Whereas many Cubans, such as Carlos Oquendo Rodriguez, who is serving 2 years in
prison, are routinely jailed under the charge of ``public disorder'' for
criticizing the Castro regime;
Whereas many Cubans, such as Francisco Chaviano Gonzalez, the longest serving
current Amnesty International prisoner of conscience in the Republic of
Cuba, are imprisoned on charges of ``revealing state security secrets''
and ``falsifying public documents'' for promoting democratic practices
and human rights;
Whereas many Cubans, such as Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva, a blind lawyer and
president of the Cuban Foundation for Human Rights, are imprisoned on
charges of ``disobedience'' and tortured while incarcerated for
peacefully protesting the Republic of Cuba's brutal treatment of
dissidents;
Whereas many Cubans, such as Leonardo Miguel Bruzon Avila, president of the 24th
of February Movement (named for both a turning point in the Spanish-
American War and the day in 1996 when 2 civilian aircraft carrying 4
members of the Cuban American Brothers to the Rescue movement were shot
down over international waters by Cuban fighter jets), are charged with
``public disorder'' and held without trial for planning peaceful public
ceremonies;
Whereas many Cubans, such as Nestor Rodriguez Lobaina, who is president of the
Cuban Youth for Democracy Movement and currently serving a 6 year prison
sentence, are charged with ``damages'' for denouncing violations of
human rights by the Cuban government and communicating the brutality of
the Cuban regime to Cuban citizens and the world;
Whereas many Cubans, such as Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, who is a founder of the
Pedro Luis Boitel Political Prisoners Movement and serving a 15 year
prison sentence, are charged with ``enemy propaganda'' and suffer
systematic abuse and a lack of medical assistance while in prison, for
criticizing communism;
Whereas Amnesty International reports that participants in Oswaldo Paya's Varela
Project collecting the required 10,000 signatures on a petition for
peaceful change to the legal system of the Republic of Cuba have been
harassed, detained, subjected to confiscation of signed petitions, and
``kicked, punched, and threatened'' by Cuban state security officials;
and
Whereas the European Parliament rightfully recognized Oswaldo Paya for his work
on the Varela Project with the 2002 Sakharov Prize for his human rights
work in the Republic of Cuba: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate calls upon--
(1) the Organization of American States Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights to continue its reporting on the
human rights situation in the Republic of Cuba and to request a
visit to the Republic of Cuba for the purposes of reviewing and
reporting to the international community on the human rights
situation there;
(2) the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
and his newly appointed personal representative to vigorously
pursue the implementation of the 2002 Resolution regarding the
situation of human rights in the Republic of Cuba;
(3) the European Union, to build upon the European
Parliament's recognition of Cuban dissidents and, through the
appropriate bodies and mechanisms, request to visit the
Republic of Cuba for the purpose of reviewing the human rights
situation there and issue a report to the international
community on its findings; and
(4) human rights organizations throughout the world to
issue statements of solidarity with the Cuban human rights
activists, political dissidents, prisoners of conscience,
independent journalists, and other Cubans seeking to secure
their internationally recognized human rights and fundamental
freedoms.
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