III
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 451
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 15, 2014
Mr. Barrasso (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Graham, Mr. Cruz, and Mr. Enzi) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
May 20, 2014
Reported by Mr. Menendez, without amendment
June 4, 2014
Considered and agreed to
RESOLUTION
Recalling the Government of China's forcible dispersion of those peaceably assembled in Tiananmen Square 25 years ago, in light of China’s continued abysmal human rights record.
Whereas, in 1989, Chinese citizens involved in a peaceful democratic movement gathered in Tiananmen Square to call for the establishment of a dialogue with their government on democratic reforms, including freedom of expression and freedom of assembly;
Whereas, on June 4, 1989, Chinese authorities ordered the People’s Liberation Army and other security forces to use lethal force to disperse demonstrators in Tiananmen Square;
Whereas the number of peaceful protesters killed or injured by the forcible dispersion remains unknown to this day;
Whereas, 25 years after these deaths, there has been no accountability on the part of the Government of the People's Republic of China in disciplining involved officials;
Whereas there remain imprisoned to this day individuals who expressed their desire for democracy in China 25 years ago in Tiananmen Square;
Whereas the Department of State's most recent human rights report on China found that citizens did not have the right to change their government
;
Whereas, even in recent weeks, the Government of the People's Republic of China has detained those who attempt to peacefully commemorate the events of June 1989, including activists such as Pu Zhiqiang and Wen Kejian;
Whereas the Department of State’s most recent human rights report on China found extrajudicial killings
remained a problem in China;
Whereas the Department of State’s most recent human rights report on China found the government
continued to target for arbitrary detention or arrest
human rights activists, journalists … and former political prisoners and their family members
; and
Whereas June 4, 2014, is the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate—
expresses sympathy to the families of those killed, tortured, and imprisoned as a result of their participation in the democracy gathering on June 4, 1989, in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in the People’s Republic of China;
commends all peaceful advocates for democracy and human rights in China;
condemns the ongoing and egregious human rights abuses by the Communist Government of the People's Republic of China;
calls on the Communist Government of the People's Republic of China to—
release all prisoners of conscience, including those persons still in prison as a result of their participation in the peaceful pro-democracy gatherings of 1989 and those detained for their commemoration of these events;
allow those people exiled on account of their activities to return to live in freedom in China; and
cease the harassment, detention, and imprisonment of all Chinese citizens exercising their freedoms of expression, association, and religion; and
calls upon the United States representative at the United Nations Human Rights Council to introduce a resolution in that forum calling for an examination of the human rights practices of the Government of the People’s Republic of China.