III 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 435 

Calling for democratic change in Syria, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 25, 2012 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. RUBIO) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Calling for democratic change in Syria, and for other 

purposes. 

Whereas the Republic of Syria is a party to the International 

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted 

at New York December 16, 1966, and the United Nations Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, done at 

New York December 10, 1984, and voted in favor of the 

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted at 

Paris December 10, 1948; 

Whereas, since March 2011, the Government of Syria has engaged in a sustained campaign of violence and gross 

human rights violations against civilians in Syria, including the use of weapons of war, torture, extrajudicial 

killings, arbitrary executions, sexual violence, and interference with access to medical treatment; 


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•SRES 435 IS 

Whereas the United Nations estimated that, as of April 16, 

2012, at least 10,000 people had been killed in Syria 

since the violence began in March 2011; 

Whereas, on August, 18, 2011, President Barack Obama 

called upon President Bashar al Assad to step aside; 

Whereas, in November 2011 and February 2012, the United 

Nations Commission of Inquiry released reports documenting gross human rights violations committed in 

Syria; 

Whereas the League of Arab States deployed a team of international monitors to Syria on December 26, 2011; 

Whereas, on January 28, 2012, the League of Arab States 

suspended its monitoring mission in Syria in response to 

an escalation in violence; 

Whereas, on March 16, 2012, United Nations and League of 

Arab States Special Envoy Kofi Annan presented a sixpoint peace plan for Syria that called on the Government 

of Syria to, among other things: commit to stop the fighting and urgently achieve a United Nations-supervised 

cessation of violence; work with the Envoy in an inclusive 

Syrian-led political process; cease military activity in and 

around civilian population centers; ensure timely provision of humanitarian assistance; release arbitrarily detained persons; ensure freedom of movement for journalists; and respect the freedom of association and the right 

to demonstrate peacefully; 

Whereas, on March 21, 2012, the United Nations Security 

Council unanimously adopted a Presidential Statement 

giving full support to the efforts of Joint Special Envoy 

Annan and calling on the Government of Syria and the 


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•SRES 435 IS 

opposition in Syria to work in good faith to fully and immediately implement Mr. Annan’s six point proposal; 

Whereas, on April 1, 2012, the group Friends of the Syrian 

People met in Istanbul and announced measures to increase the pressure on the Assad regime, provide greater 

humanitarian relief to people in need, and support the 

Syrian opposition as it works toward an inclusive democratic transition. 

Whereas, as of April 1, 2012, the United States Government 

had pledged $25,000,000 in humanitarian assistance, as 

well as non-lethal communications equipment, to activists 

inside Syria; 

Whereas, on April 5, 2012, the United Nations Security 

Council adopted a Presidential Statement calling on the 

Government of Syria to implement urgently and visibly 

its commitments to Mr. Annan, including ceasing armed 

violence within 48 hours; 

Whereas, on April 14, 2012, the United Nations Security 

Council adopted Resolution 2042, which authorized the 

deployment of an advance team of United Nations military observers to monitor adherence to a ceasefire in the 

country; 

Whereas the Governments of Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and 

Iraq have provided refuge for tens of thousands of people 

displaced by the violence in Syria; and 

Whereas the Governments of the Russian Federation and the 

Islamic Republic of Iran continue to supply military 

equipment to the Government of Syria notwithstanding 

that government’s violent repression of demonstrators: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 


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•SRES 435 IS 

1 (1) condemns Syrian President Bashar al2 Assad’s ongoing slaughter of his own people; 

3 (2) reaffirms that it is the policy of the United 

4 States that the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian 

5 people cannot be realized so long as Bashar al-Assad 

6 remains in power and that he must step aside; 

7 (3) recognizes the efforts of the United Nations 

8 and the League of Arab States to establish a 

9 ceasefire in Syria and to deploy international per10 sonnel to observe adherence by the Government of 

11 Syria to Special Envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point peace 

12 plan to bring an end to violence and human rights 

13 violations and as a first step toward a full demo14 cratic transition in Syria; 

15 (4) urges robust support for the United Na16 tions-administered Emergency Response Fund to en17 sure the sustained provision of humanitarian and 

18 emergency medical support for the population of 

19 Syria affected by the conflict; 

20 (5) urges the continued provision of adequate 

21 humanitarian assistance to displaced Syrians cur22 rently located in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and 

23 Iraq; 

24 (6) calls on the President to engage with the 

25 League of Arab States, the European Union, and 


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•SRES 435 IS 

1 the Government of the Republic of Turkey to explore 

2 options to protect civilians in Syria; 

3 (7) demands that the Government of Syria 

4 allow additional United Nations personnel into the 

5 country, with complete freedom of movement, and 

6 take necessary measures to ensure their safety in 

7 Syria so that they may observe the ceasefire and the 

8 adherence by the Government of Syria to the United 

9 Nations six-point peace plan; 

10 (8) urges the Syrian opposition to renew its 

11 commitment to a democratic and inclusive society in 

12 the post-Assad era based on the rule of law, commit13 ment to universal human rights for all of its people, 

14 and protections for religious and ethnic minorities; 

15 (9) calls upon the League of Arab States, the 

16 United Nations, the Friends of the Syrian People, 

17 and other interested international bodies to continue 

18 to exert maximum diplomatic pressure for Assad to 

19 step aside and for a political transition in Syria; 

20 (10) urges the Friends of the Syrian People to 

21 renew efforts to incentivize the enhanced cohesion of 

22 democratically oriented organizations in Syria, and 

23 to encourage these groups to make clear their inten24 tion to represent and protect the interests of all Syr25 ians; 


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1 (11) calls upon the President to continue to 

2 provide support, including communications equip3 ment to organizations in Syria that are representa4 tive of the people of Syria, make demonstrable ef5 forts to protect human rights and religious freedom, 

6 reject terrorism, cooperate with international 

7 counterterrorism and nonproliferation efforts, and 

8 abstain from destabilizing neighboring countries; 

9 (12) urges the President to develop a plan to 

10 identify weapons stockpiles and prevent the pro11 liferation of conventional, biological, chemical, and 

12 other types of weapons in Syria; and 

13 (13) strongly condemns the Governments of the 

14 Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran 

15 for providing military and security equipment to the 

16 Government of Syria, which has been used to repress 

17 peaceful demonstrations and commit mass atrocities 

18 against unarmed civilian populations in Syria. 

Æ 


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