I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5382 

To promote the development of democratic institutions and full respect for 

human rights in the countries of Central Asia. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 11, 2006 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. 

LANTOS, Mr. PITTS, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, and Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS

of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on 

the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To promote the development of democratic institutions and 

full respect for human rights in the countries of Central 

Asia. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Central Asia Democ5 racy and Human Rights Promotion Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Fifteen years after independence, the five 

2 countries of Central Asia—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, 

3 Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—are 

4 struggling, to varying degrees, with their transition 

5 from authoritarian rule to democratic societies that 

6 fully respect human rights and uphold their freely 

7 undertaken commitments as participating States in 

8 the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 

9 Europe (OSCE). 

10 (2) As OSCE participating States, the countries 

11 of Central Asia committed themselves in the Charter 

12 of Paris for a New Europe to ‘‘build, consolidate 

13 and strengthen democracy as the only system of gov14 ernment of our nations’’. 

15 (3) In the Global War on Terrorism, the United 

16 States is increasingly engaged with the countries of 

17 Central Asia on a political, economic, and military 

18 basis. 

19 (4) In the Global War on Terrorism, policies 

20 that bolster authoritarian governments which sup21 press and terrorize their own people will ultimately 

22 be self defeating, as repression often breeds extre23 mism and terrorism. 

24 (5) The Final Report of the National Commis25 sion on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States 


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1 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘9/11 Commission’’) 

2 recommended: ‘‘[T]he United States must stand for 

3 a better future. One of the lessons of the long Cold 

4 War was that short-term gains in cooperating with 

5 the most repressive and brutal governments were too 

6 often outweighed by long-term setbacks for Amer7 ica’s stature and interests.’’. 

8 (6) The September 2004 Final Report of the 

9 Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic 

10 Communication stated: ‘‘The perception of intimate 

11 U.S. support of tyrannies in the Muslim World is 

12 perhaps the critical vulnerability in American strat13 egy. It strongly undercuts our message, while 

14 strongly promoting that of the enemy.’’. 

15 (7) In a speech to the United Nations General 

16 Assembly on September 21, 2004, President George 

17 W. Bush stated: ‘‘People everywhere are capable of 

18 freedom, and worthy of freedom . . . For too long, 

19 many nations, including my own, tolerated, even ex20 cused, oppression in the Middle East in the name of 

21 stability. Oppression became common, but stability 

22 never arrived. We must take a different approach.’’. 

23 (8) In his second inaugural address on January 

24 20, 2005, President George W. Bush stated: ‘‘For 

25 as long as whole regions of the world simmer in reVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:24 May 14, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5382.IH H5382

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1 sentment and tyranny—prone to ideologies that feed 

2 hatred and excuse murder—violence will gather, and 

3 multiply in destructive power, and cross the most de4 fended borders, and raise a mortal threat.’’. In this 

5 address, President Bush further declared: ‘‘It is the 

6 policy of the United States to seek and support the 

7 growth of democratic movements and institutions in 

8 every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of 

9 ending tyranny in our world.’’. 

10 (9) The October 2005 National Intelligence 

11 Strategy of the United States of America, issued by 

12 the Director of National Intelligence, stated: ‘‘We 

13 have learned at our peril that the lack of freedom in 

14 one state endangers the peace and freedom of oth15 ers. . . . Self-sustaining democratic states are essen16 tial to world peace and development.’’. 

17 (10) The March 2006 National Security Strat18 egy of the United States of America states: ‘‘The 

19 United States must defend liberty and justice be20 cause these principles are right and true for all peo21 ple everywhere.’’. 

22 (11) The National Security Strategy of the 

23 United States of America further elaborates: ‘‘These 

24 nonnegotiable demands of human dignity are pro25 tected most securely in democracies. The United 


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1 States Government will work to advance human dig2 nity in word and deed, speaking out for freedom and 

3 against violations of human rights and allocating ap4 propriate resources to advance these ideals.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

6 It is the sense of Congress that— 

7 (1) the United States should support those gov8 ernments and individuals making substantial and 

9 sustained progress to establish democracy, guarantee 

10 the rule of law, and protect human rights; 

11 (2) the United States should use every peaceful 

12 means at its disposal to encourage the countries of 

13 Central Asia to provide greater respect for democ14 racy, the rule of law, and human rights, thereby pro15 moting the long-term stability and security of the 

16 Central Asian region, and ensure that all assistance 

17 programs for the Central Asian region support and 

18 communicate this goal; and 

19 (3) the United States should seek and support 

20 the growth of democratic movements and institu21 tions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate 

22 goal of ending tyranny in our world. 


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1 SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY, RULE OF 

2 LAW, AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE COUN3 TRIES OF CENTRAL ASIA. 

4 (a) PURPOSES OF ASSISTANCE.—The purposes of as5 sistance under this section include— 

6 (1) to encourage free and fair presidential, par7 liamentary, and local elections in the countries of 

8 Central Asia, conducted in a manner consistent with 

9 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Eu10 rope (OSCE) and internationally accepted stand11 ards; 

12 (2) to ensure in the countries of Central Asia 

13 the full respect for all human rights, including free14 dom of expression and the media, freedom of reli15 gion and association, prevention of torture, and the 

16 end of human trafficking from, to, and through the 

17 Central Asian region, conducted in a manner con18 sistent with OSCE and internationally accepted 

19 standards; and 

20 (3) to develop rule of law, in particular inde21 pendent judicial systems and professional law en22 forcement, and to combat corruption, conducted in a 

23 manner consistent with OSCE and internationally 

24 accepted standards. 

25 (b) AUTHORIZATION FOR ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the purposes of 

2 subsection (a), the President is authorized to provide 

3 assistance for the countries of Central Asia to sup4 port the activities described in subsection (c). 

5 (2) LIMITATION.—The authority to provide as6 sistance for the countries of Central Asia under 

7 paragraph (1) shall be subject to all applicable limi8 tations on assistance for such countries and other 

9 requirements relating to assistance for such coun10 tries under any Act making appropriations for for11 eign operations, export financing, and related pro12 grams. 

13 (c) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Activities that may be 

14 supported by assistance under subsection (b) include— 

15 (1) observing elections and promoting free and 

16 fair electoral processes; 

17 (2) encouraging the development of sustainable 

18 civic structures representative of society, such as en19 vironmental groups, independent labor unions, demo20 cratic political parties, and other community-based 

21 organizations; 

22 (3) maintaining libraries in the languages of 

23 Central Asia to explain democracy in the United 

24 States; 


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1 (4) developing independent media to work in 

2 the countries of Central Asia, supported by 

3 nonstate-controlled printing facilities; 

4 (5) independent radio and television broad5 casting to and within the countries of Central Asia; 

6 (6) encouraging the liberalization of laws affect7 ing religious practice and their enforcement to pro8 mote greater freedoms for individuals to meet alone 

9 or in community with others, to move freely, and in 

10 the sharing of beliefs; 

11 (7) educating law enforcement officials with re12 spect to the existence and enforcement of legal pro13 hibitions concerning torture; 

14 (8) prosecuting human traffickers, as well as 

15 providing increased police training and education ef16 forts, including on forced labor; 

17 (9) training and assistance for judicial reform 

18 and development; 

19 (10) training in democratic governance and 

20 human rights for nationals and exiles of the coun21 tries of Central Asia who are unable to live in their 

22 own country due to fear of persecution; 

23 (11) training in effective human rights and hu24 manitarian law as a part of non-lethal training pro25 grams for units of the security forces of the counVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:24 May 14, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5382.IH H5382

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1 tries of Central Asia (other than any unit of the se2 curity forces of such countries with respect to which 

3 the Secretary of State has credible evidence that 

4 such unit has committed gross violations of human 

5 rights); 

6 (12) establishing programs to combat corrup7 tion and support good governance; and 

8 (13) other activities consistent with the pur9 poses of this section. 

10 (d) REPORT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

13 thereafter, the President shall transmit to the appro14 priate congressional committees a report on assist15 ance provided for the countries of Central Asia 

16 under this section for the one-year period ending 30 

17 days prior to the transmission of the report. 

18 (2) CONTENTS.—The report shall include with 

19 respect to each country of Central Asia a detailed 

20 description of each of the following: 

21 (A) The types and amount of assistance 

22 provided under this section, including the types 

23 and amount of defense articles and defense 

24 services and the amount of financial assistance. 

25 In addition, the name of each department or 


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1 agency of the Government of the United States 

2 that provides assistance under this section and 

3 the name of each recipient of such assistance. 

4 (B) The use of such assistance, including 

5 the use of defense articles, defense services, and 

6 financial assistance, by units of the armed 

7 forces, border guards, or other security forces 

8 of the country. 

9 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

11 appropriated to the President to carry out this sec12 tion $118,200,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007 

13 and 2008. 

14 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur15 suant to the authorization of appropriations under 

16 paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available 

17 until expended. 

18 SEC. 5. RADIO BROADCASTING TO THE COUNTRIES OF CEN19 TRAL ASIA. 

20 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to au21 thorize increased support for surrogate radio broadcasting 

22 to the countries of Central Asia that will facilitate the 

23 unhindered dissemination of information in the Central 

24 Asian region regarding the activities supported by this 

25 Act. 


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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi2 tion to such sums as are otherwise authorized to be appro3 priated, there are authorized to be appropriated 

4 $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007 and 2008 

5 for Voice of America and RFE/RL, Incorporated for ex6 panded radio broadcasting to the people of the countries 

7 of Central Asia in languages spoken in Central Asia, in8 cluding broadcasting in the Russian language, and the es9 tablishment of Internet websites. 

10 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 

12 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re13 port on how funds are appropriated and allocated pursu14 ant to the authorizations of appropriations under sub15 section (b) and section 4(e) will be used to provide short16 wave, AM, and FM broadcasting that covers the Central 

17 Asian region and delivers independent and uncensored 

18 programming. 

19 SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO 

20 THE GOVERNMENTS OF COUNTRIES OF CEN21 TRAL ASIA. 

22 (a) LIMITATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts made available by 

24 an Act making appropriations for foreign operations, 

25 export financing, and related programs for a fiscal 


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1 year may be provided to the government of a coun2 try of Central Asia only if the Secretary of State 

3 certifies to the appropriate congressional committees 

4 that the government of the country has made signifi5 cant improvements in the protection of human rights 

6 during the preceding one-year period, including in 

7 the areas of democratization, speech and press free8 doms, freedom of religion, efforts to combat torture, 

9 and the rule of law. 

10 (2) ADDITIONAL LIMITATION.—The limitation 

11 on assistance for the government of a country of 

12 Central Asia under paragraph (1) is in addition to 

13 any other applicable limitation on assistance for 

14 such government and any other requirement relating 

15 to assistance for such government under any Act 

16 making appropriations for foreign operations, export 

17 financing, and related programs. 

18 (b) WAIVER.—The Secretary of State may waive the 

19 application of subsection (a) with respect to the govern20 ment of a country of Central Asia if the Secretary deter21 mines and reports to the appropriate congressional com22 mittees that such a waiver is important to the national 

23 security of the United States and includes the reasons for 

24 the determination. 


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1 (c) USE OF WITHHELD ASSISTANCE.—Any amounts 

2 withheld from obligation and expenditure for assistance to 

3 the government of a country of Central Asia by reason 

4 of the application of subsection (a) for a fiscal year are 

5 authorized to be made available for assistance for training 

6 relating to democratic governance and human rights for 

7 domestic civil society groups or nationals or exiles of the 

8 Central Asian country who are unable to live in their own 

9 country due to fear of persecution. 

10 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 

11 section apply with respect to funds appropriated for assist12 ance for the governments of the countries of Central Asia 

13 for fiscal years 2007 and 2008. 

14 SEC. 7. SANCTIONS AGAINST UZBEKISTAN. 

15 (a) LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE.—Amounts made 

16 available by an Act making appropriations for foreign op17 erations, export financing, and related programs for a fis18 cal year may be provided to the central Government of 

19 Uzbekistan only if the Secretary of State determines and 

20 reports to the appropriate congressional committees 

21 that— 

22 (1) the Government of Uzbekistan is making 

23 substantial and continuing progress in meeting its 

24 commitments under the ‘Declaration on the Stra25 tegic Partnership and Cooperation Framework BeVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:24 May 14, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5382.IH H5382

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1 tween the Republic of Uzbekistan and the United 

2 States of America’, including respect for human 

3 rights, establishing a genuine multi-party system, 

4 and ensuring free and fair elections, freedom of ex5 pression, and the independence of the media; and 

6 (2) a credible international investigation of the 

7 May 13, 2005, shootings in Andijan is underway 

8 with the support of the Government of Uzbekistan. 

9 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF INDIVIDUALS TO BE SUB10 JECT TO RESTRICTIONS.—The Secretary of State shall— 

11 (1) identify Uzbek officials, their immediate 

12 family members, and any associates of those so 

13 named, implicated in the Andijan massacre, involved 

14 through the chain of command in such abuses, or in15 volved in other gross violations of human rights com16 mitted in Uzbekistan; and 

17 (2) notify the Secretary of the Treasury, Attor18 ney General, and the appropriate congressional com19 mittees of such identification. 

20 (c) FREEZING OF ASSETS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas22 ury shall immediately block any assets, property, 

23 transactions in foreign exchange, currency, or securi24 ties, and transfers of credit or payments between, 

25 by, through, or to any banking institution under the 


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1 jurisdiction of the United States of an individual 

2 identified under subsection (b) of this section. 

3 (2) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 

4 14 days after a decision to freeze the assets identi5 fied in this subsection of any individual identified 

6 under subsection (b), the Secretary of the Treasury 

7 shall— 

8 (A) report the name of such individual to 

9 the appropriate congressional committees; and 

10 (B) require any United States financial in11 stitution holding such funds or assets shall 

12 promptly report those funds and assets to the 

13 Office of Foreign Assets Control. 

14 (d) VISA BAN.—The Secretary of State may not issue 

15 any visa to, and the Attorney General may not admit to 

16 the United States, any individual identified under sub17 section (b) of this section. 

18 (e) WAIVER.—The Secretary of the Treasury may 

19 waive the prohibition in subsection (c) and the Secretary 

20 of State may waive the prohibition in subsection (d) if the 

21 Secretary concerned determines and certifies to the appro22 priate congressional committees that it is important to the 

23 national security of the United States to do so. 

24 (f) MUNITIONS EXPORT LICENSES.—The Secretary 

25 of State shall prohibit the export to Uzbekistan of any 


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1 item, including the issuance of a license for the export of 

2 any item, on the United States Munitions List. The Sec3 retary of Commerce shall prohibit the export to 

4 Uzbekistan of any item on the Commerce Control List of 

5 dual-use items in the Export Administration Regulations. 

6 (g) REPORT REGARDING UNITED STATES POLICY

7 TOWARD UZBEKISTAN.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

10 of State shall submit to the appropriate congres11 sional committees a report regarding United States 

12 policy toward Uzbekistan. 

13 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required by para14 graph (1) shall include a detailed description of each 

15 of the following: 

16 (A) The objectives of United States policy 

17 toward Uzbekistan with respect to democratiza18 tion, human rights, economic reforms, regional 

19 security, and the war on terrorism. 

20 (B) The strategy of the Government of the 

21 United States for achieving the objectives de22 scribed under subparagraph (A). 

23 (C) The steps taken by the Government of 

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1 sacre in Andijan and the decision of the Gov2 ernment of Uzbekistan to expel United States 

3 military forces from Uzbekistan. 

4 (3) FORM.—The report required by paragraph 

5 (1) shall be in unclassified form but may contain a 

6 classified annex. 

7 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of— 

8 (1) subsection (a) apply with respect to funds 

9 appropriated for assistance for the Government of 

10 Uzbekistan for fiscal years 2007 and 2008; and 

11 (2) subsections (b) through (f) apply during fis12 cal years 2007 and 2008. 

13 SEC. 8. REPORT. 

14 Prior to the initial obligation of assistance for the 

15 government of a country of Central Asia for a fiscal year, 

16 the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate con17 gressional committees a report describing— 

18 (1) whether the government is forcibly return19 ing Uzbeks or other refugees who have fled violence 

20 and political persecution, in violation of the 1951 

21 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refu22 gees and the Convention Against Torture and Other 

23 Forms of Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment; 

24 (2) efforts made by the United States to pre25 vent such returns; and 


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1 (3) the response of the government to those sit2 uations. 

3 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means— 

8 (A) the Committee on Appropriations and 

9 the Committee on International Relations of the 

10 House of Representatives; and 

11 (B) the Committee on Appropriations and 

12 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen13 ate. 

14 (2) COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL ASIA.—The term 

15 ‘‘countries of Central Asia’’ means Kazakhstan, 

16 Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and 

17 Uzbekistan. 

Æ 


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