III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 241 

Recognizing widening threats to freedom of the press and free expression 

around the world, and reaffirming the vital role that a free and independent press plays in informing local and international audiences about 

public health crises, countering misinformation and disinformation, and 

furthering discourse and debate to advance healthy democracies in commemoration of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2021. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 26, 2021 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. COONS, Mr. 

KAINE, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr. BOOZMAN) submitted 

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

Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing widening threats to freedom of the press and 

free expression around the world, and reaffirming the 

vital role that a free and independent press plays in 

informing local and international audiences about public 

health crises, countering misinformation and disinformation, and furthering discourse and debate to advance 

healthy democracies in commemoration of World Press 

Freedom Day on May 3, 2021. 

Whereas Thomas Jefferson, who championed the necessity of 

a free press for a thriving democratic society, wisely deVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR241.IS SR241

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clared, ‘‘Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, 

and that cannot be limited without being lost.’’; 

Whereas Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in Paris on December 10, 

1948, states, ‘‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold 

opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.’’; 

Whereas, in 1993, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the third day of May of each year to be ‘‘World 

Press Freedom Day’’— 

(1) to celebrate the fundamental principles of freedom of the press; 

(2) to evaluate freedom of the press around the 

world; 

(3) to defend the media against attacks on its independence; and 

(4) to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their 

lives while working in their profession; 

Whereas the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act of 2009 

(Public Law 111–166) expanded the examination of the 

freedom of the press around the world in the annual 

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices published 

by the Department of State; 

Whereas, on December 18, 2013, and December 18, 2019, 

the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 

68/163 and Resolution 74/157, respectively, on the safety 

of journalists and the problem of impunity, unequivocally 

condemning all attacks on, and violence against, journalists and media workers, including torture, extrajudicial 

killing, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, and 


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intimidation and harassment in conflict and nonconflict 

situations; 

Whereas the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and various State constitutions protect freedom of 

the press in the United States; 

Whereas the United States Government has used the Global 

Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F 

of title XII of Public Law 114–328) to place targeted 

visa and economic restrictions on individuals, including 

for their roles in the targeted killings of journalists; 

Whereas, in an effort to combat attacks against journalists, 

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken recently announced 

a new policy allowing the Department of State to impose 

visa restrictions on individuals who, acting on behalf of 

a foreign government, are believed to have been directly 

engaged in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities, including those that suppress, harass, surveil, 

threaten, or harm journalists, activists, or other persons 

perceived to be dissidents for their work; 

Whereas the 2021 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by 

Reporters Without Borders, warns that the COVID–19 

pandemic ‘‘illustrates the negative factors threatening the 

right to reliable information’’ and amplifies the many crises that threaten media freedom and pluralism; 

Whereas the Freedom in the World 2021 report, published by 

Freedom House, noted that 2020 was an especially hazardous year for democracy, during which ‘‘less than 20 

percent of the world’s population [then lived] in a Free 

country, the smallest proportion since 1995’’; 

Whereas, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists— 


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(1) at least 30 journalists were killed in 2020, 21 of 

whom were singled out in retaliation for their work, an 

increase from 10 murders in 2019; 

(2) Mexico, Afghanistan, and the Philippines had 

the most retaliatory killings in 2020; 

(3) at least 274 journalists were behind bars in relation to their work on December 1, 2020, marking the 

fifth consecutive year that at least 250 journalists were 

imprisoned globally; 

(4) China, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia were 

responsible for nearly half of all jailed journalists worldwide; 

(5) journalists around the world have been targeted 

by sophisticated spyware products that pose a severe risk 

to their safety and the safety of their sources; and 

(6) the world’s most censored countries include Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, China, 

Vietnam, Iran, Equatorial Guinea, Belarus, and Cuba; 

Whereas the Government of China has unleashed an onslaught of attacks on press freedom in China and Hong 

Kong, including through— 

(1) state-sponsored censorship and disinformation 

campaigns limiting access to information about the novel 

coronavirus, including through its censorship of virus-related keywords on social media platforms; 

(2) attacks on press freedom in Hong Kong, including the passage of the National Security Law, which 

poses an existential threat to the city’s tradition of press 

freedom, and the arrest and subsequent conviction of 

Jimmy Lai, owner of Hong Kong’s largest media outlet, 

Apple Daily, and an outspoken democracy advocate; 

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tempting to share uncensored news or opinion about the 

COVID–19 outbreak, including the detention of citizen 

journalist Chen Qiushi, who remains incommunicado; and 

(4) the detention of journalists critical of the Government of China, including Chen Jieren, who was sentenced to 15 years in 2020, following 2 years of incommunicado detention, after blogging about allegations of 

corrupt local officials; 

Whereas Afghanistan remains one of the most dangerous 

countries for journalists, with— 

(1) militant groups targeting at least 4 journalists 

for murder in retaliation for their work in 2020; and 

(2) at least 4 media workers killed in early 2021; 

Whereas Belarus has witnessed sweeping attacks against the 

press since Alexander Lukashenka’s fraudulent election 

in August 2020, where since the beginning of 2020, nearly 550 journalists and media workers have been harassed, 

assaulted, imprisoned, or otherwise retaliated against for 

their work, including— 

(1) Katsiaryna Barysevich, a physician, and 

Artsyom Sarokin, a journalist, who were respectively 

charged with 6 months and 2 years in a penal colony (on 

charges of disclosing medical data and instigating a 

crime, respectively) for disclosing information about a 

protestor who was killed during a crackdown on demonstrations against President Lukashenka; 

(2) Katerina Borisevich, a journalist charged with 6 

months in prison after contradicting official statements 

about the cause of death of a protester; and 

(3) Katsiaryna Andreyeva and Daria Chultsova, 

journalists sentenced to 2 years in prison (on charges of 


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violating public order) for filming live coverage of the violent dispersal of a protest against President Lukashenka; 

Whereas Reporters Without Borders asserts that ‘‘press freedom in [Burma] has been set back ten years in ten days’’ 

after the February 2021 military coup, during which— 

(1) at least 40 journalists were arrested, including 

BBC journalist Aung Thura and Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw; 

(2) media workers were forced into hiding and confronted censorship, harassment, internet blocks, beatings, 

interrogations, threats, and injuries at the hands of the 

military; and 

(3) multiple independent media outlets had to cease 

operations or close altogether or had their licenses revoked by the military; 

Whereas Cuba remains a highly restricted environment for 

independent media, marked by internet restrictions and 

constant harassment of journalists and news outlets, including— 

(1) independent journalist Yoel Suarez, who was 

summoned to a police station in March 2021 for the second time in 2 months as a result of his work; 

(2) Iliana Hernandez, who was charged with illegally 

possessing journalistic equipment in January 2020; 

(3) Luz Escobar, a journalist who was repeatedly 

barred by security forces from leaving her home; 

(4) an official notice from the Cuban Ministry of 

Labor and Social Security in February reiterating the 

longstanding government policy that bars independent 

‘‘journalists activities’’ and the independent publishing of 

‘‘edition of newspapers, tabloids and magazines in any 

format’’; and 


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(5) a March 2020 raid on the office of the Instituto 

Cubano por la Libertad de Expression y Prensa (ICLEP) 

publication Paginas Villarenas, during which Cuban Government authorities confiscated equipment and detained 

multiple journalists; 

Whereas Egypt’s restrictions on the media have accelerated 

under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi since 2013, with at 

least 27 journalists imprisoned during 2020, including— 

(1) Esraa Abdelfattah, who has attempted multiple 

hunger strikes to protest her torture and mistreatment 

while detained; 

(2) Shimaa Samy, who was detained on charges of 

joining a terrorist organization, spreading false news, and 

misusing social media for his work; 

(3) Hisham Abdel Aziz, an Al Jazeera journalist on 

the verge of losing his eyesight following untreated glaucoma while in prison; and 

(4) Mahmoud Abou Zeid, who was released after 5 

years in prison, but remains subject to a 5-year probation 

term that requires him to spend the hours of 6:00 p.m. 

through 6:00 a.m. at a police station every night; 

Whereas assaults on press freedom in El Salvador imperil its 

fragile democracy and include both verbal attacks on 

journalists by political leaders and use of state power to 

intimidate independent media, such as— 

(1) the ongoing criminal investigation against outlet 

El Faro, which was launched after it reported damaging 

information about the administration; and 

(2) the online attacks and threats to journalists 

from the outlet Revista Factum, which has been banned 

from press conferences at the presidential residence; 


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Whereas, according to Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House, Indian authorities have recently imposed 

internet and communication blackouts, detained and 

charged journalists covering political demonstrations, and 

called for the temporary blockage of journalists and 

media accounts on Twitter; 

Whereas Iran remains a hostile environment for the press, 

where media workers are subjected to summons, arrests, 

and unjust sentences, including— 

(1) investigative journalist Ruhollah Zam, who was 

executed on December 4, 2020, after being disappeared 

in October 2019 and charged with ‘‘corruption on earth’’ 

for his reporting; 

(2) freelance journalist Fariborz Kalantari, who was 

sentenced on February 7, 2021, to 7 years in prison and 

74 lashes for using his telegram channel to circulate articles about corruption charges brought against the ex-Vice 

President’s brother; and 

(3) editor of weekly Agrin Rozh, Mahmoud 

Mahmoudi, who was arrested by agents of the Ministry 

of Intelligence in Sanandaj after issuing an open letter 

calling for the release of detained Kurdish activists; 

Whereas Reporters Without Borders reported that Mexico 

was the world’s deadliest country for journalists outside 

of a war zone in 2020, where reporters covering stories 

on political corruption and organized crime are frequently 

assaulted and murdered, including— 

(1) Ruben Pat, a local news website editor who was 

gunned down on the street after requesting urgent protection when one of his reporters, Jose Guadalupe Chan 

Dzib, was murdered; and 


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(2) Mario Leonel Gomez Sanchez, a journalist who 

was murdered in the southern state of Chiapas after covering cases of increased violence and alleged corruption 

implicating municipal officials; 

Whereas, on March 1, 2021, the Day of the Journalist in 

Nicaragua, 470 journalists from around the world signed 

a letter denouncing years of persecution of journalists in 

Nicaragua, which has included news outlets forced to 

close and individual journalists being threatened, harassed, sued, surveilled, jailed, and forced into exile, including— 

(1) Miguel A ́ngel Gahona, who was shot in April 

2018 while filming riots; and 

(2) Miguel Mora, Director of 100% Noticias, and 

journalist Lucia Pineda, who were arrested in April 2018 

and subsequently tortured; 

Whereas Honduras remains one of the Western Hemisphere’s 

deadliest countries for journalists, where those working 

for opposition media or who are outspoken critics of the 

government are subjected to harassment, intimidation, 

and death threats by the country’s security forces and its 

affiliates, including— 

(1) freelance journalist Luı ́s Alonzo Almendares, 

who was killed by 2 unidentified individuals in Comayagua in September 2020; and 

(2) radio journalist Pedro Arca ́ngel Canelas, who 

was shot and killed in the rural department of Olancho 

in December 2020; 

Whereas media workers face heightened dangers in Russia, 

where more than 210 rights infractions took place during 

protests following the arrest of opposition leader Alexander Navalny in January and February 2021, and wideVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR241.IS SR241

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spread harassment, censorship, and state-driven retaliation are commonplace, including in the cases of— 

(1) Sergei Smirnov, who was sentenced to 25 days 

in jail after sharing a joke on Twitter that called for 

‘‘rallies in support of Navalny’’; 

(2) Dmitry Nikitin, who was detained while covering 

a protest; 

(3) Elena Kostyuchenko, a journalist detained after 

covering a protest in Sochi; 

(4) Ivan Kleimenov, a freelance photographer who 

was severely beaten by police with a stun gun while covering a protest, and consequently sentenced to 10 days 

in jail; 

(5) Ivan Safronov, a former investigative journalist 

arrested in July 2020 on politically motivated charges of 

treason; and 

(6) Svetlana Prokopieva, a correspondent for Radio 

Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Echo of Moscow, who 

was found guilty of ‘‘inciting terrorism’’ and fined 

500,000 rubles after reporting on the suicide of a 17- 

year-old inside a Federal Security Service building; 

Whereas in the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, Ukrainian 

journalists and bloggers have repeatedly been threatened, 

arrested, and tortured for resisting Russian occupation, 

such as the detention of Crimean journalist Vladyslav 

Yesipenko and Crimean Tatar journalists Osman 

Arifmemetov, Rustem Sheikhaliev, and Remzi Bekirov; 

Whereas the Office of the Director of National Intelligence 

has concluded that the murder of Washington Post journalist and American resident Jamal Khashoggi in 

Istanbul in 2018 was approved by Saudi Crown Prince 

Mohamed bin Salman; 


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Whereas the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia maintains an especially hostile environment towards journalists through 

systematic and arbitrary arrests, torture and inhumane 

or degrading treatment, lengthy pre-trial detentions, political persecution, and conditional release restrictions, 

which inhibit reporters and columnists from traveling or 

returning to their professional work post-detention, including— 

(1) Maha Al-Rafidi Al-Qahtani, a journalist and 

writer arrested in September 2019, held in solitary confinement, and physically abused while in prison; 

(2) Redha Al-Boori, a writer and journalist detained 

for almost 2 years in an unknown location; 

(3) Khadija Al-Harbi, a Saudi feminist writer and 

online commentator arrested alongside her husband, journalist and blogger Thumar Al-Marzouqi, while in the late 

stages of pregnancy; and 

(4) Saleh Al-Shehi, a noted anti-corruption columnist sentenced to 5 years in prison in 2018 for ‘‘insulting the royal court’’, who died 3 weeks after his release from prison; 

Whereas the battle for a free press continues to be fought in 

Southeast Asia, where– 

(1) Bangladeshi journalists have repeatedly been arrested and charged under the Digital Security Act, some 

of whom have been subjected to torture and one of whom 

died in custody; 

(2) Steven Gan, the Editor-in-Chief of the news organization Malaysiakini, was interrogated after readers 

left comments criticizing Malaysia’s judiciary on a 

Mayalysiakini article reporting on a court’s lifting of a 

coronavirus lockdown; 


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(3) Filipino-American journalist Maria Ressa has 

been targeted by the Filipino Government’s aggressive 

campaign against independent media after her reporting 

on President Duterte’s ‘‘war on drugs’’; 

(4) Thum Ping Tjin, founder and director of New 

Naratif, a democracy-focused media organization, was detained by Singaporean police after being accused of publishing unauthorized and ‘‘illegal’’ paid advertisements on 

Facebook during the July election campaign; and 

(5) Vietnamese journalists Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen 

Tuong Thuy, and Le Huu Minh Tuan were each sentenced to more than 10 years in prison; 

Whereas press freedom continues to face challenges in subSaharan Africa, including in— 

(1) Ethiopia, where journalist Lucy Kassa was questioned by unidentified men on her reporting of the Government of Ethiopia’s armed conflict with the Tigray 

People’s Liberation Front and whose house was ransacked; 

(2) Cameroon, where journalist Samuel Wazizi was 

arrested for his reporting and held incommunicado for 

nearly one year before the government announced that he 

had died in custody; 

(3) Ghana, where Manasseh Azure Awuni received 

death threats as a result of his reporting on the Ghanaian election; 

(4) Nigeria, where the press faces a ‘‘climate of permanent violence’’ and journalists, including Omoyele 

Sowore, have been ‘‘spied on, attacked, arbitrarily arrested, or even killed’’; 

(5) South Sudan, where reporter Bullen Alexander 

was detained without cause for 4 days while covering the 

University of Juba’s student protests and Christopher 


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Allen was killed with impunity and without investigation 

while reporting on the civil war; and 

(6) Zimbabwe, where journalist and filmmaker 

Hopewell Chin’ono was abducted from his home and sentenced 45 days with an iron leg chain for his live-streaming of protests and investigative reporting; 

Whereas the Turkish Journalists’ Association reported that— 

(1) in 2020— 

(A) 1 out of every 4 Turkish journalists was 

subjected to physical violence; 

(B) 1 out of every 2 Turkish journalists were 

threatened; and 

(C) 1 out of every 5 Turkish journalists faced 

trial (often on fabricated terrorism charges); and 

(2) Turkey is maintaining its standing as— 

(A) 1 of the world’s most oppressive environments for press freedom; and 

(B) 1 of the world’s leading jailers of journalists; 

Whereas the Government of Venezuela continues to target 

independent media outlets, attacking freedom of expression and severely limiting Venezuelan access to accurate 

information with at least 7 different media outlets targeted in 2021, including an incident in January 2021 

where government officials entered the studio of the independent news station Venezolanos por la Informacio ́n in 

Caracas without a warrant, seized their work equipment, 

and threatened the journalists with arrest if they continued to report; 

Whereas, under the auspices of the United States Agency for 

Global Media, the United States Government provides financial assistance to several editorially independent 


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media outlets, including Voice of America, Radio Free 

Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, the Office of 

Cuba Broadcasting, and the Middle East Broadcast Networks— 

(1) which report and broadcast news, information, 

and analysis in critical regions around the world; and 

(2) whose journalists regularly face harassment, 

fines, and imprisonment for their work; and 

Whereas the freedom of the press— 

(1) is a key component of democratic governance, 

activism in civil society, and socioeconomic development; 

and 

(2) enhances public accountability, transparency, 

and participation in civil society and democratic governance: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) declares that a free press— 

3 (A) is a central component of free soci4 eties, democratic governance, and contributes to 

5 an informed civil society, and government ac6 countability; 

7 (B) helps expose corruption, and enhances 

8 public accountability and transparency of gov9 ernments at all levels; and 

10 (C) disseminates information essential to 

11 improving public health and safety; 


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1 (2) expresses concerns about threats to press 

2 freedom and freedom of expression around the 

3 world; 

4 (3) recognizes and commends journalism’s role 

5 in providing trusted, accurate, and timely informa6 tion and in holding governments and leaders ac7 countable to citizens; 

8 (4) is dismayed that, under cover of the 

9 COVID–19 pandemic, many governments have re10 stricted the work of journalists reporting on the pub11 lic health crisis and on peaceful protests on a variety 

12 of issues; 

13 (5) pays tribute to journalists who made tre14 mendous sacrifices, including the loss of their lives, 

15 in the pursuit of truth and justice; 

16 (6) condemns all actions around the world that 

17 suppress freedom of the press; 

18 (7) calls for the unconditional and immediate 

19 release of all imprisoned journalists; 

20 (8) reaffirms the centrality of freedom of the 

21 press to efforts of the United States Government to 

22 support democracy, mitigate conflict, and promote 

23 good governance domestically and around the world; 

24 and 


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1 (9) calls on the President and the Secretary of 

2 State— 

3 (A) to preserve and build upon the leader4 ship of the United States on issues relating to 

5 freedom of the press, on the basis of the protec6 tions afforded the American people under the 

7 First Amendment to the Constitution of the 

8 United States; 

9 (B) to transparently investigate and bring 

10 to justice the perpetrators of attacks against 

11 journalists; and 

12 (C) to promote the respect and protection 

13 of freedom of the press around the world. 

Æ 


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