III

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 103

Concerning the tenth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre of

June 4, 1989, in the People’s Republic of China.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 18 (legislative day, MAY 14), 1999

Mr. HUTCHINSON (for himself, Mr. WELLSTONE, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. SMITH

of New Hampshire, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. KYL, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. GRASSLEY, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. JEFFORDS, and

Mr. BROWNBACK) submitted the following resolution; which was referred

to the Committee on Foreign Relations

RESOLUTION

Concerning the tenth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square

massacre of June 4, 1989, in the People’s Republic of China.

Whereas the United States was founded on the democratic

principle that all men and women are created equal and

entitled to the exercise of their basic human rights;

Whereas freedom of expression and assembly are fundamental human rights that belong to all people and are

recognized as such under the United Nations Declaration

of Human Rights and the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights;

Whereas the death of the former General Secretary of the

Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China, Hu

Yaobang, on April 15, 1989, gave rise to peaceful pro-
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tests throughout China calling for the establishment of a

dialogue with government and party leaders on democratic reforms, including freedom of expression, freedom

of assembly, and the elimination of corruption by government officials;

Whereas after that date thousands of prodemocracy demonstrators continued to protest peacefully in and around

Tiananmen Square in Beijing until June 3 and 4, 1989,

when Chinese authorities ordered the People’s Liberation

Army and other security forces to use lethal force to disperse demonstrators in Beijing, especially around

Tiananmen Square;

Whereas nonofficial sources, a Chinese Red Cross report from

June 7, 1989, and the State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1989, gave various

estimates of the numbers of people killed and wounded

in 1989 by the People’s Liberation Army soldiers and

other security forces, but agreed that hundreds, if not

thousands, were killed and thousands more were wounded;

Whereas 20,000 people nationwide suspected of taking part

in the democracy movement were arrested and sentenced

without trial to prison or reeducation through labor, and

many were reportedly tortured;

Whereas human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch,

Human Rights in China, and Amnesty International have

documented that hundreds of those arrested remain in

prison;

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China

continues to suppress dissent by imprisoning prodemocracy activists, journalists, labor union leaders, religious
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believers, and other individuals in China and Tibet who

seek to express their political or religious views in a

peaceful manner; and

Whereas June 4, 1999, is the tenth anniversary of the date

of the Tiananmen Square massacre: Now, therefore, be

it

1 Resolved, That the Senate—

2 (1) expresses sympathy to the families of those

3 killed as a result of their participation in the democ4 racy protests of 1989 in the People’s Republic of

5 China, as well as to the families of those who have

6 been killed and to those who have suffered for their

7 efforts to keep that struggle alive during the past

8 decade;

9 (2) commends all citizens of the People’s Re10 public of China who are peacefully advocating for

11 democracy and human rights; and

12 (3) condemns the ongoing and egregious human

13 rights abuses by the Government of the People’s Re14 public of China and calls on that Government to—

15 (A) reevaluate the official verdict on the

16 June 4, 1989, Tiananmen prodemocracy activi17 ties and order relevant procuratorial organs to

18 open formal investigations on the June fourth

19 event with the goal of bringing those respon20 sible to justice;
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1 (B) establish a June Fourth Investigation

2 Committee, the proceedings and findings of

3 which should be accessible to the public, to

4 make a just and independent inquiry into all

5 matters related to June 4, 1989;

6 (C) release all prisoners of conscience, in7 cluding those still in prison as a result of their

8 participation in the peaceful prodemocracy pro9 tests of May and June 1989, provide just com10 pensation to the families of those killed in those

11 protests, and allow those exiled on account of

12 their activities in 1989 to return and live in

13 freedom in the People’s Republic of China;

14 (D) put an immediate end to harassment,

15 detention, and imprisonment of Chinese citizens

16 exercising their legitimate rights to the freedom

17 of expression, freedom of association, and free18 dom of religion; and

19 (E) demonstrate its willingness to respect

20 the rights of all Chinese citizens by proceeding

21 quickly to ratify and implement the Inter22 national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

23 which it signed on October 5, 1998.

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