Page 1243 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE § 6021

Sec.

6085. Effective date.

(a) In general.

(b) Suspension authority.

(c) Other authorities.

(d) Rescission of suspension.

SUBCHAPTER IV—EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN

ALIENS

6091. Exclusion from United States of aliens who

have confiscated property of United States

nationals or who traffic in such property.

(a) Grounds for exclusion.

(b) Definitions.

(c) Exemption.

(d) Effective date.

§ 6021. Findings

The Congress makes the following findings:

(1) The economy of Cuba has experienced a

decline of at least 60 percent in the last 5 years

as a result of—

(A) the end of its subsidization by the

former Soviet Union of between 5 billion and

6 billion dollars annually;

(B) 36 years of communist tyranny and

economic mismanagement by the Castro

government;

(C) the extreme decline in trade between

Cuba and the countries of the former Soviet

bloc; and

(D) the stated policy of the Russian Government and the countries of the former Soviet bloc to conduct economic relations with

Cuba on strictly commercial terms.

(2) At the same time, the welfare and health

of the Cuban people have substantially deteriorated as a result of this economic decline

and the refusal of the Castro regime to permit

free and fair democratic elections in Cuba.

(3) The Castro regime has made it abundantly clear that it will not engage in any substantive political reforms that would lead to

democracy, a market economy, or an economic recovery.

(4) The repression of the Cuban people, including a ban on free and fair democratic elections, and continuing violations of fundamental human rights, have isolated the Cuban regime as the only completely nondemocratic

government in the Western Hemisphere.

(5) As long as free elections are not held in

Cuba, the economic condition of the country

and the welfare of the Cuban people will not

improve in any significant way.

(6) The totalitarian nature of the Castro regime has deprived the Cuban people of any

peaceful means to improve their condition and

has led thousands of Cuban citizens to risk or

lose their lives in dangerous attempts to escape from Cuba to freedom.

(7) Radio Marti and Television Marti have

both been effective vehicles for providing the

people of Cuba with news and information and

have helped to bolster the morale of the people

of Cuba living under tyranny.

(8) The consistent policy of the United

States towards Cuba since the beginning of the

Castro regime, carried out by both Democratic

and Republican administrations, has sought to

keep faith with the people of Cuba, and has

been effective in sanctioning the totalitarian

Castro regime.

(9) The United States has shown a deep commitment, and considers it a moral obligation,

to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms as expressed in the Charter

of the United Nations and in the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights.

(10) The Congress has historically and consistently manifested its solidarity and the solidarity of the American people with the democratic aspirations of the Cuban people.

(11) The Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 [22

U.S.C. 6001 et seq.] calls upon the President to

encourage the governments of countries that

conduct trade with Cuba to restrict their trade

and credit relations with Cuba in a manner

consistent with the purposes of that Act.

(12) Amendments to the Foreign Assistance

Act of 1961 [22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.] made by the

FREEDOM Support Act require that the President, in providing economic assistance to Russia and the emerging Eurasian democracies,

take into account the extent to which they are

acting to ‘‘terminate support for the communist regime in Cuba, including removal of

troops, closing military facilities, and ceasing

trade subsidies and economic, nuclear, and

other assistance’’.

(13) The Cuban Government engages in the

illegal international narcotics trade and harbors fugitives from justice in the United

States.

(14) The Castro government threatens international peace and security by engaging in

acts of armed subversion and terrorism such

as the training and supplying of groups dedicated to international violence.

(15) The Castro government has utilized

from its inception and continues to utilize torture in various forms (including by psychiatry), as well as execution, exile, confiscation,

political imprisonment, and other forms of

terror and repression, as means of retaining

power.

(16) Fidel Castro has defined democratic pluralism as ‘‘pluralistic garbage’’ and continues

to make clear that he has no intention of tolerating the democratization of Cuban society.

(17) The Castro government holds innocent

Cubans hostage in Cuba by no fault of the hostages themselves solely because relatives have

escaped the country.

(18) Although a signatory state to the 1928

Inter-American Convention on Asylum and

the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (which protects the right to leave

one’s own country), Cuba nevertheless surrounds embassies in its capital by armed

forces to thwart the right of its citizens to

seek asylum and systematically denies that

right to the Cuban people, punishing them by

imprisonment for seeking to leave the country

and killing them for attempting to do so (as

demonstrated in the case of the confirmed

murder of over 40 men, women, and children

who were seeking to leave Cuba on July 13,

1994).

(19) The Castro government continues to utilize blackmail, such as the immigration crisis

with which it threatened the United States in

the summer of 1994, and other unacceptable

and illegal forms of conduct to influence the
§ 6022 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE Page 1244

actions of sovereign states in the Western

Hemisphere in violation of the Charter of the

Organization of American States and other

international agreements and international

law.

(20) The United Nations Commission on

Human Rights has repeatedly reported on the

unacceptable human rights situation in Cuba

and has taken the extraordinary step of appointing a Special Rapporteur.

(21) The Cuban Government has consistently

refused access to the Special Rapporteur and

formally expressed its decision not to ‘‘implement so much as one comma’’ of the United

Nations Resolutions appointing the Rapporteur.

(22) The United Nations General Assembly

passed Resolution 47–139 on December 18, 1992,

Resolution 48–142 on December 20, 1993, and

Resolution 49–200 on December 23, 1994, referencing the Special Rapporteur’s reports to

the United Nations and condemning violations

of human rights and fundamental freedoms in

Cuba.

(23) Article 39 of Chapter VII of the United

Nations Charter provides that the United Nations Security Council ‘‘shall determine the

existence of any threat to the peace, breach of

the peace, or act of aggression and shall make

recommendations, or decide what measures

shall be taken . . ., to maintain or restore

international peace and security.

(24) The United Nations has determined that

massive and systematic violations of human

rights may constitute a ‘‘threat to peace’’

under Article 39 and has imposed sanctions

due to such violations of human rights in the

cases of Rhodesia, South Africa, Iraq, and the

former Yugoslavia.

(25) In the case of Haiti, a neighbor of Cuba

not as close to the United States as Cuba, the

United States led an effort to obtain and did

obtain a United Nations Security Council embargo and blockade against that country due

to the existence of a military dictatorship in

power less than 3 years.

(26) United Nations Security Council Resolution 940 of July 31, 1994, subsequently authorized the use of ‘‘all necessary means’’ to restore the ‘‘democratically elected government

of Haiti’’, and the democratically elected government of Haiti was restored to power on October 15, 1994.

(27) The Cuban people deserve to be assisted

in a decisive manner to end the tyranny that

has oppressed them for 36 years, and the continued failure to do so constitutes ethically

improper conduct by the international community.

(28) For the past 36 years, the Cuban Government has posed and continues to pose a national security threat to the United States.

(Pub. L. 104–114, §2, Mar. 12, 1996, 110 Stat. 786.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

The Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, referred to in par.

(11), is title XVII of div. A of Pub. L. 102–484, Oct. 23,

1992, 106 Stat. 2575, which is classified principally to

chapter 69 (§6001 et seq.) of this title. For complete

classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title

note set out under section 6001 of this title and Tables.

The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, referred to in par.

(12), is Pub. L. 87–195, Sept. 4, 1961, 75 Stat. 424, as

amended, which is classified principally to chapter 32

(§2151 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification

of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out

under section 2151 of this title and Tables.

The FREEDOM Support Act, referred to in par. (12),

is Pub. L. 102–511, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 3320, as amended, also known as the Freedom for Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets Support

Act of 1992. For complete classification of this Act to

the Code, see Short Title note set out under section

5801 of this title and Tables.

SHORT TITLE

Section 1(a) of Pub. L. 104–114 provided that: ‘‘This

Act [enacting this chapter and sections 1643l and 1643m

of this title, amending sections 2295a, 2295b, 2370, 6003,

and 6004 of this title, section 1611 of Title 28, Judiciary

and Judicial Procedure, and section 16 of Title 50, Appendix, War and National Defense, repealing sections

1465 to 1465f, 1465aa to 1465ff, 6003, and 6005 of this title,

amending provisions set out as a note under section

1446g of Title 7, Agriculture, and repealing provisions

set out as notes under sections 1465, 1465c, and 1465aa of

this title] may be cited as the ‘Cuban Liberty and

Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996’.’’

§ 6022. Purposes

The purposes of this chapter are—

(1) to assist the Cuban people in regaining

their freedom and prosperity, as well as in

joining the community of democratic countries that are flourishing in the Western Hemisphere;

(2) to strengthen international sanctions

against the Castro government;

(3) to provide for the continued national security of the United States in the face of continuing threats from the Castro government of

terrorism, theft of property from United

States nationals by the Castro government,

and the political manipulation by the Castro

government of the desire of Cubans to escape

that results in mass migration to the United

States;

(4) to encourage the holding of free and fair

democratic elections in Cuba, conducted under

the supervision of internationally recognized

observers;

(5) to provide a policy framework for United

States support to the Cuban people in response

to the formation of a transition government

or a democratically elected government in

Cuba; and

(6) to protect United States nationals

against confiscatory takings and the wrongful

trafficking in property confiscated by the Castro regime.

(Pub. L. 104–114, §3, Mar. 12, 1996, 110 Stat. 788.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

This chapter, referred to in text, was in the original

‘‘this Act’’, meaning Pub. L. 104–114, Mar. 12, 1996, 110

Stat. 785, which is classified principally to this chapter.

For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title note set out under section 6021 of this title

and Tables.

§ 6023. Definitions

As used in this chapter, the following terms

have the following meanings: