III 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 469 

Condemning the April 25, 2006, beating and intimidation of Cuban dissident 

Martha Beatriz Roque. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 8, 2006 

Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. DODD, Mr. 

SALAZAR, Mr. FRIST, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. 

LAUTENBERG, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. ALLARD, and Mr. GRAHAM) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Relations 

MAY 23, 2006 

Reported by Mr. LUGAR, without amendment 

MAY 25, 2006 

Considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the April 25, 2006, beating and intimidation 

of Cuban dissident Martha Beatriz Roque. 

Whereas the 47-year communist dictatorship of Fidel Castro 

in Cuba received the lowest rating from Freedom House 

in its ‘‘Freedom in the World 2005’’ report for political 

rights and civil liberties, and is categorized by that organization as ‘‘repressive’’ and having ‘‘virtually no freedom’’; 


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SRES 469 ATS

Whereas Human Rights Watch describes Cuba in its ‘‘World 

Report 2006’’ as ‘‘an undemocratic government that represses nearly all forms of political dissent’’; 

Whereas human rights observers have documented that the 

regime in Cuba attempts to intimidate human rights dissidents and their families through ‘‘acts of repudiation,’’ 

consisting of mobs of regime supporters screaming 

threats and insults; 

Whereas, on April 25, 2006, an act of repudiation against 

Martha Beatriz Roque became violent when she was 

punched, knocked down, and dragged outside her home 

in Havana while she was leaving to attend a meeting with 

Michael E. Parmly, the Chief of Mission-Designate for 

the United States Interests Section in Havana, Cuba; 

Whereas Martha Beatriz Roque is a citizen of Cuba and leader of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba, a 

coalition of 365 independent civil society groups within 

Cuba; 

Whereas, in March 2003, the regime of Fidel Castro imprisoned dozens of Cuban dissidents including Martha 

Beatriz Roque for their activities supporting freedom and 

democracy; and 

Whereas Martha Beatriz Roque was released in 2005 for 

health reasons without a pardon or a commutation of her 

sentence: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) condemns the brutality of the regime of 

3 Fidel Castro toward Martha Beatriz Roque, a 61- 

4 year-old woman in frail health; 


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SRES 469 ATS

1 (2) demands the regime of Cuba allow the peo2 ple of Cuba to exercise their fundamental human 

3 rights, rather than responding to calls for freedom 

4 with imprisonment and intimidation; 

5 (3) commends the courage and perseverance of 

6 Martha Beatriz Roque and all dissidents in Cuba; 

7 (4) calls on the regime of Cuba to release the 

8 hundreds of political prisoners still held today and to 

9 stop the intimidation of dissidents and their families; 

10 and 

11 (5) calls for continued international support 

12 and solidarity with pro-democracy leaders in Cuba. 

Æ 


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