S. Con. Res. 81 Agreed to July 24, 2000

One Hundred Sixth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,

the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand

Concurrent Resolution

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 Rabiya Kadeer was sentenced on March 10 to 8 years

in prison ‘‘with deprivation of political rights for two years’’ for

the crime of ‘‘illegally giving state information across the border’’;

Whereas the Urumqi Evening Paper of March 12 reported Rabiya

Kadeer’s case as follows: ‘‘The court investigated the following:

The defendant Rabiya Kadeer, following the request of her husband, Sidik Haji, who has settled in America, indirectly bought

a collection of the Kashgar Paper dated from 1995–1998, 27

months, and some copies of the Xinjiang Legal Paper and on

17 June 1999 sent them by post to Sidik Haji. These were found

by the customs. During July and August 1999 defendant Rabiya

Kadeer gave copies of the Ili Paper and Ili Evening Paper collected

by others to Mohammed Hashem to keep. Defendant Rabiya

Kadeer sent these to Sidik Haji. Some of these papers contained

the speeches of leaders of different levels; speeches about the

strength of rectification of public safety, news of political legal

organisations striking against national separatists and terrorist

activities etc. The papers sent were marked and folded at relevant

articles. As well as this, on 11 August that year, defendant

Rabiya Kadeer, following her husband’s phone commands, took

a previously prepared list of people who had been handled by

judicial organisations, with her to Kumush Astana Hotel [Yingdu

Hotel] where she was to meet a foreigner’’;
S. Con. Res. 81—2

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;

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
S. Con. Res. 81—3

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That 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.

Attest:

Secretary of the Senate.

Attest:

Clerk of the House of Representatives.