I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1782 

To promote human rights in Cuba, urge the Cuban Government to meet 

certain human rights milestones, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 14, 2015 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. DIAZBALART, Mr. SIRES, Mr. CURBELO of Florida, Mr. LANCE, Mr. MACARTHUR, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, and Mr. LOBIONDO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To promote human rights in Cuba, urge the Cuban Government to meet certain human rights milestones, and for 

other purposes. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Cuba Human Rights Act of 2015’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; Table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 


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Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 4. Statement of policy. 

Sec. 5. United States public diplomacy. 

Sec. 6. Religious freedom. 

Sec. 7. Trafficking in persons. 

Sec. 8. Support for the Cuban people. 

Sec. 9. Annual report. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) United States foreign policy towards the 

4 Government of Cuba is governed by a variety of 

5 Federal laws, including the Trading with the Enemy 

6 Act of 1917, the International Claims Act of 1949, 

7 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Cuban As8 sets Control Regulations of 1963, the International 

9 Economic Powers Act of 1977, the Food Security 

10 Act of 1985, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the 

11 Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, the Cuban Liberty 

12 and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996, the Depart13 ment of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropria14 tions Act of 1999, and the Trade Sanctions Reform 

15 and Export Enhancement Act of 2000. 

16 (2) Since 1961, it has been the stated policy of 

17 the United States to institute a commercial and eco18 nomic embargo against the Government of Cuba, 

19 supported and buttressed by the Federal laws re20 ferred to in paragraph (1), with the Cuban Assets 

21 Control Regulations of 1963 being the principal 

22 means through which the United States enforces its 


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1 embargo against Cuba. These Federal laws and re2 lated regulations regulate commerce, trade, travel, 

3 and telecommunications with Cuba. 

4 (3) The Cuban regime, which is effectively syn5 onymous with the Communist Party of Cuba, forbids 

6 public challenge to the legitimacy of its single-party 

7 rule, and restricts freedom of assembly, association, 

8 expression, press, religion, and speech, as well as 

9 tightly limits access to the Internet and tele10 communications. This includes attempts to jam ac11 cess to the Internet and the signals of some foreign 

12 radio and television stations, including the United 

13 States sponsored Radio y Televisio ́n Martı ́. 

14 (4) The Government of Cuba continues to har15 bor fugitives wanted in the United States, such as 

16 Joanne Chesimard, who is on the top of the Federal 

17 Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted Terrorist 

18 List. Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, was 

19 convicted of murdering New Jersey State trooper 

20 Werner Foerster. After escaping prison, Chesimard 

21 fled to Cuba, where Fidel Castro granted her polit22 ical asylum. This deplorable failure to extradite has 

23 caused ongoing suffering and stress to Mr. 

24 Foerster’s surviving family and friends. 


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1 (5) The Government of Cuba continues to de2 tain, imprison, place under house arrest, convict, or 

3 otherwise restrict its citizens for peacefully express4 ing any dissenting political views, deny workers the 

5 right of free association and the related right to or6 ganize and collectively bargain outside the state mo7 nopoly on power, and limit freedom of religion, re8 strict the operations of independent religious organi9 zations, and persecute believers whose religious ac10 tivities or views the Government of Cuba regards as 

11 a potential threat to its monopoly on power. 

12 (6) The Government of Cuba, through its Office 

13 of Religious Affairs of the Central Committee of the 

14 Communist Party of Cuba and the Ministry of Jus15 tice, controls all religious activity on the island and 

16 often represses religious freedom, including the har17 assment, beating, detainment, and jailing of individ18 uals involved in religious activities, typically on a 

19 weekly basis. The Government of Cuba also unjustly 

20 uses treason laws to repress religious freedom by ac21 cusing religious peoples of being ‘‘counter-revolution22 aries’’ and then illegally harassing, beating, detain23 ing, and jailing them. 

24 (7) Individuals arrested by the Government of 

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1 ations and activities are not accorded due legal proc2 ess as they lack full access to lawyers of their choice, 

3 may experience closed trials, have often been de4 tained for years without trial, and have been sub5 jected to the use of torture to admit to crimes that 

6 they did not commit or to falsely denounce others. 

7 (8) Cuba continues to be a destination country 

8 for the commercial sexual exploitation of women and 

9 young girls in the form of sex tourism, as well as a 

10 source country for the forced labor of individuals 

11 who subsequently face conditions of debt bondage or 

12 forced labor. 

13 (9) The United Nations Commission on Human 

14 Rights and several Latin American countries have 

15 passed resolutions condemning the human rights 

16 abuses of the Government of Cuba. 

17 (10) In anticipation of the Summit of the 

18 Americas in Panama, on April 8, 2015, persons af19 filiated with the Castro regime attacked Cuban pro20 democracy activists Jorge Luis Garcia Perez 

21 ‘‘Antunez’’, Yris Perez Aguilera, Juan Carlos 

22 Gonza ́lez Leyva, Leticia Ramos Herrerı ́a, and 

23 Rolando Rodrı ́guez Lobaina and United States citi24 zens Orlando Gutierrez, Silvia Iriondo, and Gus 

25 Monge during a peaceful gathering. 


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1 (11) According to media reports, Colonel Alexis 

2 Frutos Weeden, who is the head of Cuban intel3 ligence in Venezuela, was identified as one of the as4 sailants in Panama who attacked the Cuban pro-de5 mocracy activists and United States citizens. 

6 (12) Despite the continued presence of these 

7 aggravating circumstances, President Obama re8 cently announced his intention to comprehensively 

9 modify and normalize relations between the United 

10 State and Cuba, all without the advice and consent 

11 of Congress or with any attempt to amend or modify 

12 the myriad of Federal laws and regulations that gov13 ern the United States-Cuba relationship or the re14 lated embargo. 

15 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

16 It is the sense of Congress that the United States17 Cuba relationship should not be changed, nor should any 

18 Federal law or regulation be amended, until the Govern19 ment of Cuba ceases violating the human rights of the 

20 people of Cuba. 

21 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

22 It should be the policy of the United States to— 

23 (1) continue to vigorously oppose and denounce 

24 the human rights violations of the Government of 

25 Cuba; 


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1 (2) maintain the status quo of Federal law with 

2 respect to the Government of Cuba, including sanc3 tions and embargo, on the Government of Cuba so 

4 long as it continues to violate the human rights of 

5 the people of Cuba, and to deny the Government of 

6 Cuba any embassy or consulates in the United 

7 States due to security concerns stemming from past 

8 illicit espionage activities; 

9 (3) seek the cooperation of other democratic 

10 countries in this policy; 

11 (4) make clear to other countries that, in deter12 mining its relations with them, the United States 

13 will take into account their willingness to cooperate 

14 in such a policy; and 

15 (5) not amend the Federal laws and regulations 

16 referred to in section 2(1) and not reduce the sanc17 tions against the Government of Cuba until the Gov18 ernment of Cuba ceases violating and, in fact, pro19 tects, the human rights of the people of Cuba, in20 cluding— 

21 (A) releasing all political and religious 

22 prisoners; 

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1 ference, harassment, or involvement of the Gov2 ernment of Cuba for all of Cuba’s religious 

3 communities; 

4 (C) returning estates and properties con5 fiscated from churches and religious commu6 nities; 

7 (D) respecting the right to freedom of as8 sembly, association, expression, press, and 

9 speech, including releasing all independent jour10 nalists, bloggers, and democracy and labor ac11 tivists; 

12 (E) repealing or revising laws that crim13 inalize peaceful dissent, independent media, 

14 unsanctioned religious activity, and nonviolent 

15 demonstrations and rallies, in accordance with 

16 international standards and treaties to which 

17 Cuba is a party; 

18 (F) allowing Cuban nationals free and 

19 open access to United States refugee programs; 

20 (G) respecting the human rights of mem21 bers of all racial and ethnic minorities, includ22 ing Afro-Cubans, who face discrimination; 

23 (H) taking all appropriate steps to end any 

24 complicity of officials of the Government of 

25 Cuba or companies wholly or partly owned or 


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1 controlled by the Government of Cuba in 

2 human rights violations, including severe forms 

3 of trafficking in persons, and vigorously inves4 tigating, prosecuting, convicting, and sentencing 

5 such officials and the complicit individuals in 

6 such companies for such conduct; 

7 (I) satisfying, to the satisfaction of the in8 dividual claims holders, all claims outstanding 

9 under the International Claims Act of 1949 and 

10 the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity 

11 Act of 1996, which now total roughly $7 billion; 

12 (J) returning all fugitives from justice con13 victed in the United States of crimes, including 

14 Joanne Chesimard, Guillermo Morales, Victor 

15 Manuel Gerena, and Charles Hill; and 

16 (K) ceasing the sponsorship of terrorist or17 ganizations abroad or otherwise giving support 

18 and refuge to such terrorist organizations, in19 cluding the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias 

20 (FARC) of Colombia, the Basque separatist 

21 group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), and the 

22 Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacio ́n Nacional 

23 (FALN) of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 


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1 SEC. 5. UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY. 

2 (a) RADIO Y TELEVISIO ́N MARTI ́ TRANSMISSIONS TO

3 CUBA.—It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

4 should take all necessary measures to overcome the jam5 ming of all radio and television signals of the Radio y 

6 Televisio ́n Martı ́ by the Government of Cuba and that the 

7 Broadcasting Board of Governors should not cut staffing, 

8 funding, or broadcast hours for Radio y Televisio ́n Martı ́. 

9 (b) UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL.— 

10 It is the sense of Congress that if the conditions described 

11 in section 4 are not met, the United States Permanent 

12 Representative to the United Nations should strongly op13 pose, and encourage other Member States of the United 

14 Nations to strongly oppose, Cuba’s continued membership 

15 on the United Nations Human Rights Council which acts 

16 as an affront to the legitimacy of such Council. 

17 SEC. 6. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. 

18 It is the sense of Congress that if the conditions de19 scribed in subparagraph (B) of section 4(5) are not met, 

20 Cuba should be designated as a country of particular con21 cern for religious freedom pursuant to subsection (b) of 

22 section 402 of the International Religious Freedom Act 

23 of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442). 

24 SEC. 7. TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS. 

25 It is the sense of Congress that the annual report 

26 to Congress required under paragraph (1) of section 


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1 110(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 

2 (22 U.S.C. 7101(b); Public Law 106–386) should include 

3 an in-depth analysis of the facilitation of or involvement 

4 in severe forms of human trafficking by any type of official 

5 of the Government of Cuba or of companies wholly or par6 tially owned by the Government of Cuba, including wheth7 er such officials or companies were involved in providing 

8 minors for commercial sex in the tourism industry. 

9 SEC. 8. SUPPORT FOR THE CUBAN PEOPLE. 

10 Nothing in this Act may be construed as— 

11 (1) prohibiting the donation of food to non12 governmental organizations or individuals in Cuba; 

13 (2) restricting the export of medicine or medical 

14 supplies, instruments, or equipment to Cuba as spec15 ified in the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 or any 

16 other applicable Federal law; 

17 (3) abrogating any requirement that the exports 

18 described in paragraph (2) be verified in conformity 

19 with the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 or any other 

20 applicable federal law; or 

21 (4) prohibiting or restricting any other form of 

22 assistance specified in the Cuban Democracy Act of 

23 1992, including telecommunications, mail, and sup24 port for democracy. 


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1 SEC. 9. ANNUAL REPORT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, 

4 the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress a report 

5 on the following: 

6 (1) Whether the conditions described in sub7 paragraphs (A) through (K) of section 4(5) have 

8 been met, as applicable. 

9 (2) Efforts by the United States to promote ac10 cess by the Cuban people to Radio y Televisio ́n 

11 Martı ́ transmissions. 

12 (3) Lists of persons believed to be imprisoned, 

13 detained, or placed under house arrest, tortured, or 

14 otherwise persecuted by the Government of Cuba 

15 due to their pursuit of internationally recognized 

16 human rights. In compiling such lists, the Secretary 

17 shall exercise appropriate discretion, including con18 cerns regarding the safety and security of, and ben19 efit to, the persons who may be included on such 

20 lists and their families, but if such persons are not 

21 identified by name then they shall disclosed in cam22 era to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

23 House of Representatives or the Committee on For24 eign Relations of the Senate if requested. In addi25 tion, the Secretary shall include a list of such perVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:18 Apr 16, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1782.IH H1782

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1 sons and their families who may qualify for protec2 tions under United States refugee programs. 

3 (4) A description of the development of the rule 

4 of law in Cuba, including information on the fol5 lowing: 

6 (A) Progress toward the development of in7 stitutions of democratic governance. 

8 (B) Processes by which statutes, regula9 tions, rules, and other legal acts of the Govern10 ment of Cuba are developed and become bind11 ing within Cuba. 

12 (C) The extent to which statutes, regula13 tions, rules, administrative and judicial deci14 sions, and other legal acts of the Government of 

15 Cuba are published and are made accessible to 

16 the public. 

17 (D) The extent to which administrative 

18 and judicial decisions are supported by state19 ments of reasons that are based upon written 

20 statutes, regulations, rules, and other legal acts 

21 of the Government of Cuba. 

22 (E) The extent to which individuals are 

23 treated equally under the laws of Cuba without 

24 regard to citizenship, race, religion, political 

25 opinion, or current or former associations. 


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1 (F) The extent to which administrative 

2 and judicial decisions are independent of polit3 ical pressure or governmental interference and 

4 are reviewed by entities of appellate jurisdic5 tion. 

6 (G) The extent to which laws in Cuba are 

7 written and administered in ways that are con8 sistent with international human rights stand9 ards, including the rights enumerated in the 

10 International Covenant on Civil and Political 

11 Rights. 

12 (b) CONTACTS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.—In 

13 preparing the reports required under subsection (a), the 

14 Secretary of State shall seek out and maintain contacts 

15 with nongovernmental organizations and human rights ad16 vocates (including Cuban-Americans and human rights 

17 advocates in Cuba), in order to receive and evaluate re18 ports and updates from such advocates and organizations. 

19 The Secretary shall also consult with the United States 

20 Commission on International Religious Freedom when 

21 preparing such reports and make all efforts to accommo22 date the Commission’s input in the final version of such 

23 reports. 

Æ 


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