III

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 81

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, and permit them to move to the United States

if they so desire.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 10, 2000

Mr. ROTH (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr.

CRAPO, Mr. DODD, Mr. THOMAS, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) submitted the

following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

Foreign 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, and

permit them 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
2

•SCON 81 IS

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
3

•SCON 81 IS

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
4

•SCON 81 IS

attaches importance to its cooperation with agencies concerned in the U.N. system . . .’’: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives

2 concurring), That Congress calls on the Government of the

3 People’s Republic of China—

4 (1) immediately to release Rabiya Kadeer, her

5 secretary, and her son; and

6 (2) to permit Kadeer, her secretary, and her

7 son to move to the United States, if they so desire.

Æ