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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 249 Introduced in House (IH)]

106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 249

    Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Government of the 
 People's Republic of China should immediately release Rabiya Kadeer, 
  her secretary, and her son, abide by the International Covenant on 
 Civil and Political Rights, and permit Kadeer, her secretary, and her 
          son to move to the United States if they so desire.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 10, 2000

  Mr. Nethercutt (for himself and Mr. Porter) submitted the following 
     concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
    Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Government of the 
 People's Republic of China should immediately release Rabiya Kadeer, 
  her secretary, and her son, abide by the International Covenant on 
 Civil and Political Rights, and permit Kadeer, her secretary, and her 
          son to move to the United States if they so desire.

Whereas Rabiya Kadeer, a prominent ethnic Uighur from the Xinjiang Uighur 
        Autonomous Region (XUAR) of the People's Republic of China, her 
        secretary, and her son were arrested on August 11, 1999, in the city of 
        Urumqi;
Whereas Rabiya Kadeer's arrest occurred outside the Yindu Hotel in Urumqi as she 
        was attempting to meet a group of congressional staff staying at the 
        Yindu Hotel as part of an official visit to China organized under the 
        auspices of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Program of the 
        United States Information Agency;
Whereas Rabiya Kadeer's husband Sidik Rouzi, who has lived in the United States 
        since 1996 and works for Radio Free Asia, has been critical of the 
        policies of the People's Republic of China toward Uighurs in Xinjiang;
Whereas according to an Amnesty International press release of August 16, 1999, 
        ``It appears as though the accusations against Kadeer and her son 
        Ablikim Abdyirim may relate to her attempts to meet a visiting 
        delegation from the United States [Congress] and her communications with 
        her husband Sidik Rouzi . . .'';
Whereas reports indicate that Ablikim Abdyirim was sent to a labor camp on 
        November 26 for 2 years without trial for ``supporting Uighur 
        separatism,'' and Rabiya Kadeer's secretary was recently sentenced to 3 
        years in a labor camp;
Whereas Rabiya Kadeer has 5 children, 3 sisters, and a brother living in the 
        United States, in addition to her husband, and Kadeer has expressed a 
        desire to move to the United States;
Whereas the People's Republic of China stripped Rabiya Kadeer of her passport 
        long before her arrest;
Whereas reports indicate that Kadeer's health may be at risk and that she may be 
        sentenced to 10 or more years in prison;
Whereas repeated requests to the Government of the People's Republic of China by 
        Members of Congress and congressional staff for an explanation of the 
        nature of the charges against Rabiya Kadeer, her secretary, and her son, 
        for an update on the state of Kadeer's health, and for details of any 
        legal proceedings against those arrested, have gone unanswered since 
        August 1999;
Whereas the People's Republic of China signed the International Covenant on 
        Civil and Political Rights on October 5, 1998;
Whereas that Covenant requires signatory countries to guarantee their citizens 
        the right to legal recourse when their rights have been violated, the 
        right to liberty and freedom of movement, the right to presumption of 
        innocence until guilt is proven, the right to appeal a conviction, 
        freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, freedom of opinion and 
        expression, and freedom of assembly and association;
Whereas that Covenant forbids torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, and 
        arbitrary arrest and detention;
Whereas the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and 
        Political Rights enables the Human Rights Committee, set up under that 
        Covenant, to receive and consider communications from individuals 
        claiming to be victims of violations of any of the rights set forth in 
        the Covenant; and
Whereas in signing that Covenant on behalf of the People's Republic of China, 
        Ambassador Qin Huasun, Permanent Representative of the People's Republic 
        of China to the United Nations, said the following: ``To realize human 
        rights is the aspiration of all humanity. It is also a goal that the 
        Chinese Government has long been striving for. We believe that the 
        universality of human rights should be respected . . . As a member state 
        of the United Nations, China has always actively participated in the 
        activities of the organization in the field of human rights. It attaches 
        importance to its cooperation with agencies concerned in the U.N. system 
        . . .'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress calls on the Government of the People's Republic of 
China--
            (1) immediately to release Rabiya Kadeer, her secretary, 
        and her son; and
            (2) to permit Kadeer, her secretary, and her son to move to 
        the United States, if they so desire.
                                 <all>
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