III 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 372 

Recognizing the importance of the United States-Egypt relationship, and 

urging the Government of Egypt to protect civil liberties and cease 

intimidation and prosecution of civil society workers and democracy activists, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2012 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. INHOFE, Mrs. BOXER, and Mr. DURBIN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the importance of the United States-Egypt relationship, and urging the Government of Egypt to protect 

civil liberties and cease intimidation and prosecution of 

civil society workers and democracy activists, and for 

other purposes. 

Whereas the Governments and people of the United States 

and Egypt enjoy a long history of a strong strategic partnership; 

Whereas the United States Government seeks to maintain robust bilateral relations with the Government and people 

of Egypt so that they may continue to work together toward our shared goals of peace, security, and economic 

prosperity in Egypt and the region; 


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•SRES 372 IS 

Whereas, on February 11, 2011, peaceful mass protests succeeded in bringing an end to the authoritarian rule of 

Hosni Mubarak; 

Whereas the United States Government and the international 

community stood by the people of Egypt as they began 

to undertake their transition to a democracy; 

Whereas there have been numerous clashes between security 

personnel and protesters, including Egyptians who were 

calling for a swifter transition to civilian-led rule; 

Whereas, on November 28 and 29, 2011, the first of three 

rounds of parliamentary elections began in Egypt, which 

have been deemed largely free and fair by civil society observers and monitors; 

Whereas United States-based organizations such as the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican 

Institute, Freedom House, and the International Center 

for Journalists were in Egypt to support and promote 

democratic activity, including elections, adherence to the 

rule of law, and the existence of a free press; 

Whereas certain of those organizations had been operating 

openly in Egypt for many years, had long sought formal 

registration and had never received rejections of their applications, had exhibited an unprecedented level of transparency, and had only recently become the targets of malicious reporting by state-run media in Egypt; 

Whereas, on December 29, 2011, the Government of Egypt 

raided the offices of the National Democratic Institute, 

the International Republican Institute, Freedom House, 

the International Center for Journalists, and several 

other Egyptian and international civil society organizaVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:27 Feb 14, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR372.IS SR372

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•SRES 372 IS 

tions in Egypt, confiscating their property and equipment; 

Whereas the Government of Egypt announced that it would 

launch investigations into hundreds of civil society organizations, has targeted and interrogated staff of these organizations, and has imposed restrictions on the movement of United States citizens who are staff members of 

these organizations, including placing them on a ‘‘no-fly’’ 

list to prohibit departure from the country; 

Whereas, on February 5, 2012, the Government of Egypt announced that it would refer for arrest more than 40 staff 

members of various nongovernmental organizations, 

among them 16 United States citizens, including staff of 

the United States-based National Democratic Institute, 

the International Republican Institute, Freedom House, 

the International Center for Journalists, and Germanybased Konrad Adenauer Stiftung; 

Whereas in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112–74), Congress conditioned economic and 

military assistance to Egypt on the Secretary of State’s 

certification that Egypt is meeting its obligations under 

the 1979 Peace Treaty with Israel and that it is supporting the transition to a civilian government, including 

by holding free and fair elections and protecting freedoms 

of expression, association, and religion and due process of 

law; 

Whereas Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has stated that 

the United States Government has ‘‘deep concerns about 

what is happening to our NGOs, and Americans and others who work for them. . . We do not believe there is any 

basis for these investigations, these raids on the sites 

that the NGOs operate out of, the seizure of their equipVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:27 Feb 14, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR372.IS SR372

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ment, and certainly no basis for prohibiting the exit from 

the country by individuals who have been working with 

our NGOs.’’; 

Whereas restricting the space for civil society engagement 

dishonors the promise of the Egyptian revolution and 

could potentially damage the country’s transition to democracy; and 

Whereas, according to Secretary of State Clinton, ‘‘We have 

worked very hard the last year to put into place financial 

assistance and other support for the economic and political reforms that are occurring in Egypt, and we will 

have to closely review these matters as it comes time for 

us to certify whether or not any of these funds from our 

government can be made available under these circumstances.’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) acknowledges the central and historic im3 portance of the United States-Egyptian strategic 

4 partnership in advancing the common interests of 

5 both countries, including peace and security in the 

6 broader Middle East and North Africa; 

7 (2) reiterates its support for the people of 

8 Egypt during a difficult political transition towards 

9 a more representative and responsive democratic 

10 government; 

11 (3) praises the work that United States democ12 racy promotion organizations such as the National 

13 Democratic Institute, the International Republican 


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1 Institute, Freedom House, and the International 

2 Center for Journalists, do internationally to 

3 strengthen civic institutions, democratic practice, po4 litical parties, the rule of law, respect for human 

5 rights, and protections for independent media; 

6 (4) reaffirms the commitment of the Govern7 ment and people of the United States to universal 

8 rights of freedom of expression, religion, assembly, 

9 and association, including Internet freedom; 

10 (5) notes the critical role civil society plays in 

11 democratic societies and applauds the work of de12 mocracy promotion, human rights, and develop13 mental organizations in Egypt; 

14 (6) expresses deep concern at the intimidation 

15 and media manipulation against democracy activists 

16 and Egyptian and international civil society organi17 zations in Egypt; 

18 (7) urges the Government of Egypt to protect 

19 civil liberties for all citizens, embrace transparency 

20 and accountability, and promote the creation of a vi21 brant civil society; 

22 (8) calls upon the Government of Egypt to im23 mediately cease its intimidation and prosecution of 

24 civil society workers and democracy activists of all 

25 nationalities in Egypt, including Egyptians, and to 


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1 allow non-Egyptian civil society workers to volun2 tarily leave the country; and 

3 (9) calls on the Government of Egypt to halt 

4 harassment, including that conducted via state 

5 media, of democracy and human rights activists in 

6 Egypt. 

Æ 


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